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Ukrainian Consul Condemns Dutch Documentary Filmed in Temporarily Occupied Territories as Illegal
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A Dutch documentary filmed during visits to temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories, including Mariupol, has drawn criticism from Ukraine’s honorary consul in the Netherlands. He described the project’s production and shooting methods as unacceptable in a comment to Ukrinform on April 29.
The film, titled Our Man With the Enemy, features Dutch journalist Thomas Erdbrink and director Roelof van Broekhoven, who traveled to temporarily occupied areas of Ukraine. According to Karel Burger Dirven, Ukraine’s honorary consul to the Kingdom of the Netherlands, such visits violate Ukrainian law.
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“This is an illegal visit, and there must be accountability for such violations. Illegal trips to occupied territories must not go without consequences,” Burger Dirven said in a comment to Ukrinform.
According to him, the film is being broadcast on RTL4, one of the Netherlands’ most popular commercial television channels, and is also available on the Videoland streaming platform. It is presented as a “journey through Russia with official Russian press accreditation.”
“Obviously, this accreditation does not apply to visits to the territory of Ukraine. I first heard about this film on the program Buitenhof, where Dutch journalist and TV presenter Twan Huys spoke with Erdbrink. I could not believe my eyes and ears—it looked like a direct copy of Kremlin propaganda. Erdbrink also describes how easily he travels to the front while accompanying the Russian army,” he said.
Burger Dirven also accused the journalist of promoting Kremlin narratives in interviews.
“He said in an interview with Dutch radio: ‘We mostly met people in Mariupol who said they were ethnic Russians. They said they were happy to belong to Russia again’... Hearing this, I, like dozens of Dutch journalists and writers, was outraged and shocked,” he added.
In total, according to Radio Free Europe, citing preliminary data from the city council, at least 22,000 people were killed in Mariupol. However, the number of victims may be several times higher.
The consul stressed that the filmmakers “show the Russian occupation while disregarding Ukrainian legislation and illegally entering occupied Ukrainian territory,” and said those responsible should be held accountable.
The controversy comes as cultural and media projects linked to Russia’s war against Ukraine continue to face scrutiny in Europe. The 2026 Cannes Film Festival has dedicated its official selection to French photographer Antoni Lallican, who was killed in Ukraine, and to former festival director Lili Hinstin, who recently passed away.
Lallican, a French photojournalist, was killed near Druzhkivka in Ukraine’s Donetsk region in a strike involving a Russian FPV drone. The death was confirmed on October 3, 2025, by Ukraine’s 4th Separate Heavy Mechanized Brigade, which reported that both journalists were wearing protective vests clearly marked “PRESS” at the time of the attack.
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