After Zelensky bans ‘Masha and the Bear’ children’s show, Moscow accuses Kyiv of starting a ‘war on cartoons’

Filed 5d ago · Via Meduza · The Buffoon Desk

THIS STORY IS SCORED

Merry Go Slower

Kevin MacLeod · incompetech.com · CC BY 4.0

Photo: gdsteam · CC BY 2.0 · via Wikimedia Commons

Ukraine sanctioned the studio and five individuals behind the children's cartoon Masha and the Bear on August 20, citing a national security council finding that the show spreads pro-Russian narratives disguised as kids' content. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the move proof of 'the ugliness of the Kyiv regime,' praising the cartoon for winning over the world with 'kindness' and, in the same breath, 'propaganda, in the good sense of the word.'

British politicians raised similar alarms in 2026, flagging an episode where the title character dons NKVD- and tank-crew-style headgear. The studio, Animaccord, says it has not operated in Russia since the 2022 invasion and denies spreading propaganda.

The series has aired since 2009, with its most recent season out in 2025.

The full dispatch is available from the source below.

✒ FROM THE EDITORIAL DESK

There is something clarifying about a press office that says the quiet part in the very same sentence as the loud part, praising a cartoon's kindness and its propaganda value without pausing for breath. When an institution volunteers that its soft power is soft power, the only honest response is to thank it for the disclosure and update the file accordingly. Everyone involved here would be more credible if they simply admitted that children's programming has always been an argument wearing a costume.

Source: Read the original at Meduza → Scored: Merry Go Slower · Kevin MacLeod · CC BY 4.0

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