A viral video attacking the war in Ukraine has nothing to do with the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, a spokesman for the group has told Brussels Signal.
Frequently titled “Heil Zelensky” online, the video depicts NATO soldiers raiding the home of a German family for valuables, before forcing the father to say the words “Heil Zelensky” in what appears to be a reference to Nazi Germany.
Posts on Telegram and Twitter have repeatedly claimed that the video was produced as a political advertisement by the AfD, and that has been aired on German television.
“Heil Zelensky”
-> Hilariously accurate German ad campaign against the support of the war in Ukraine pic.twitter.com/3d8eLyhkdV— Lord Bebo (@MyLordBebo) July 26, 2023
“The Alternative for Germany party has filmed a social advert on the theme of ‘support’ for Ukraine,” one online post reads.
“For the sake of the Kiev regime (sic), the German government is ready to take a piece of bread out of the mouths of its citizens – and the latter can only praise Zelensky and pay up.”
Despite such claims, the video itself lacks any indication that it was produced by the AfD, lacking any logo or disclaimer indicating that the party was the group that commissioned it.
In a short statement to Brussels Signal, the AfD claimed that it was “not aware” of the video’s existence until this website sent it to them.
“The Alternative für Deutschland is not the author of the video and only became aware of this video through you,” he said.
Some online have speculated that the short film was actually produced with support from Russia, claiming to have found evidence that some of the actors in the video are indeed Russian.
“The only genuine ‘German’ thing in this video is location,” Mark Krutov, a reporter for Radio Free Europe, wrote online, claiming to have found the Russian actor profiles for a number of the characters in the film.
Others have claimed that the video first appeared on Russian Telegram channels, with a repost of the video racking up over 100,000 views on Youtube.
