“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine condemns any attempts to provide Russia with a “cultural stage to whitewash its war crimes””, — write: www.radiosvoboda.org
“Russian propaganda behind the screen of a cultural product has no place on the international cultural stage and red carpets. In connection with the plans of the Swiss film festival ZURICH FILM FESTIVAL to include the documentary film “Russians at War” in the program, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed indignation at such a decision,” the statement of the ministry published on Facebook reads.
Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemns any attempt to provide Russia with “a cultural stage to whitewash its war crimes, while Russian troops continue to commit atrocities against Ukrainians.”
The film by the Russian director Anastasia Trofimova, dedicated to the participants of the Russian aggression against Ukraine, among other things, was presented at the Venice Film Festival on September 6. This caused outrage among Ukrainians and users of social networks from other countries who support Ukraine.
The Canadian Congress of Ukrainians pointed to the credits of the film, judging by which it had the support of the public-private Canadian Media Fund – according to the Congress, the funding amounted to 340 thousand dollars.
According to the media, Anastasia Trofimova worked for the Russian state media network RT, which is under Western sanctions. In her comments to the film, she stated that she “did not see” the war crimes of the Russian military while in the war zone.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of Canada Khrystia Freeland supported the criticism of the tape by Kyiv and the Ukrainian-Canadian community and noted that Canadian public funds should not be used to support “media that tries to whitewash Russian war crimes.”