Heil Zelensky

Heil Zelensky
StarringValentin Vorobyov
Yulia Konyukhova
Yulia Mandriko
Igor Alekseev
Klim Thomson
Artyom Shcherba
Production
company
Release date
  • July 2023 (2023-07)
Running time
1:02
CountryRussia
LanguageGerman

Heil Zelensky is a Russian propaganda[1][2][3] satirical video filmed in German and mocking Germany's assistance to Ukraine. The video was filmed with the participation of Russian actors[4][5][6] and was distributed by Russian state media.[7][8][5][1][6] The video was distributed as a social advertisement[9][10] in July 2023[11][6] and was falsely[2][12] positioned as filmed by the German party "Alternative for Germany".

Portrait of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, which appeared in the video

Plot

At the beginning of the video, a German family is shown, a father, a mother, and a child. They are sitting on the couch watching TV, where an emotional speech by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is being broadcast, urging people to help Ukraine, while the child is playing with a plush leopard at the same time.[7][13][8]

Someone knocks on the door, and the child opens it. Four officials in military-style uniforms from an unnamed security agency enter. They begin collecting the property inside the house: items from the shelves, TV, money from the child's piggy bank, and they take the mother's gold earrings off her ears. Meanwhile, Scholz's speech continues on TV, where he says he will keep supporting Ukraine. The leader of the group that entered the house hangs a portrait of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the wall and says, “Heil Zelensky!”[7][13][14] Almost nothing remains in the house afterward, except for the portrait of the Ukrainian president.[1]

Then, in the credits, a comment appears on the screen in German: “Is your home in NATO? Get used to NATO in your home. 22 billion euros from the German budget have already been given to Ukraine since early 2022.”[6][15][1]

After the credits, the woman in military uniform takes the toy leopard from the child, cheerfully saying, “Oh, a leopard!” and shouts “Heil Zelensky!” again.[7][13][3]

Video analysis

Fact-checking by Deutsche Welle and Provereno.Media revealed that the photograph shown at the beginning of the video with the caption “Germany, 2023” was actually taken in 2017 in the municipality of Rhodt unter Rietburg, Rhineland-Palatinate.[12][3] The image had been published by the photo agency Alamy and was credited to photographer Hans Peter Merten.[13][6] In the document held by the female official, the surname “Zelensky” is spelled as “Zelensky” rather than “Selenskij,” which is the standard German transliteration of the Ukrainian president's surname. The uniform described in the video as a “NATO soldier uniform” is, in fact, Bundeswehr attire.[12] The German couple's child is playing with a plush leopard, alluding to the German “Leopard 2” tanks supplied to Ukraine.[6] Deutsche Welle notes that although the amount of German aid to Ukraine corresponds to official data, the video misleadingly presents it as if it were given personally to Zelensky.[12]

Actors

According to reporting by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty journalist Mark Krutov, Provereno.Media founder Ilya Ber, and the investigative outlet Agentstvo, with additional details from the Belarusian newspaper Nasha Niva, the video “Heil Zelensky” featured the following Russian actors:[12][13][8][15][1]

  • Valentin Vorobyov as father
  • Yulia Konyukhova as mother
  • Yulia Mandriko as head of the officials
  • Igor Alekseev, Klim Thomson, Artyom Shcherba as officials

The actors’ identities were established through facial recognition analysis and were publicly disclosed on 26 July 2023.[12][1]

On her Instagram page, Yulia Konyukhova posted a behind-the-scenes video and stated in the description that the production was filmed by the Russian state broadcaster RT, also noting that the child in the German family was played by her son, Svyatoslav.[7] The post was later deleted. When contacted by RFE/RL, Konyukhova claimed that she didn't have an Instagram account;[14][13] she told Agentstvo that she couldn't speak to journalists due to contractual restrictions,[1] and in a comment to the online outlet Daily Storm she stated that she hadn't appeared in the video.[16] Yulia Mandriko didn't respond to messages from journalists on social media.[1]

Reactions

Russia

The video was widely distributed by Russian state media, pro-government Telegram channels, war correspondents, and bloggers.[7][8][5][1][6] For example, Armen Gasparyan, a member of the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation, shared the recording.[5] In most publications, it was claimed that the video had been produced by the German right-wing party Alternative for Germany (AfD).[6] For instance, Channel One host Ruslan Ostashko asserted that the creators of the video were AfD members.[1][12] The Daily Telegraph described the assertion by Russian sources that the ad was produced by AfD as “falsely”.[2] Other commentators used vague formulations when referring to the supposed origin of the video.[6] War correspondent Aleksandr Kots called the clip “an excellent shell in the information war”[14] and said it was aimed at “ordinary citizens of Germany.”[1][5] The state news agency RIA Novosti described the video as “a German-language humorous clip criticizing Berlin’s spending on aid to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.” Argumenty i Fakty reported that it was “German social advertising,” while Tsargrad TV referred to it as “political advertising from Germany.” RT Russian published the video without crediting any authors;[1][5][12] according to its Telegram channel, the clip depicts “Germans whose NATO soldiers take everything in order to help Ukraine,” forcing them to salute Zelensky in a way reminiscent of Nazi Germany.[1]

Journalist Ilya Ber noted that the video featured Russian actors and called it “another Russian propaganda fake.”[15] According to Ber, the video first appeared in the German and Dutch segments of Twitter.[1] Mark Krutov from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty observed that the content and structure of the video bore strong similarities to earlier examples of pro-Kremlin propaganda, such as a 2018 clip featuring actor Sergey Burunov created ahead of the Russian presidential election.[14]

Germany

The video wasn't published on the website or social media accounts of Alternative for Germany (AfD),[15][17][13] and the party itself is not mentioned in the clip.[1][8][15] In response to an inquiry from Deutsche Welle, the AfD press office denied producing the video and stated that they had learned about its existence only from DW's request.[12] The video circulated widely across nearly all active pro-Russian channels targeting Russian-speaking residents of Germany.[18]

German historian, publicist, and expert on military propaganda, warfare, and media manipulation Christian Hardinghaus argued that the video was likely produced by Russian propaganda and resembled the satirical style of ZDF’s “Browser Ballett.” Lea Frühwirth, a psychologist from the Center for Monitoring, Analysis and Strategy, noted that the video relies on motifs typical of Russian propaganda: portraying Ukraine as a neo-Nazi regime and suggesting that Germany’s support for Ukraine endangers German citizens.[12] European Center for Human Rights Dialogue, which is financed by Federal Foreign Office, described the video as a “fake provocative clip.”[18] Deutsche Welle also pointed out that the plot of the video mirrors a fake cover of the satirical magazine Titanic, depicting Volodymyr Zelenskyy with an exaggeratedly large open mouth, which — like the “Heil Zelensky” clip — fits into the narrative that Ukraine is constantly demanding more aid from Europe.[12] The newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung argued that the video does not align with actual knowledge of German realities and language. The article also noted that anti-German propaganda in Russia often takes the form of “amusing” examples, such as depictions of “frozen” Germans and TV host Vladimir Solovyov’s exaggerated “growling” pronunciation of German names.[12]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 "Российская пропаганда распространила «социальную рекламу» якобы из Германии. Там в доме немецкой семьи вешают портрет президента Украины со словами «Хайль Зеленский» Роли исполнили российские актёры, а само видео, похоже, записали в России". Meduza. 27 July 2023. Archived from the original on 25 January 2024. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 "Russia accused of releasing fake German anti-Zelensky advert". The Telegraph. YouTube. 27 July 2023. Archived from the original on 25 January 2024. Retrieved 25 January 2024. Moscow has released a propaganda video discouraging Germans from supporting Ukraine. Russian sources falsely reported that the advert was produced by the hard-right German AfD party. The advert claims that Germany given 22 billion euros to Ukraine since 2022
  3. 1 2 3 Анна Матвеева (4 August 2023). "Пропагандистский ролик на немецком оказался сделан в России". Редакция Германия. Archived from the original on 25 January 2024. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
  4. ↑ "Российская пропаганда распространила «социальную рекламу» якобы из Германии. Там в доме немецкой семьи вешают портрет президента Украины со словами «Хайль Зеленский» Роли исполнили российские актёры, а само видео, похоже, записали в России". Meduza. 27 July 2023. Retrieved 25 January 2024. Российские пропагандисты, «военкоры» и СМИ распространили ролик, по сюжету которого у немецкой семьи отбирают имущество в качестве помощи Украине. Утверждалось, что это реклама крайне правой партии «Альтернатива для Германии». Однако, как независимо друг от друга установили журналист «Радио Свобода» Марк Крутов, «Агентство» и фактчекер Илья Бер, в ролике сыграли российские актеры. Предполагается, что видео записали в России
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Провоенные СМИ и блогеры публикуют ролик «Хайль, Зеленский» на немецком языке; журналисты выяснили, что в нём снялись российские актёры". Медиазона (in Russian). 26 July 2023. Archived from the original on 25 January 2024. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Илья Бер, Даниил Федкевич (27 July 2023). "Правда ли, что в Германии сняли ролик о помощи Киеву со слоганом «Хайль, Зеленский!»?". Проверено.Медиа. Retrieved 25 January 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Ольга Лебедева (27 July 2023). ""Немецкий" ролик "Хайль Зеленский!", вероятно, был снят в РФ". Deutsche Welle. Archived from the original on 25 January 2024. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 ""Немецкое" видео "Хайль Зеленский!", видимо, снято в России". Радио «Свобода». 26 July 2023. Archived from the original on 25 January 2024. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
  9. ↑ Андрей Черкасов (10 August 2023). ""Хайль Зеленский!" и "Время переезжать в Россию": зачем Кремль делает социальную рекламу для иностранцев?". Настоящее время. Archived from the original on 25 January 2024. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
  10. ↑ Денис Катаев, Валерия Ратникова (27 July 2023). "Лидеры Африки избегают Путина. Послать деньги за рубеж сложнее. Кто снял ролик «Хайль Зеленский!»". Дождь. Archived from the original on 25 January 2024. Retrieved 25 January 2024. Российская пропаганда распространяет социальный ролик «Хайль Зеленский», который призван напомнить немцам о цене поддержки Украины. Утверждается, что якобы видео сняла немецкая ультраправая партия «Альтернатива для Германии». Но у фактчекеров другие выводы
  11. ↑ ""Немецкий" ролик со словами "Хайль Зеленский" оказался изделием российской пропаганды". Детали. 26 July 2023. Archived from the original on 25 January 2024. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Марина Борисова (27 July 2023). Инес Айзеле (ed.). "Ролик "Хайль Зеленский". Что думают немцы?". Deutsche Welle. Archived from the original on 25 January 2024. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Дезинформация: В Германии снята социальная реклама под лозунгом «Хайль Зеленский»". Factcheck.ge. 4 August 2023. Archived from the original on 25 January 2024. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
  14. 1 2 3 4 Mark Krutov, Robert Coalson (27 July 2023). "'Information War': Russian Actors Identified In Purported German Video Against Ukraine Aid". RFE/RL. Archived from the original on 24 January 2024. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
  15. 1 2 3 4 5 "В соцсетях появился ролик на немецком "Хайль Зеленский!", якобы снятый в Германии. Журналисты узнали в нём актёров из России". Настоящее время. 26 July 2023. Archived from the original on 25 January 2024. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
  16. ↑ Яна Куренкова (27 July 2023). "Российская актриса открестилась от съемок в скандальном ролике про немцев, где говорят «хайль Зеленский»". Daily Storm. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
  17. ↑ Данила Ноздряков (2 August 2023). "Хайль Зеленский?". Собеседник.ру. Archived from the original on 25 January 2024. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
  18. 1 2 Menschenrechtedialog, Europäischer (27 July 2023). "Мониторинг фейк ньюс: провокационный клип "Heil Zelensky"". Европейский правозащитный диалог. Archived from the original on 25 January 2024. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.