What do the Russians living in Germany think of Putin? How do you feel about the pro-Russian demonstrations in Germany? Who is to blame for the war anyway? Or is it a “special operation”? ntv.de asked around at a Russian supermarket in Berlin. Some answers have it all.
The West marvels at the people in Russia who support the war against Ukraine and deny or even celebrate crimes committed by their own army. The effect of Kremlin propaganda is often cited as a possible explanation for this view. In addition, access to the free media is restricted and there is no freedom of expression, the experts argue. But there are also people in Germany who support Vladimir Putin’s course. In the past few weeks, pro-Russian motorcades have made headlines in several German cities. In the social network VK you will find relevant groups in which Russians living in Germany share propaganda videos and spread conspiracy theories. Some of these groups have tens of thousands of members.
According to a report by the “Tagesspiegel”, migration experts estimate the number of Russian-speaking immigrants in Germany at around 2.2 million. Far from all of them are Putin supporters. Many take part in pro-Ukrainian demonstrations, help refugees and do volunteer work. Some oppose the war even if they don’t actively flaunt their views. Some, in turn, try to stay out of politics.
We drove to a Russian supermarket in Berlin’s Lichtenberg district to talk to Russian-speaking people there. What do you think of Putin? How do you feel about the pro-Russian demonstrations in Germany? Who is to blame for the war anyway? Or is it a “special operation”? Some answers have it all.
“Ukrainians are criminals”
“I saw the pictures from Butscha. That’s a lie,” an elderly lady told ntv.de after doing her shopping in a Russian supermarket on Landsberger Allee. “If you think about it, if someone dies somewhere – why is their body lying on the side of the road? I don’t believe in that,” argues the woman, looking at the photos of the killed civilians in Bucha, many of whom are on the streets of the Kiev suburb were discovered. “A lot of things are fake these days,” explains the woman, who doesn’t want to give her name. She also spoke to many Ukrainians about it. “They say it’s not true.”
The pensioner gets information on both German and Russian television. But she doesn’t know who to believe: “Everyone says something different.” Putin didn’t want to start a war, but nobody listened to him, the woman is sure. “The Ukrainians are criminals. Not all of them, but there are people there who used to be in Germany too – fascists. But not everyone is like that. Many are innocent. I really feel sorry for them. The little children, the old people, they all die”.
In their view, the war was “not only” caused by the Ukrainians. “The Americans are to blame. (US President Joe) is to blame for the whole war. He planned it all.”
“In the West nobody wants to hear the truth”
A middle-aged man who is waiting for his wife in front of the store shares this view. “Politicians from England and the USA” are to blame for the war in Ukraine, “definitely not Russia,” explains the Russian from the Siberian city of Tyumen. He has lived in Germany for six years. “They are the ones who plot evil, insidious and from afar. The Western world aims to destroy Russia, just like the Soviet Union did back then.” The West uses Ukraine as a buffer zone, it is its victim, the man explains.
He doesn’t believe the reports about the atrocities committed by Russian soldiers in Ukraine either: “Nowadays, you can make fakes without end. Of course it’s a fake.” In his opinion, the West is ignoring the “evidence” from the Russian side. “In the West nobody wants to hear the truth. Russia is to blame for everything. Russia has always been to blame for everything.”
“Putin is a good man”
Valkan, a young man from Moldova, says he has not seen the pictures from Bucha. But when asked about his attitude to the war in Ukraine, he gave a clear answer. “I think Putin is a good person,” says the 19-year-old while sipping his energy drink. “He wanted peace and Zelenskyj wanted war”. The Russian president “just wanted Donetsk back because it was his city. He gave it to Ukraine many years ago.”
19-year-old Walkan is certain: “Zelenskyj wanted war”.
(Photo: Maryna Bratchyk)
The young man is interrupted by one of his companions: “Ukraine and Russia are one people,” says Eduard, who also comes from Moldova. “In the beginning there was Kievan Rus. There was no Ukraine, there was only Russia,” claims the 37-year-old. Kievan Rus’ was a medieval empire that arose in Eastern Europe in the 9th century and is considered the forerunner of today’s states of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus.
Edward is against the war. “You can see that innocent people are dying in Ukraine. Who is killing them? It’s the Ukrainians themselves who are killing other Ukrainians.” And why are they doing this? “To sow panic in the world and to justify the military strikes,” the man replies and continues: “Russian soldiers are in Ukraine to save the peaceful people.”
“Ukraine is on the outskirts of Russia”
Igor from Ekaterinburg is also against the war. “I don’t think it’s okay for brother to fight brother,” explains the 51-year-old, who lost both his legs after a car accident several years ago. He moved to Germany three months ago, now he begs in front of the supermarket. Despite the difficult fate, the man seems cheerful and fun-loving. That may be because, in his own words, he doesn’t follow the news. “What’s the point? I don’t need any stress.”
However, his attitude towards Ukraine’s statehood is anything but cheerful: “Ukraine is on the outskirts of Russia. Ukraine never existed. In the beginning there was Kievan Rus – that is, Russia, not Ukraine,” the 51-year-old repeats Eduard’s statement almost verbatim and is annoyed by the “ingratitude” of the Ukrainians: “We liberated them from the Germans in the Great Patriotic War. And now they say that we attacked them!”
“This war, of course, that doesn’t work”
Xenia fled Ukraine with her mother and two children.
(Photo: Maryna Bratchyk)
In front of the Russian supermarket, we also meet Xenia, who fled Ukraine with her mother and two children at the beginning of March – precisely because her country is being attacked by Russia. She reacted with incomprehension to the demonstrations by Putin supporters in Germany: “Why provoke? After the motorcade in Berlin there was a lot of aggression, both against the Ukrainians and against the Russians.” Nevertheless, she would have just walked on if she had happened to see such a parade in the city. “I would have ignored it, I wouldn’t have jumped on the cars,” says the woman from the western Ukrainian city of Rivne, smiling. “I think first and foremost about the safety of my children.”
Svetlana Zimmermann no longer knows anyone who supports Putin.
(Photo: Maryna Bratchyk)
The 52-year-old Karl is also against the pro-Russian demonstrations, but accepts them. “As long as there is freedom of speech and democracy, they can do it. Even if it stinks,” says the German in perfect Russian. As a child, the Berliner lived in the Soviet Union for a long time. “Of course, this war doesn’t work at all. There are irradiated people who support something like this. I find their actions unsympathetic, but we have to live with it.”
“The same thing happened in Chechnya”
Swetlana Zimmermann, a native of Russia who has lived in Germany for 25 years, considers Russia’s attack on Ukraine to be unacceptable. Just like the pro-Russian demonstrations: “I think that a country that started the war no longer has the right to express any opinions. I think the whole world must now support Ukraine,” says the 56-year-old. Before the war, she had some acquaintances who supported Putin’s policies, “but they changed their minds immediately after the start of the war. There are no longer any people in my area who support Putin,” says Zimmermann.
The pictures from the Ukraine remind Riswan of the wars in his native Chechnya.
(Photo: Maryna Bratchyk)
Riswan from Chechnya also condemned the attack on Ukraine. The pictures of killed civilians remind him of the wars in his homeland. During the Chechen wars in the 1990s and early 2000s, Russian soldiers carried out numerous massacres of civilians. “The same thing happened in Chechnya. Exactly like that.” The 52-year-old doesn’t understand “why you kill ordinary people. There’s enough space for everyone on earth.” The man himself gives a possible explanation. “It happens because you want to divide the world. And ordinary people suffer from it.” When asked who wants to divide the world up, Riswan gives a vague answer: “Those in power.” He stresses that Russia should have held back. “You have to admit, nobody wanted to attack it.”
“What do you want from people who believe German TV?”
In the parking lot in front of the supermarket we speak to one last couple. A man and a woman, both in their forties or fifties. They don’t want to give their names. For the two Russians, who have been living in Germany “for a long time,” there is no doubt that Ukraine is to blame for the war.
When asked why Ukraine is to blame when it was attacked by Russia, the two reacted with surprise. “You know, I think everyone will stick to their opinion anyway,” the woman avoids the question. The man gets upset: “Do you even know the background? Why were you silent when the war started in Donbass in 2014? Only now, after the start of the special operation, are you reacting, only now, when Nazism has blossomed in Ukraine. You get what I mean, don’t you?” When asked for an explanation, the man replies: “What can one even talk to you about? You think in tunnels.”
The man describes the pictures of killed civilians in Bucha as a “provocation”. “Of course these are staged recordings, my God!” says the man before his wife ends the conversation: “Come on, let’s go. What do you want from people who believe German television?”