Volyn journalist interrupts a rally with pro-Russian narratives in Berlin

A "Ukrainian men's rights" rally featuring Russian propaganda slogans took place in the center of Berlin on November 17. The participants of the rally carried posters that read, in English: "Stop Zelensky’s crimes," "Zelensky is a failed dictator," and so on.

The rally was interrupted after Volyn journalist Olha Bulkovska approached them with questions, reports Maya Holub, the Institute of Mass Information representative in Volyn oblast, who was there as well.

Journalist Olha Bulkovska explaining to the ralliers that people are dying because of Russia, not enlistment centers. Screenshot from the video by Maya Holub

Rayon.in.ua journalist, West Media Forum coordinator Olha Bulkovska interrupted the rally and asked why they were in Berlin holding a demonstration, to which the young men replied that they were "against the enlistment centers." The journalist responded by asking: "And who will defend your country?"

In the comment to the IMI representative, Olha Bulkovska said that she had first thought that the rally was in support of Ukraine:

"I was going to see a march of the so-called Russian liberals led by Navalnaya. However, on my way there, a group of people holding a poster with the name of the Ukrainian president caught my eye. So I walked up to take a picture. I thought to make a news piece about the support for Ukraine abroad by the citizens living there. But when I translated what was written, I was horrified."

There were also arguments between the participants of the rally, who deliberately or unwittingly endorsed pro-Russian narratives. One woman began to shout that there is a genocide of the nation going on in Ukraine. As the IMI representative, who monitors Russian propaganda, notes, such "techniques" are actively used by Russian propaganda to confuse Ukrainian refugees and make them feel uncertain about the future of the country.

The ralliers stood near the Brandenburg Gate and addressed passers-by and journalists coming there. One of them was the former Inter and Channel 5 host Roman Kademin, who left abroad and now records manipulative videos about Volodymyr Zelensky and the events in Ukraine for TikTok. He mainly films in Russian. Roman Kademin recorded a TikTok video from the rally. A Russian journalist from Novaya Gazeta also attended the rally and wanted to talk to the Ukrainian journalist Olha, but she refused.

Screenshot from Roman Kademin's video on the Brandenburg Gate rally by the IMI. The video was filmed in Russian, even though Roman Kademin says he is an independent Ukrainian journalist who filmes TikTok videos.

Off camera, Roman Kademin told the IMI representative that the men had come to the square to express their opinion, but said nothing about the pro-Russian narratives.

The police were there, watching the event from afar. Then as the conflict got louder they started moving closer. One of the ralliers even asked Olha Bulkovskaya why she wasn’t in the army fighting.

The day before, journalists Olha Bulkovskaya and Maya Holub had attended a lecture in Berlin about useful idiots exploited for Russian propaganda. The journalists had participated in the multi-day symposium “Winning the War on Digital Propaganda” for Ukrainian, Armenian, and Georgian journalists, learning from their experience countering disinformation in different countries.

IMI representative Maya Holub talked to the ralliers and recorded a video commentary with them. She asked who exactly the men's target audience was and why they were standing in the center of Berlin with posters that resembled Russian propaganda. After one of the participants said that it would be good if Russian journalists came and reported on it, she had no more questions for them.

The conversation between Maya Holub and the ralliers can be watched in full on YouTube.

Rally participant Daniil Kolyada from Dnipro city told the IMI representative that he stood for those who could not protest in Ukraine. That is why he was standing with a poster "Human rights for Ukrainian men”, because, in his opinion, if he did this in Ukraine, he would get into trouble and be called a Russian agent.

"A man or a woman should have a choice – to enlist or not. It should be like a job. But someone should be able to say no, not in the present conditions. But if Ukraine had not closed off the borders at the beginning, people would be coming and going," he said, adding that he did not represent any organization and had been living in Berlin for a year.

Another participant, who called himself Andriy Konovalov, said that he was protesting torture in enlistment centers. When asked what audience the protesters were addressing, he replied:

“We are addressing the people passing by here, the local journalists, to let them know about what is happening in Ukraine, about the torture documented in the media.”

Then the IMI representative asked, "Do you not care that Russian journalists are walking around here, filming and then lying about it?" To which Daniil Kolyada replied, "Let them, that’s fine too." And Andriy Konovalov added, "We see this as something that needs to happen in order for us to express our opinion."

The ralliers then said that they believe in the existence of independent journalists in Russia. They did not care about those journalists possibly manipulating and twisting information.