Arms manufacturers, aluminum smelters, and the cartoon ‘Masha and the Bear’: what’s on Ukraine’s latest sanctions list

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has signed four decrees enacting a decision by Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council to impose sanctions on Russian defense manufacturers, companies in the Rusal aluminum group, and the animated series Masha and the Bear.

The sanctions target Animaccord, the studio behind the show, and five Russian nationals. They include the studio’s founder, its CEO, the show’s screenwriter, a co-writer and co-producer, and the series’ rights holder.

The council said Masha and the Bear spreads pro-Russian narratives disguised as children’s content, which poses a threat to Ukraine’s national security.

Masha and the Bear has drawn objections in other countries, too. In July, a group of British politicians wrote an open letter to Britain’s culture secretary, Lisa Nandy, demanding that the show be pulled from streaming services. The series, they said, amounts to propaganda — and “not subtle” propaganda at that.

Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna has called the series “part of the Kremlin’s soft power, embedding pro-Kremlin, militaristic imagery in children’s entertainment content while normalizing Russia’s aggression and imperial ambitions.”