Pro-Russian agents working to turn Germany against Ukraine

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A Reuters investigation has found that pro-Putin agents in Germany are working to turn Berlin against Ukraine.

The international news agency has revealed that key figures campaigning to change Germany’s course on Ukraine have links to the Russian government or the far right.

They point to a campaign – online and on the streets – urging Berlin to reconsider its support for Ukraine, voicing messages that tap into ties between Germany and Russia, old Soviet ties to the communist East and decades of German dependence on Germany. Russian gas.

Germany – Europe’s largest economy – is a major supporter of Ukraine within the EU, having pledged massive amounts of military and civilian aid to Kyiv.

Reuters has identified the identities of key figures involved in promoting Russian interests inside Germany, using interviews, social media posts, and other publicly available information.

One of those is Max Schlund, who was originally called Rostislav Teslyuk before changing his name a decade ago.

He has traveled to Russian-controlled eastern Ukraine in recent months, as well as a Russian government agency — currently under EU sanctions — paying for his plane ticket to a conference at which Russian President Vladimir Putin was the keynote speaker.

The agency, Rossotrudnichestvo, was sanctioned by the bloc for overseeing an “influencer” network that was disseminating Kremlin narratives.

Its president described the sanctions as “crazy”.

Reuters has identified another man, Andrei Kharkovsky. He pledged allegiance to the Cossack community supporting Moscow’s military campaign in Ukraine.

The two men did not respond to requests for comment.

Reuters found that many advocates of Germany changing its policy on Ukraine use false names and have hidden ties to the Russian state or entities in the country.

German authorities linked one of the people identified by the news agency to the far right.

German police accused some supporters of extremist ideology in December of plotting to overthrow the government.

One runs a German-language social media channel called “Putin Fanclub” and, in an echo of the alleged scheme, called on social media early last year to storm the German parliament.

Germany has pledged more than €1 billion in humanitarian aid to Ukraine so far, along with military equipment including advanced air defense systems.

The majority of Germans support Ukraine, but high prices fueled by a sharp increase in energy costs have eroded approval for increased military support.

The German government did not respond to questions from Reuters.

But the Interior Ministry said it views any attempts by other countries to influence Germany “very seriously”, particularly “in the context of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine”.

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