The journalist of the German public broadcaster ZDF, Armin Koerper, who heads the channel’s Moscow bureau, filmed a report that distorts the picture of life in Russian-occupied Mariupol, the Ukrainians accuse. The visit of the correspondent of the German TV channel ZDF to Mariupol without the consent of Kyiv is a violation of Ukrainian legislation, said on February 2 the spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Oleg Nikolenko.

On January 29, ZDF published a report from Mariupol, which talks about the life of local residents under Russian occupation.

“Ukrainian Pravda” notes that the journalist tried to create the impression that the majority of residents of the city, which has been under Russian occupation for almost two years, are pro-Russian. Koerper also mentions the rebuilding of the city without emphasizing that the Russians destroyed it.

“Mariupol is not a ghost town; I want to clarify this,” Koerper said, Ukrainian Pravda reports.

“New books, new programs have appeared in schools. History lessons, of course, all this now follows the Russian narrative,” he also notes, Kyiv Independent reports.

The ZDF report also mentions, as “Ukrainian Pravda” writes, that before the Russian occupation, the bombed-out theater prohibited performances in Russian, but “now the situation has changed.”

The journalist says that “the city is working, shops and restaurants are working”. In addition, the ZDF journalist adds: “There is heating, hot water and internet.”

“Resistance? I don’t see it,” Koerper said. The journalist also noted that the city needs people to restore the economy.

Ukraine is outraged and demands an explanation

Ukraine’s ambassador to Germany, Oleksiy Makeev, said he shares the outrage over the ZDF story. He added that the story had caused a sharp backlash among many German experts and journalists, including Kerper’s colleagues at the station.

On February 2, the spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Oleg Nikolenko, said that Ukraine had turned to television for an explanation.

“We ask ZDF to provide an official explanation. Violation of Ukrainian legislation may affect the further activities of mass media in Ukraine,” Nikolenko said on the X social network.

Nikolenko said about the ZDF report that “distorting reality is not journalism.”

How to protect a ZDF station

However, the ZDF station noted that Kerper “chose the ambiguous phrase ‘the city works'”, assuring that “highlighting only this quote only gives a shortened view of the reporter’s impression”.

“Instead, Armin Koerper describes how Russia is trying to create the impression of normality and reconstruction with the help of significant financial resources,” the article says.

ZDF also claims that in its reports from Ukraine, they have “no doubt” that Mariupol was illegally occupied territory by Russia and who was the aggressor and the victim in this war.

Armin Koerper, ZDF’s Moscow bureau chief who visited Mariupol, said he and his team needed to obtain documents from Russia to gain access to the city.

“I would like to make it clear that this does not mean that we recognize this occupation by Russia,” Kerper told ZDFheute.

Mariupol, a city in southeastern Ukraine on the Sea of ​​Azov, was captured by Russia after a long and bloody siege in the spring of 2022, culminating in the Battle of Azovstal.

Russian forces committed numerous atrocities during the siege, destroying most of the city and killing thousands of people.