Venice Film Festival Premieres “Russians at War,” Director Claims “No War Crimes Observed”

At the 81st Venice Film Festival, the Russian documentary Russians at War premiered.

According to Russian media, Russians at War, directed by Anastasia Trofimova, was made from footage filmed during her seven-month stay with a Russian battalion in temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories.

"In Russia, they are portrayed as heroes who never die. In the West, they are mainly seen as war criminals," Trofimova, told reporters ahead of the premiere of her film. "To me, the biggest shock was discovering how ordinary they were—just regular guys with families, a sense of humor, and their own views on the war."

Operating without official authorization, Trofimova followed a Russian battalion through temporarily occupied territories in eastern Ukraine, stating that she saw “no signs of war crimes during her time near the front.”

"I think in Western media, that's what Russian soldiers are associated with at this point, because there were no other stories. This is another story," she said. “This is my attempt to see through the fog of war and to see people for people."

The film offers only limited coverage of actual combat and does not address the broader destruction caused by Russian forces. One soldier dismisses accusations of war crimes as "impossible."

Another film premiered at Venice, Songs of Slow Burning Earth, depicted the suffering in Ukraine, and its director Olha Zhurba criticized the decision to screen the Russian film, arguing it was premature to portray the invaders in a sympathetic light. "I think Russian filmmakers should ... reveal the true face of the war criminals," Olha Zhurba said.

Trofimova dismissed the criticism: "Since the beginning of the war on February 24, 2022, many bridges between Russia and the West have been destroyed," she said. "I hope this film might not be a bridge but at least a rope to help us understand each other better."

The Russian director currently resides outside her home country, "awaiting the government’s response." "I still have many questions about how all this happened. It’s clearly some kind of diplomatic failure. Any war is a failure of diplomacy. But I can say that ordinary people usually have no say in these matters," Trofimova said.

Russia has been accused of war crimes in Ukraine since the start of it’s full-scaled invasion in 2022. Reports from international organizations and investigative bodies have documented instances of atrocities, including the targeting of civilians, indiscriminate shelling, and other forms of violence that violate international humanitarian law.

Russians at War is being shown out of competition at the Venice Film Festival, which concludes on Saturday.