Anti-Ukraine ‘German PSA’ shared by pro-Kremlin propagandists features Russian actors and was reportedly made by RT
Many of Russia’s propagandists, “war correspondents,” and media outlets shared a video on Wednesday that they claimed is a political ad for a far-right political party in Germany. The clip depicts the German authorities confiscating a family’s belongings to send as aid to Ukraine. Journalists from Radio Liberty and the independent investigative outlet Agentstvo as well as fact-checker Ilya Ber, however, have determined that all of the main actors in the video are Russian and that the clip was likely filmed in Russia.
The ad, which was shot in German, shows an ordinary German family watching an impassioned speech by Chancellor Olaf Scholz on television when government officials show up at their door. The authorities proceed to take all of the family’s belongings, as well as hanging a portrait of Volodymyr Zelensky on the wall before saying “Hail Zelensky.”
At the end of the video, a message on the screen says that Germany has spent more than $22 billion euros on aid to Ukraine. “If your country is in NATO, be ready to deal with NATO in your home,” viewers are told.
The video was shared on Telegram by Russian propagandists and pro-Kremlin “war correspondents.” Ruslan Ostashko, a host on the state news channel Channel One, said that the ad was created by members of the party Alternative for Germany. The state-owned newspaper Arguments and Facts, meanwhile, called the clip a “German PSA,” while the right-wing news network Tsargrad TV referred to it as a “political ad from Germany.”
However, the video itself does not mention Alternative for Germany, and neither the party’s site nor the German media have mentioned the clip as of this story’s publication.
According to journalist Ilya Ber, the ad was first shared by German- and Dutch-language Twitter accounts. Ber, as well as journalists from Radio Liberty and Agentstvo, has identified several of the actors in the clip. The husband is played by Russian actor Valentin Vorobyov, while the wife is played by Moscow actress Yulia Konyukhova. Russian actress Yulia Mandriko plays the head of the German authorities, and Russian actor Igor Alekseyev plays one of her subordinates.
Konyukhova told Agentstvo that her contract prohibits her from talking to the media, and Mandriko ignored journalists’ messages on social media.
Radio Liberty and Agentstvo reported that the video was likely filmed in Russia. Ilya Ber posted a screenshot from the Instagram account of the mother of the actor who plays the son in the ad in which she says it was created by RT. The propaganda agency’s Russian-language edition shared the video on Telegram but did not say who created it.