Recent analysis of those who have fought and died during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s so-called special military operation show that the Russian Federation’s ethnic minorities have carried more than their fair share of the Kremlin’s need to boost troop numbers on the battlefield, relative to their numbers.
These often, raw recruits have served as little more than cannon fodder sent into the meat grinder against Ukraine’s forces. Russia has now launched a fresh propaganda drive aimed at drawing members of its ethnic German communities into its army and mercenary forces.
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Russia is home to roughly 400,000 “RusslandDeutsche” (Russian Germans), many of whose ancestors came to the country in the 18th century during Catherine the Great's reign. They often experienced harsh persecution during Soviet times and, while many moved to Germany after the collapse of the USSR and communist regimes in eastern Europe, many more considered themselves Russian and stayed.
Organizations claiming to represent the interests of ethnic Germans, such as the Tomsk and Novosibirsk Regional Russian-German Houses in Russia, have been showering members of the minority group with war propaganda. Pamphlets bearing the flag of Germany alongside that of Russia urge young ethnic Germans to donate to the armed forces, inviting them to free pro-war concerts, or to attend pro-invasion “patriotic education” seminars.
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Victor Dietz, a prominent ethnic German and founder of the Tatarstan Russian-German House has called on young Russian-German men to sign up to Wagner, taunting them to prove that they are not cowards.
A Tomsk Regional Russian-German House flier advertising a pro-war concert aimed at young German Russians. Photo: Telegram
He said: “Russian Germans should do something unusual, extraordinary to be rescued and survive. I advised all the male population of our people [to] apply [to the] Wagner Group – as a team, in an organized way.”
The propaganda drive was first revealed by the Society of Germans of Zaporizhzhia, a group of ethnic Germans living in Ukraine, who recently wrote to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) saying: “We have publicly addressed the ethnic Germans of the Russian Federation, calling on them to refuse to participate in the war against Ukraine.
“We believe this step is crucial given the conditions of daily information propaganda in which ethnic Germans in the Russian Federation live. We urge representatives from Russian-German organizations living in Germany to follow our example.”
Other concerns that have been raised focus on the fact that Berlin has made little or no concessions to allow Russian Germans, opposed to the war, to claim asylum in Germany, forcing them to relocate to Georgia, the US or elsewhere.
Some commentators consider there to be another motive behind the drive to recruit ethnic Germans other than Putin’s need for more troops. To them, it is seen as an attempt to weaponize German culture to try to humiliate the German government, in general, and Chancellor Olaf Scholz, in particular, because of Germany’s leading role in providing military and humanitarian aid to Kyiv to the tune of almost €6 billion ($6.5 billion).
Germany has also had to contend with Moscow initiated espionage and sabotage plots at home, involving Russian Germans holding dual citizenship such as a recent conspiracy in Bavaria which intended to attack military sites that deliver support to Ukraine.
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