Kremlin propaganda coup?
Members of the state parliament allegedly “fled” to Russia
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The Hamburg AfD wants to get rid of one of its members after several incidents. Citizenship representative Olga Petersen has been attracting attention for years with her close ties to Russia. A Kremlin media recently claimed that she had fled to the country. But many questions remain unanswered.
After the Hamburg AfD initiated party expulsion proceedings against citizen representative Olga Petersen because of her proximity to Russia, there is the next stir surrounding the politician. A few days ago, the Russian state news agency TASS – one of the Kremlin's many mouthpieces – reported that Petersen had been “forced” to leave Germany, whereupon she had settled in Russia.
Alexander Brod, member of the Russian Presidential Council for Civil Society and Human Rights, speaks in the report from Russia. He told TASS: “Youth welfare offices were involved in removing three underage children from the family and a media incitement was sparked. As a result, she and her children had to leave Germany and settle in Russia.”
Brod also repeated well-known Kremlin lies that are repeatedly made about various Western countries. He said that the events were reminiscent of the “atmosphere in Nazi Germany” and that there were “unbearable conditions in the country.” The Hamburg politician will be helped with legal advice, the necessary documents and a job, said Brod.
Petersen and the authorities did not comment
Petersen herself did not want to comment further to the “Hamburger Morgenpost” because of the “safety of her family”. The Hanseatic city's social authority also did not provide any further information for “data protection reasons”. Much of the story seems like the Kremlin's next propaganda coup. But there are still just as many questions open – which may never be clarified.
Petersen has come under increasing criticism this year because she was present as an observer at the presidential “election” in Russia. She later described the obviously massively manipulated vote as “open, democratic and free”. The AfD parliamentary group spoke of having been “deceived”: Petersen had previously claimed that he was traveling to Russia as a private individual.
“The fundamental differences of opinion that have emerged make further cooperation no longer possible,” it also said. Petersen also has a “played a significant role in the interim breakup of the Harburg district faction.
Appearance at the Kremlin whip
According to NDR, the AfD member is said to have been there as an “election observer” for the Duma elections in 2021 at the invitation of Russia. Petersen has also appeared in the Russian state propaganda program “60 Minutes” in the past. There she spoke with Evgeny Popov, a well-known Kremlin whip who is on the sanctions lists of numerous countries. He is also a member of Putin's United Russia party.
The most recent post on Petersen's X-profile shows her at a meeting in the Hamburg parliament in mid-May. She stated that she was non-attached. The AfD parliamentary group had announced the exclusion a week earlier. There have been no current dates posted on Petersen's homepage, which is also available in Russian, for a long time. In her X cover photo she writes that she is a “proud German from Russia”.
