Ukraine’s foreign ministry condemns Russians at War film’s inclusion in Zurich Film Festival

The Russians at War film by director Anastasia Trofimova is set to be screened at the upcoming film festival in Zurich. The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has expressed its outrage.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine reports this.

"We strongly condemn any attempt to give Russia a cultural stage on which to whitewash its war crimes while Russian troops continue to commit atrocities against Ukrainians," the ministry wrote in a statement.

Recently, the Ministry of Culture and Strategic Communications added Anastasia Trofimova, a Russian director, to its list of individuals deemed a threat to Ukraine's national security. Trofimova now ranks number 233 on the list, which is available on the ministry's website.

To shoot the film, the director, Anastasia Trofimova, spent seven months next to the Russian military near the front in Ukraine. However, she did not receive permission to make the film. She claims that she saw no signs of war crimes by the Russians.

As the Ministry of Culture noted, the film spreads Russian propaganda and demonstrates "unacceptable neutrality" regarding Russia's war against Ukraine. The agency emphasized that the tape does not recognize the atrocities committed by the Russian Federation during the invasion.

They added that the film promotes the idea that this war is a "conflict between two fraternal nations" and that Russians are allegedly just as much its victims as Ukrainians.

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The Russians at War film was already shown on September 5 at the Venice International Film Festival. The director said that she spent seven months with a Russian battalion fighting in Ukraine, and it was a shock for her to see that they were "absolutely ordinary guys with families, with a sense of humor."

On September 8, Ambassador of Ukraine to Italy Yaroslav Melnyk condemned the screening of Russian director Anastasiia Trofimova's Russians at War film at the Venice Film Festival and called on its organizers to prevent Russian propaganda.

Lithuania's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Gabrielus Landsbergis, expressed indignation that this film was shown at the Venice Film Festival.

The Consulate General of Ukraine in Toronto also protested against plans to show Russians at War at the international film festival.

Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, who is of Ukrainian origin, also condemned the screening of the film about Russian soldiers "Russians at War" at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Initially,  the Toronto International Film Festival decided not to cancel the screening of the film "Russians at War" by Russian propagandist Anastasia Trofimova, despite protests and calls not to show the movie, which whitewashes the Russian invaders fighting in Ukraine.

As reported, the Canadian public financial organization and the public broadcaster in the province of Ontario, following the protest of the Congress of Ukrainians in Canada, refused to show Russian director Anastasia Trofimova's film Russians at War, which was made with the funds of the Canadian government sent through TVO the day before.