A new documentary about the Russian invasion of Ukraine is causing a stir on the film festival scene

Documentaries about the Russian invasion of Ukraine are nothing new. PBS, Sean Penn and the BBC all produced significant films during the first two and a half years of the conflict. But there have not been many significant films about the war from the Russian perspective – until now.

Many pro-Ukrainian Westerners (but not all) are quick to denounce Russian-Canadian documentary filmmaker Anastasia Trofimova's new film “Russians at War,” currently screening at film festivals, as Russian propaganda. Trofimova, who lives in Toronto, was stationed with a Russian battalion in eastern Ukraine for seven months during the 2022 invasion. The film's premiere at the prestigious Venice Film Festival sparked outrage; now hundreds of Ukrainians have taken to the streets of Toronto in protest.

The official description of the film is “First-hand documentation [that] takes us beyond the headlines and accompanies Russian soldiers in Ukraine who are going into battle for reasons that become more obscure with each grueling day.”

Trofimova got to the front through a friend named Ilya, whom she met during the New Year holidays in late 2021. Ilya was Ukrainian but had moved to Moscow before the war began and became a soldier for Russia two months later when Vladimir Putin's troops advanced across the border. He learned that Trofimova was planning to make a film about the invasion and invited her to join his battalion. She joined his unit, without a permit or press pass.

Russians at War begins more than 180 kilometers behind the front lines, where units are “refreshed” before returning to the front. We meet Russians who joined the army for reasons ranging from patriotism to revenge or a steady salary. The film makes a point of pointing out that Russian soldiers do not always get what they signed up for: the “special military operation” is not exactly what they were led to believe, many do not know exactly why they are fighting, and some are not even paid. What the film does not show (or even acknowledge) are the countless war crimes attributed to Russian troops at the time. The Russian soldiers simply dismiss these accounts as “impossible.”

Trofimova is a former documentary film producer for RT, a Moscow-funded news network, which reinforces the impression that her film is pro-Kremlin propaganda. The filmmaker disagrees with this assessment, believing that most of the negative reports about Russians at War come from critics who have not seen the film. In addition, she argues that her status as a Russian citizen and former RT journalist would have prevented her from making a documentary about both sides of the conflict because she would have been labeled a spy.

“The claim that our film is propaganda is ridiculous, as I now risk being prosecuted in Russia,” Trofimova said in a recent statement to Agence France-Presse. “I firmly believe that Russia's invasion of Ukraine was unjustified and illegal, and I recognize the legitimacy of the International Criminal Court's investigation into war crimes in Ukraine.”

Russians at War was funded with the help of a grant from the Canadian public broadcaster TVO, which, after public reaction in Toronto, decided not to air the film. The Toronto International Film Festival had to temporarily stop screenings of the film, citing a threat to public safety. Screenings of the film have since resumed, but accusations that the film is part of a Kremlin information campaign have never stopped.

“I would be grateful to anyone making these allegations to first watch the film, because as I understand it, none of the protesters we saw have seen the film,” Trofimova told CBC.

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