Karen Shakhnazarov/ Facebook
Karen Shakhnazarov is a Russian film director, film producer, screenwriter, general director of the Mosfilm film studio. He often expressed anti-Ukrainian views. He is a regular guest on the broadcasts of Russian propaganda TV programs.
In 2018, he said: “the only way for Ukraine to return Crimea is to unite with the Russian Federation.” He said: “the peninsula will start a war against Ukraine if it tries to return it.”
However, after the defeats of the Russian occupiers at the front, his rhetoric partially changed. In particular, he began to recognize the identity and history of the Ukrainian people and called the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, a talented military leader.
Main statements
1. Claimed that “the war against Ukraine was inevitable and provoked by the USA” (February 24, 2022)
2. Threatened opponents of Z-symbolism in the Russian Federation with “concentration camps, re-education and sterilization” (May 3, 2022)
