Pseudo-public organisations masquerading as cultural activities are perhaps the most widespread and traditional form of activity for Moscow's agents of influence. Their creation accelerated sharply after Russia's seizure of Crimea in 2014. Moscow clearly attempted to compensate for the foreign policy disaster by stepping up propaganda and intelligence operations within countries that opposed Russian aggression. Distinguishing such front organisations from genuine cultural societies, created spontaneously and genuinely engaged in various activities of interest to their members, is quite easy—just look at their structure and the nature of their activities.

The more innocuous and ‘cultured’ the name of such firms, the better the disguise. In the film ‘Some Like It Hot,’ a gathering of Italian mafiosi was disguised as a ‘convention of Italian opera lovers.’ The activities of Russian agents of influence are usually similarly disguised as the dissemination of Russian culture and the Russian language.

A typical example of such sham societies is the Leo Tolstoy Institute in Berlin. This organisation was officially registered in Berlin in September 2014 at Pestalozzistrasse 73.

The president of the institute is Tatiana Garcia, the owner of a translation agency located at the same address.

The institute's stated goal is ‘Promoting German-Russian Friendship.’ The institute's website states: ‘The newly established Leo Tolstoy Institute firmly and principledly advocates for friendship and the strengthening of economic ties between Germany and Russia. In today's challenging political situation, it is crucial not to give in to momentary anger, but to maintain a clear head and think rationally and calmly.’

The grand opening took place on November 21, 2014, but the institute's activities began earlier. On April 13, 2014, a month after Russia seized Crimea and officially incorporated it into the Russian Federation (March 18, 2014), Tatiana Garcia spoke at a pro-Russian demonstration near the Soviet monument at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. The demonstration, carrying Russian flags, was small. Garcia began by apologizing to the Germans for speaking Russian—‘at least our paratroopers will understand.’ The response was, ‘We understand.’ Apparently, the majority of the audience consisted of members of the ‘paratroopers' union’—‘Verein Desant e.V.’—veterans of Soviet, GDR, and Russian special forces.

Garcia stated in her speech that the goal of the institute she founded was ‘to bring Slavic culture to the German masses,’ but ‘it is impossible to remain aloof from politics when you see that the short-sighted policies of European states and the United States toward Russia have brought us to the brink of a third world war.’ This was a reference to the harsh reaction of Western countries to the annexation of Crimea. She then declared that ‘there is no freedom of the press in Germany’ and that, in fact, according to polls, two-thirds of Germans share Russia's position on the Ukrainian issue. Apparently, the decision to establish the institute was made immediately after the annexation of Crimea for purely propaganda purposes, and Garcia began her public activity as its president long before its official registration.

The Tolstoy Institute was registered in the commercial register under the name Tolstoi Institut e. V. only on September 2, 2014, and the last amendments to its charter were dated June 30. The institute's first meeting took place on September 9, 2014, at the Werner Media publishing house. The owner, Nikolai Werner, is an extremely exotic figure. In recent years, he has been an active agent of Moscow's influence, judging by his Facebook page.

On September 22, the institute received the blessing of Archbishop Theophan of Berlin and Germany.

This took place in Berlin, at the Russian House of Science and Culture, during an event described on the Rossotrudnichestvo website as follows: "As part of a working visit to Germany by the Chairman of the Synodal Committee for Interaction with the Cossacks, Metropolitan Kirill of Stavropol and Nevinnomyssk, a member of the Council for Cossack Affairs under the President of Russia, a round table was held on September 22 at the Russian House of Science and Culture in Berlin, dedicated to the preservation and development of the cultural, historical and spiritual traditions of the Russian Cossacks.

The meeting was attended by Archbishop Feofan of Berlin and Germany, representatives of the Cossack community, the Union of Paratroopers and GRU Special Forces Veterans in Germany, the Club of Orthodox Patrons, the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, and the Tolstoy Institute. Political scientist Alexander Rahr and Count Oleg Semenov also participated. The characteristic selection of participants at the roundtable is noteworthy: bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church, costumed Cossacks, veterans of the Airborne Forces and GRU Special Forces, the Tolstoy Institute, and Putin lobbyist German political scientist Alexander Rahr. This selection aptly describes the range and diversity of Russian propaganda actors abroad.

Count Oleg Semenov is listed on the Tolstoy Institute's website as ‘Cossack Cultural Advisor to the Leo Tolstoy Institute.’ The Cossack Cultural Centre was officially opened at the institute in April 2015.

In September 2014, the institute began distributing postcards of a petition to the Bundestag, ‘For Friendship with Russia and Against Sanctions.’ The petition calls for the lifting of sanctions against Russia and the non-imposition of new ones. The petition form was also available for download from the institute's website.

At the opening of the institute on November 21, welcoming speeches were given by Andreas Jahn, parliamentary assistant to Bundestag member of parliament (CDU) Johannes Selle, and Second Secretary of the Russian Embassy in Germany Alexander Derevyanchenko, a man with a distinctive career as a secret service officer. A month and a half later, at a New Year's concert organised by the Russian-German parliamentary group on January 3, 2015, Johannes Selle received an award from the Tolstoy Institute in the form of a pin from Tatiana Garcia. In 2015, the institute's activities were featured in an issue of the ZAPP television magazine of the German programme NDR – "Culture and Propaganda – Tolstoy Institute." Journalists revealed the dual nature of its activities. "To outside observers, the Tolstoy Institute presents itself in purely cultural garb. It organises lectures and concerts. The implied goal is mutual understanding between peoples and German-Russian friendship. However, the institute, founded last year, also has political goals. Among other things, it promotes the idea of ​​a Eurasian continent, Europe's breakaway from the United States and its consolidation with Russia. The Eurasian idea is Vladimir Putin's favourite project. One of the institute's goals is to influence German journalists and bloggers to promote this concept. Its partners include a Berlin politician from the Bürgerrechtsbewegung Solidarität party and journalists from the right-wing populist magazine Kompakt and Russia Today. Among the institute's friends are journalist Udo Ulfkotte and Udo Voigt, a member of the European Parliament from the NPD party.

Udo Ulfkott, who died in January 2017, was a German writer known for his right-wing populist and Islamophobic views. The Civil Rights Movement – ​​Solidarity (Bürgerrechtsbewegung Solidarität) is a small German party with Trotskyist roots.

The programme also featured a video clip of Garcia's aforementioned April 2014 speech, in which she stated that there was no press freedom in Germany. In an interview with Zapp journalists, she retracted this statement, saying she had never said anything of the sort.

This dual image – one designed for external German observers, the other for German ‘friends of Putin’ and Russian emigrants (the main objects of Putin’s propaganda) – is a characteristic feature of all the imitation pseudo-public Putin organisations created abroad.

In July 2016, Tatiana Garcia represented the Tolstoy Institute at the 15th Congress of the Petersburg Dialogue in St. Petersburg, participating in the ‘Culture’ group. The Petersburg Dialogue is a Russian-German governmental organisation, although participation in its events entails a certain official status.

In June 2016, Garcia participated in the economic forum ‘Russia: Business Cooperation and Prospects’ at the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce. The institute's website also details Garcia's participation in other official Russian-German events, primarily economic ones. Other events included the unveiling of obelisks to fallen soldiers, New Year's and Victory Day celebrations on May 9, an interview with Sputnik Radio, musical and literary evenings, and a spring ball in April 2017.

The nature of the events reveals how this clearly front organisation is gradually being introduced into German political and business circles.

The institute's internal structure appears mysterious. At all events in which the Tolstoy Institute participates, its sole official representative is always President Tatiana Garcia.

Only one photograph, dated January 9, 2015, shows the participants of the first ‘Friday meeting in the New Year’ and lists their names: ‘Andreas Engel, Mario Rados, Tatiana Garcia, Count Oleg Semenov, Dr. Detlef Lechler, Thomas Lebnitz, Beatrice Tilman.’

None of them, with the exception of ‘Count Semenov,’ are mentioned anymore on the institute’s website.

However, according to the entries in the commercial register, the Tolstoi-Institut e.V. organisation is headed by a board of directors consisting of three people: chairman Tatiana Garsia (Garsyia, Tatiana, *23.07.1963, Berlin), second chairman Heiner Hinck (Hinck, Heiner, *10.08.1964, Berlin), treasurer Günter Czichon (Czichon, Günter, *09.09.1952, Berlin).

The position of president is not provided for in the company's charter. The other two board members do not participate in the institute's official activities, and their names are not mentioned anywhere. However, there is no plaque on the building where the Tolstoy Institute is registered. Instead, the name of Günter Cichon is listed.

Günter Cichon is a German far-right politician and chairman of the Berlin branch of the small right-wing party Citizens' Movement for Germany (Bürgerbewegung pro Deutschland). In 2015, the party had 110 members. In 2013, Pro Deutschland was added to the official list of extremist organisations by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution. In September 2016, Günter Cichon protested his party's inclusion on this list, but lost the case and was forced to pay legal costs.

The strange connection between the controversial Tolstoy Institute, its right-wing treasurer, and CDU Bundestag members Johannes Selle and Bernhard Kaster, chairman of the German-Russian parliamentary group, was brought to the attention of Der Spiegel magazine in March 2016. The article was titled ‘CDU Members with Contacts on the Right’ – ‘Unionsabgeordnete mit Kontakt nach rechtsaußen.’

A man with the same name as the second chairman of the Tolstoy Institute, Heiner Hink, ran for a Berlin municipal seat in 2014 for the same party, ‘Pro Deutschland.’ Photojournalist Steffi Reichert also drew attention to the Tolstoy Institute's connections to a wide variety of extremist right- and left-wing parties and groups in articles published on her website, streichfotografie. Analyzing the list of members of the Tolstoy Institute's Facebook group and Tatiana Garcia's ‘friends’ on her Facebook page, she uncovered connections to a variety of groups, including Pegida, AfD, right-wing radicals, leftists, the Reichsbürger, and others.

The Tolstoy Institute's website lists its official partners as equally characteristic. Pegida and Pro Deutschland are not listed, but other, equally characteristic organisations include the East-West Society (EastWest e.V.), the German-Russian Festival Society (Verein Deutsch Russische Festtage e.V.), the Suvorov Institute (Suworow Institut), and the Prussian Society Berlin-Brandenburg (Preußische Gesellschaft Berlin Brandenburg).

The East-West Society is a Leipzig-based non-governmental organisation composed primarily of Russian students living in Germany. Its mission is to ‘promote direct contacts between Russians and EU citizens.’ Its partners include the Tolstoy Institute, the Russian House of Science and Culture in Berlin, the Dialogue Club, and the Association of Russian and German Economists, founded in Tübingen in 1998 and with branches in Russia (Moscow, St. Petersburg, Tomsk, and Gatchina) and Germany (Chemnitz, Frankfurt am Main, Leipzig, and Tübingen). The German-Russian Festival Society is a non-governmental organisation established in 2005 under the auspices of the Russian Embassy and the German government. It organises German-Russian festivals and celebrations in Germany. Sponsors include Gazprom, the Russian House of Science and Culture in Berlin, the Russkiy Mir Foundation, Rossotrudnichestvo, and Russian Post. Headquartered at the Russian House of Science and Culture in Berlin.

The Prussian Society of Berlin-Brandenburg is a public organisation founded in 1996 with the goal of re-establishing the Prussian state and cultivating Prussian values. Its founder and honorary president is Volker Tschapke. The organisation maintains excellent relations with the Russian embassy in Germany. In 2015, the newspaper ‘BZ’ wrote about the Prussian Society's New Year's reception at the Berlin Hilton Hotel, attended by the ambassadors of Russia and China: ‘They welcome Russia, scold America. German politicians avoid the society, but not the ambassadors of Russia and China.’ The article was titled ‘A Society Looking Backward: The Bizarre Game of the 'Prussian Society.'’ It quoted Tschapke, who spoke of ‘the unacceptable one-sidedness in covering events in Russia’ and attacked the United States, ‘which wants to subjugate the entire world.’ The article was illustrated, among other things, with photographs of the Russian ambassador Grinin and ‘Count Oleg Semenov’ in Cossack uniform, who were present.

The Suvorov Institute—the Society for the Promotion of Austrian-Russian Dialogue—is a Vienna-based organisation, a counterpart to the Berlin-based Tolstoy Institute. The Suvorov Institute was founded in January 2015 and, according to its own declaration, is ‘an association of Austrian citizens advocating for dialogue with Russia.’ As Patrick Poppel (born 1985), the Institute's Secretary General, frankly stated in an interview, ‘The impetus for the creation of the organisation was the events in Ukraine and Crimea in 2013-2014.’

Patrick Poppel is a member of the small Austrian right-wing party REKOS (Die Reformkonservativen – REKOS). ‘The party sharply criticises the Western approach to Russia regarding the Ukrainian crisis and warns of the danger of a military clash between NATO and Russia. It calls for improved relations with Russia. The European Parliament should be dissolved. It calls for special solidarity with the Christian victims of Islamism.’ In the aforementioned interview, Poppel stated: ‘…the position of the Suvorov Institute is simple. Austria should not wait for the entire European Union (a very unwieldy structure, constrained by internal contradictions) to lift sanctions against Russia. The sanctions must be lifted immediately. And the decision must be made in Vienna, without shifting responsibility to Brussels.’ The Suvorov Institute has four partners: the Monastery of St. Elizabeth in Minsk, the Austrian-Belarusian Society, the Tolstoy Institute, and SYSTEMA-Austria. The last organisation is a sports club that teaches martial arts to the GRU Spetsnaz.

It's striking that the Suvorov Institute, like the Tolstoy Institute, emerged in response to the 2014 Ukrainian crisis. Both institutions were founded on the foundations and with the participation of small far-right parties. But while members of these parties remained largely undisclosed at the Tolstoy Institute, the Suvorov Institute is directly headed by one of them. In both cases, there is no information about the funding of the institutes' activities.

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In conclusion, it can be stated with certainty that the Tolstoy Institute is neither an institute nor a public organisation. It is a propaganda and intelligence centre established in Germany, financed either by the embassy or directly by Moscow agencies responsible for propaganda abroad and work with foreigners (that is, primarily, the secret services). This centre's mission includes consolidating the protest activity of various small right-wing, left-wing, Islamophobic, and nationalist parties and movements in Germany, for use in the interests of the Moscow regime, as well as promoting pro-Putin propaganda among Russian émigrés in Germany. The aforementioned Russian partners of the Tolstoy Institute are similarly sham pseudo-public organisations with Moscow roots and obvious Moscow funding.