The so-called documentary ‘Russians at War’ directed by Anastasia Trofimova will be shown at Grand Café Utopie in The Hague on 27 March as part of a film screening organized by the Fourth Wave, The Hague Peace Projects and Café voor Recht en Vrede.
VATAHA has sent the below letter as an official request to cancel the documentary screening, citing concerns that the film presents a misleading depiction of the war in Ukraine.
VATAHA, a platform for Ukrainian art and culture in the Netherlands, is writing to express its deep concern regarding the upcoming screening of Russians at War, a documentary by Russian filmmaker Anastasia Trofimova, in The Hague. While we acknowledge the importance of free debate, we strongly disagree with Utopie’s justification for allowing this event to take place. Their response suggests an alarming misunderstanding of the difference between fostering open discussion and providing a platform for war propaganda that distorts reality, particularly at a time when Russia is waging a brutal war against Ukraine and Europe.
It is the ethical and professional responsibility of cultural institutions and event organizers to ensure that the stories they amplify are grounded in truth, integrity, and accountability. By providing a platform for a film that distorts historical facts and serves as a tool of Russian propaganda, By maintaining neutrality toward events held in its space, Utopie risks embodying bureaucratic detachment—where providing a platform is divorced from accountability for the narratives it amplifies.
Russians at War intentionally distorts the reality of the ongoing Russian war against Ukraine, misleading audiences and propagating Kremlin-backed narratives.
Russians at War intentionally distorts the reality of the ongoing Russian war against Ukraine, misleading audiences and propagating Kremlin-backed narratives. The documentary conveniently omits the well-documented atrocities committed by Russian forces in Ukraine. Instead, it portrays Russian soldiers as mere “small, ordinary people” lacking agency, thereby absolving them of responsibility for the war crimes committed against Ukrainians, including murder, rape, torture, forced deportations of children, and the widespread destruction of Ukrainian cities. This deliberate whitewashing is not an act of honest storytelling but an insidious attempt to shift blame away from those complicit in Russia’s aggression.
At a press conference in Venice, the filmmaker claimed she had not witnessed any war crimes committed by Russian soldiers. This statement ignores the overwhelming evidence presented by independent investigations, human rights organizations, and official bodies, such as the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine. According to the Ukrainian General Prosecutor’s Office, Russia has committed more than 140,518 documented war crimes since its full-scale invasion began. The film’s failure to acknowledge these facts transforms it from a documentary into an instrument of disinformation.
By filming in Russian-occupied Ukraine, filmmaker Anastasia Trofimova violated Ukrainian and international law.
Furthermore, by filming in Russian-occupied Ukraine, Trofimova violated Ukrainian and international law. She admitted in an interview with The Globe and Mail that she did not seek permission from Ukrainian authorities to enter Ukrainian territory. Given the highly restricted access, it is difficult to believe that her presence on the front lines was not facilitated by Russian military or governmental structures. This raises serious ethical concerns about the film’s credibility and intent. Any institution screening this documentary risks becoming complicit in legitimizing both its unlawful production and its propaganda function.
Given these concerns, we urge you to reconsider the decision to screen Russians at War and to suspend any cooperation with individuals or organizations that promote Russian propaganda under the guise of documentary filmmaking. Following the example of other major international institutions such as the Athens International Film Festival, Zurich Film Festival that have canceled screenings of the film.
We urge Utopie and the involved organizations to reconsider their decision and take a principled stance against war propaganda. There is no “neutrality” when it comes to enabling disinformation that serves the interests of an aggressor state.
Utopie wrote in a public statement that it will continue its screening of ‘Russians at War’ for reasons of freedom of speech and its visitors being “perfectly capable of critically evaluating and assessing information.“
Along these same lines, VATAHA interviewed Ukrainian filmmaker Mariia Ponomarova earlier this year on why she chose to actively disengage with the 2025 International Film Festival in Rotterdam, which also screened several russian films.