The festival itself ended on Sunday evening, but two screenings of this controversial film, “Russians at War”are scheduled for Tuesday, September 17 at TIFF Lightbox, a cultural center in the city, TIFF announced.
Since its presentation at the Venice Film Festival, this film by a Russian-Canadian director giving voice to Russian soldiers has attracted the wrath of Ukrainian cultural and political figures who see it as “Russian propaganda”.
Last week, the festival announced the cancellation of what was to be the North American premiere in a “unprecedented decision”. But the organizers had committed to showing the film. “when it is safe to do so”.
“TIFF’s persistence in serving as a platform to share Russian propaganda is unimaginable. Despite all the calls to stop whitewashing Russian killers and rapists, they still want to show this documentary under the festival roof.”denounced Yulia Kovaliv, the Ukrainian ambassador to Canada in a message on X. “We call on the TIFF board to intervene”she added.
Public broadcaster TVO, which helped finance the documentary, announced that it was withdrawing its support for the film and would not broadcast it. This comes in part after criticism from Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland. Freeland, who is of Ukrainian origin through her mother, opposed the screening of the film earlier this week, stating that:“There could be no moral equivalence in this war”.
For this documentary, filmmaker Anastasia Trofimova spent several months with a Russian battalion on the Ukrainian front, collecting testimonies from soldiers from which she turned a film of more than two hours.
She told AFP that her film was “an anti-war documentary” and showed “ordinary people”.
Read also: MAP. War in Ukraine: evacuation of villages in Kursk, the UN invited… The point of the day
Russia orders evacuation of villages in Kursk region
Russia ordered the evacuation on Monday due to health reasons. ” security “ from villages located less than 15 kilometers from Ukraine in the Russian region of Kursk, where kyiv’s troops have been conducting an offensive since early August.
These areas have not been the scene of fighting so far and the Russian authorities have not detailed the reasons for this decision, which comes as Moscow has claimed in recent days the recapture of a dozen localities occupied in August by Ukrainian forces. “Based on operational information, in order to ensure security, the regional headquarters decided on the mandatory evacuation of settlements in Rylsky and Khomutovsky districts located in the zone up to 15 kilometers from the border with Ukraine.”wrote Alexei Smirnov, acting governor of the Kursk region.
He called on residents to ” to understand “ and to “follow the recommendations” officials. The official did not say how many people were affected. “When evacuating, remember to take essential items and take care of your pets.”the Kursk regional authorities said on their Telegram account.
Read also: War in Ukraine: in Kursk, Russians and Ukrainians engaged in a series of counter-attacks
Villages recaptured
The Russian army announced on Thursday that it had regained ground from kyiv’s forces by launching a counteroffensive in the region. On Monday, it again claimed the recapture of two small villages, Ouspenovka and Borki.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga on Monday invited the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to visit the part of the Russian Kursk region occupied by Ukraine. “Ukraine is ready to facilitate their work and demonstrate its respect for international humanitarian law.” in this territory, Mr. Sybiga said on X.
Russia has denounced the invitation and called on the UN and the Red Cross not to respond. Questioned by the press, the spokesman for the Russian presidency, Dmitry Peskov, denounced a “pure provocation”. “We hope that such provocative statements will not be taken into consideration by their recipients.”he added during his daily briefing.
The UN responded on Monday by making Moscow’s consent a condition. “We are ready to do it. We will need permission from Russia.”said spokesman Stéphane Dujarric.
Russian occupation
Russian troops, for their part, occupy about 18% of Ukrainian territory, and Moscow claims the annexation of four regions of Ukraine, in addition to Crimea, which was already annexed in 2014.
ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric also arrived in Moscow on Monday for a long-planned visit. She is due to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday. Her trip comes just days after three Ukrainian ICRC employees were killed in a strike in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine.
The victims were preparing to distribute wood and charcoal briquettes in a Ukrainian-held village near the front when their vehicles were hit by gunfire, according to the ICRC. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky blamed the attack on the Russian military. He also said Friday that the Kursk offensive had slowed Russian advances in eastern Ukraine, one of the stated goals of the operation. “In the Kharkiv region (northeast) the enemy has been stopped, and its advance in the Donetsk region (east) has been slowed down, although it is very difficult there,” he said. “There is still a long way to go.”however, Mr. Zelensky tempered his position.
Lacking men and ammunition compared to Russia, Ukraine has been on the defensive for a year now. Russian forces are gaining ground, particularly in eastern Ukraine, where they claim to have captured villages almost daily.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said in early September that the Ukrainian operation in Kursk was a failure and that Russian forces “accelerated offensive operations” on the eastern front. Russian troops are now just a few kilometers from the town of Pokrovsk, an important logistical hub for kyiv’s forces in eastern Ukraine.
