In Berlin, the Union of European Writers has a sister organisation: the Union of Writers of Interethnic Harmony of the Federal Republic of Germany (Schriftsteller Vereinigung Bundesrepublik Deutschland für Völkerverständigung e.V.). Like the Union of European Writers, this is also a fictitious public organisation, although formally registered in 2010. Its president is Vladimir Sergienko (born 1971, Lviv), a writer who has lived in Germany since 1991. The press attaché is Saadi Isakov (born 1955). Only one person, Vladimir Sergienko, is publicly active in this organisation, and he is also the president. His activities are usually linked to pro-Russian propaganda against the Ukrainian government.

Sergienko, a Soviet émigré originally from Lviv, lives in Berlin, but regularly appears on Moscow-based propaganda television and radio programmes and presents awards in various countries on behalf of his Union of Writers of Interethnic Harmony of the Federal Republic of Germany. This was the case, for example, in Ukraine in 2014. Here are a few quotes from Sergienko's speeches over the years:

‘Somehow it turns out that the United States is turning from a global policeman into a global racketeer.’

‘We see that human rights violations in Ukraine have become systemic. But Germany has built a fairly powerful information protection system, a kind of bunker that only receives limited information.’

‘Joke: Merkel teaches Erdogan democracy in Turkey.’

‘...forced goodwill toward refugees is a sign of horror, not professionalism, from a security standpoint. Attempts to hush up the outrageous behavior of refugees from Arab countries, from a different civilization, from a different culture, sow discord in good neighborly relations.’

‘For some reason, they borrowed a moratorium on the death penalty from Europe. Why the hell are we messing with someone who took another person's life?!’

This small collection is characteristic in that it covers virtually the entire range of current pro-Putin propaganda. It includes anti-American, anti-Ukrainian, anti-democratic statements, attacks on Merkel and Erdogan, attacks on Arab refugees... The collection could be continued indefinitely; Sergienko doesn't voice anything that goes beyond official propaganda or contradicts it.

The author of the statements himself is interesting in several respects.

First of all, this is a demonstration specimen of a ‘media personality’, grown in a test tube from nothing, from ‘yard dust’.

In 2017, a document titled ‘Monitoring Certain Aspects of Human Rights Violations in Ukraine for 2014-2016’ was released in German and Russian. The ‘Impressum’ section reads: ‘Volodymyr Sergienko, President of the Union of Writers of Interethnic Harmony of the Federal Republic of Germany, Berlin; Centre for Freedom of Speech, Kyiv; Institute of Legal Policy and Social Protection, Kyiv; Anti-Fascist Human Rights League, Kyiv; With the assistance of: the Union of Political Emigrants and Political Prisoners of Ukraine (SPPU) and the Committee for the Salvation of Ukraine (KSU).’ All of the listed organisations, in addition to Sergienko and his ‘Union,’ are clearly created and supported by Moscow. This document was published at a press conference of former Prime Minister Mykola Azarov of the Yanukovych government, held in Berlin on February 22, 2017. Articles about it appeared in the pro-Russian press under the headline: ‘Political repressions in Ukraine announced for the first time in the Bundestag. Results of the press conference.’ In reality, the press conference took place in a rented room in the Bundestag conference building and had nothing to do with the Bundestag itself.

The event was organised by Vladimir Sergienko, president of the Union of Writers of International Accord. He distributed invitations and approached Bundestag members with offers to meet with the authors of ‘Monitoring.’ He also moderated the conference and made characteristically anti-Ukrainian statements.

Sergienko, as ‘President of the Union of Writers of Interethnic Harmony of the Federal Republic of Germany,’ also founded the Oles Ulyanenko Literary Prize. It was awarded in Ukraine and was considered a German prize.

Apparently, the first chronological mention of Sergienko's international activities is an announcement of a literary competition launched in 2010 by the Association of Russian-Speaking Authors of Australia and New Zealand. Among the jury members is listed: ‘Vladimir Sergienko – member of the International PEN Club, advisor to the regional branch of the Union of Writers of Russia, Moscow branch, Chekhov Medal laureate, chairman of the Union of Writers of Interethnic Harmony of the Federal Republic of Germany (Berlin, Germany).’

Sergienko's Facebook page states that he works as an editor at Weltexpress-International. The Weltexpress website features a single advertisement for a Montenegro vacation signed by Sergienko.

In January 2016, a scandal erupted in Germany involving the ‘Liza girl,’ who was allegedly raped by refugees. Then, racist rallies, predominantly attended by Russian immigrants, took place across Germany, targeting migrants from Muslim countries. Sergienko spoke at one of these rallies in Berlin.

Since 2016, Sergienko has appeared almost weekly on political programmes on central Moscow television and radio channels, as a guest with hosts Vladimir Solovyov, Yevgeny Satanovsky, and others. Sergienko uses his Facebook blog for daily pro-Putin propaganda, successfully simulating independence and spontaneity in his statements on a variety of political topics. Sergienko had his own blog back in 2017, hosted by the radio station Ekho Moskvy.

The ‘Union of Writers of International Concord’ is a typical example of a fictitious public organisation. In reality, there is no union. There is one person, Putin's agent of influence, who serves the propaganda needs of the central Russian press in Moscow and carries out similar assignments in Berlin.

However, the commercial register states that the company’s board of directors consists of two people: chairman Vladimir Sergienko and vice-chairman Heiner Sylvester (born 1943).

Heiner Sylvester is a renowned German film director and East German dissident who came into conflict with the regime and fled to West Germany in 1984. Heiner Sylvester has not been actively involved in the activities of the Writers' Union of International Concord, save for a trip with Sergienko to a publishing forum in Lviv in 2013, before the Ukrainian-Russian crisis.

In September 2016, Marina Akhmedova's lengthy article, ‘The Cobra Effect,’ appeared in EXPERT online magazine (issue 14). It's a lengthy interview in Berlin, including with Vladimir Sergienko himself, several German intellectuals, and the head of the pro-Soviet ‘Convention of Russian Germans,’ Heinrich Grout. All the interviews were prepared by Sergienko and were conducted with his participation.

In this interview, director Heiner Sylvester makes anti-American and pro-Russian statements, such as: ‘Globalization, which comes from America, is also bringing a wave of new ideology, including a popular anti-Russian attitude. We used to view Russia as our partner through historical events. But the press has created such a picture of Russia that... it's simply impossible.’ Another former GDR director, Ulrich Kasten, makes even harsher statements in favour of Russia and Putin in the article: ‘You can hardly understand my disrespect for this country,’ Ulrich says emphatically, emerging from the depths of his chair. ‘Just imagine a European politician—and we have someone like Schulz—declaring in all seriousness on a Sunday talk show: 'I don't like Putin!'... If you ask me about Crimea, I'll say that for me, it's simply Russian policy, based on reality. What does Germany have to do with Crimea? Doesn't Europe really have its own problems?’ While German directors have enjoyed a fairly respectable reputation in Germany until now, Heinrich Grout is well known as a Putin agent of influence. His organisation is pro-Soviet and racist. Its website has the characteristic name ‘Genosse.su.’ Grout even makes a thoroughly racist statement in an interview: ‘Russian Germans in Germany are like yeast: we can awaken and raise the national spirit of this mass of people who have already mentally accepted defeat. What did we think at first? We'd come, stand behind the Germans, and strengthen them. But in the end, we had to watch as they were led to the cemetery like an ethnic herd.’

Amusingly, another interviewee, writer Frank Willmann, presented as an opponent of Putin and Russia's seizure of Crimea, also makes characteristically pro-Russian and anti-American statements: ‘Don't pay attention to everything the German press writes. Just talk to people, and you'll understand that Germans don't support sanctions against Russia and don't believe that Russia is solely to blame for everything. Always focus on one simple thing: Germany is an official ally of America. It is in America's interests to weaken Russia.’

Thus, we have an interview from EXPERT magazine with two Russian agents of influence, two German filmmakers who are Putin supporters, and a German writer, supposedly an opponent of Putin and his seizure of Crimea, who simultaneously protests the sanctions imposed on Russia in connection with that seizure. This is a very typical, one might even say exemplary, product of the Kremlin's mendacious propaganda about Germany, aimed at a Russian audience. The uninitiated reader may well fail to realise that they are not dealing with a broad spectrum of German public opinion, but with a basic propaganda setup, albeit a very professionally crafted one.

All of Putin's fake propaganda works according to this scheme.

Thanks to his regular appearances on Russian television and radio, Vladimir Sergienko has become one of the most prominent figures among Russian agents of influence in Germany, masquerading as journalists and cultural figures.

Their total number cannot be counted.