Volker Beck, a deputy from the Green Party, filed a complaint against Russia House. In his appeal to the prosecutor's office, he stated that "it is simply unacceptable for an organization in Germany to be engaged in Kremlin propaganda, while people are dying every day in the war in Ukraine."
RDNK in Berlin is the largest division of Rossotrudnichestvo and costs Russian taxpayers about $10 million a year.
The "encrypted messages" from Moscow, which were at the disposal of The Insider, make recommendations to the "Russia House" on promoting soft power in Germany:
“RDNA should become a motivating framework for the promotion of a clear ideology, as a system of guiding value principles that distinguish the activities of the RDNA from competitors in the soft power circuit. New ideas should not form a chaotic collection, but an ordered set. It is important to create a coherent image that will be perceived even at a subconscious level by the society of the host country. Here it would not be superfluous to analyze the best Soviet practices without direct copying.
Before the onset of the pandemic, RDNK annually held 300–400 propaganda events in Germany, such as “Weekends at the Russia House”, “Preservation of historical and cultural heritage abroad and education of the younger generation”, “The role of Russian saints in the spiritual and moral education of youth ”,“ Hello, Russia ”,“ Russian Seasons in Berlin ”,“ Sobibor ”, etc.
Among other things, paid lessons were held to study the Russian language, quotas were also allocated through the RDNK for training young compatriots living in Germany in Russian universities, and visits of youth delegations to Russia were paid. After the attack of Russian troops on Ukraine, the RDNK moved Russian language courses online and stopped holding events. Incomes dropped sharply, there was nothing to pay for the German security of the building and housing and communal services. Alarming ciphers flew to Moscow with a request to send money.
However, two months ago, Russia House again began to be active and invite citizens to watch Soviet films in its cinema hall. As a structural subdivision of Rossotrudnichestvo, which is included in the EU sanctions list, Russkiy Dom has no right to make a profit in Germany from selling tickets to its events or renting subordinate premises.
In Berlin, RDNK has a land plot of 0.68 hectares and a building with a total area of 29,000 square meters in perpetual use. m, in which there are 64 residential apartments and technical premises. In addition, there is a two-storey villa in Dresden at Zittauer Strasse 29 (a land plot of 0.12 hectares, a building with a total area of 303 square meters), which previously belonged to the Western Group of Soviet Forces in Germany. Most of the residential premises of the RDNK are leased to German firms. Among the tenants were the Escada fashion store, the Krist company, Kulturverein Tolstoi eV, the Ada Reisen travel agency, Thyssen-Krupp, GelikonsEuropa, Trofimov-Medien, and the German-Russian Institute of Culture, which took villa in Dresden. Moreover, in some cases, the rent was unreasonably underestimated.
The Insider has at its disposal the final reports of the Accounts Chamber (CA) of the Russian Federation on financial audits of Rossotrudnichestvo in Germany from 2015 to 2020. The inspections revealed numerous financial irregularities in the Russia House and the facts of careless preparation and storage of reporting documents.
For example, to replace worn-out parts of washbasins and toilet bowls in RDNK apartments, products were purchased at 230 euros per unit. Although, as inspectors from the joint venture found out, such plumbing in local stores costs no more than 50 euros. In addition, the representative office did not keep internal financial control logs, reports on the cost and implementation of certain activities were not provided on time, antimonopoly laws were grossly violated during procurement, limits were raised and the footage of premises leased was underestimated: complete and reliable information about the objects of federal property given to gratuitous use, which indicates the lack of proper control over the activities of representative offices, ”concluded the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation.
Since 2017, Russia House in Berlin has been headed by Pavel Izvolsky. He speaks extensively in the media and considers himself part of the cultural dialogue between Russia and Germany. In an interview with Moscow German Newspaper, Izvolsky said that he graduated from the history department of the Nizhny Novgorod State University and the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Foreign Ministry. After that, he worked at the All-Russian Exhibition Center and Rosatom, where he was involved in international projects and their staffing.
True, in the biography of Izvolsky there is no mention that at one time he was registered in an officer's hostel on the street. Golovacheva, 190, where cadets of the Moscow Higher Military Command School (MVVKU) live. Many MVVKU graduates serve in the GRU or spy for the scientific and technical intelligence of the SVR.
According to Reuters, Russia House paid for a trip to Russia for Maxim Schlund and his civil wife Elena Kolbasnikova, who organized a rally in Cologne last September in support of the Kremlin. Pro-Russian activists carried banners demanding the lifting of sanctions against Moscow and an embargo on German arms supplies to Ukraine. The propaganda action was widely covered on Russian federal TV channels, and although the number of participants did not exceed 1,000 people, the hosts called it a mass protest of the German people.
In addition to Cologne, Schlund and Kolbasnikov organized the so-called Day of Music, Food and Sports in Dusseldorf. The banquet hall was decorated with flags depicting Ramzan Kadyrov, and a photo from the event was posted by Chechen Information Minister Akhmed Dudayev, who called Shlund and Kolbasnikova goodwill ambassadors. In addition, the couple often pretend to be ordinary Germans and act as commentators on the Russia-24 TV channel, and also participated in a propaganda film financed by the owner of Tsargrad Konstantin Malofeev: “Activists from Germany came to Donbass for the truth,” it was reported. in a press release.
Kolbasnikova, according to some reports, was born in Ukraine, and Schlund, before moving from Russia to Germany, was named Rostyslav Teslyuk. He graduated from the Faculty of Aircraft of the Air Force Academy in Voronezh, and then served in the Air Force. In social networks, you can find photos of Teslyuk in the form of a military pilot, as well as in a black T-shirt “I am Russian”, very popular with radical nationalists.
Meanwhile, as The Insider found out, Teslyuk-Schlund is on the special register of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for inflicting bodily harm on a man in 2010, then the court sentenced him to one year probation.
In addition, according to the operational report of the Central Internal Affairs Directorate of Moscow for 01/13/2009, in the store "The Seventh Continent" on the street. Miklukho-Maklay Teslyuk stole goods worth 1,600 rubles 53 kopecks and was caught red-handed (criminal case No. 158532). Judging by the reports of the Accounts Chamber, the direction of Teslyuk's activities has not changed much since then, but the scale has grown.
