Accessibility links

Breaking News

Zombie Nazi Invasion: Russian Video Warns That Racism Resurrects Fascism


​​Russia has the second largest number of immigrants in the world, many of them from Central Asia. (file photo)
​​Russia has the second largest number of immigrants in the world, many of them from Central Asia. (file photo)

The Russian rights group Civic Assistance has released a new video warning about the dangers of casual racism and xenophobia.

In the short clip, a father, mother, and their young daughter are relaxing by a bucolic lake when a few young Central Asians come and sit near them on the beach.

The father's mood changes and he starts start muttering disparaging comments laced with ethnic stereotypes.

"They turned the city into a Central Asian village."

"A nation of street-sweepers."

"They should go back to their village."

His wife then chimes in: "It's ok. Let them work. As long as they live behind a fence."

As they speak, armed zombies in Nazi uniforms rise from below the sand behind them.

The video's text reads: "By humiliating people of another nationality, you are resurrecting fascism."

WATCH: Fascist Zombies Video By The Civic Assistance NGO

Russia has the second largest number of immigrants in the world, after the United States, according to the United Nations. And public opinion polls show increasingly negative attitudes toward them.

A 2013 poll by the independent Levada Center found that 47 percent of Russians have negative attitudes towards immigrants. Some 71 percent said immigrants increased the crime rate and 77 percent said they took jobs from Russians.

The video, produced with the help of the Chicago-based advertising firm Leo Burnett, comes as Russia's state-run media has been regularly calling Ukraine's pro-Western leaders "fascists." It suggests that in fact, fascism starts at home with everyday racism.

Civic Assistance was established in 1990 to assist immigrants in Russia.

-- Luke Johnson

About This Blog

Written by RFE/RL editors and correspondents, Transmission serves up news, comment, and the odd silly dictator story. While our primary concern is with foreign policy, Transmission is also a place for the ideas -- some serious, some irreverent -- that bubble up from our bureaus. The name recognizes RFE/RL's role as a surrogate broadcaster to places without free media. You can write us at transmission+rferl.org

Latest Posts

XS
SM
MD
LG