Putin’s Agents in Germany: Who Is Trying to Disrupt Arms Supplies to Ukraine

Elena Kolbasnikova and Rostislav Tesliuk (Max Schlund) run a network of Kremlin agents in Germany.

Putin’s agents are firmly entrenched in Western countries and are trying to change public opinion in favor of Russia or at least undermine support for Ukraine. The main goal of the Kremlin’s agents is to discredit, and ideally, to stop arms deliveries altogether.

Germany has become one of the key sites for this “struggle. On the one hand, Ukraine’s allies regularly meet here at the NATO Ramstein Air Base to announce new military assistance packages. On the other hand, an extensive network of Russian agents has been formed in this country over the years.

As a result, under the guise of social activists, cultural and scientific figures, they promote Putin’s propaganda and hold forums and rallies. Obviously – everything to undermine the desire of ordinary Germans to help Ukrainians and to put pressure on local politicians. The Evocation team found two of Putin’s brightest henchmen in Germany and learned all about them.

Two of the Boxes: Kolbasnikova and Tesliuk

For example, on Thursday, February 26, at 12:00 p.m., an anti-Ukrainian rally is scheduled near the Ramstein airbase. It was organized by the little-known group Bridge of Heritage between Russia and Germany. The media recognition of this group is limited to the blocked group in Telegram. However, its leaders are very well known among the pro-Putin diaspora. Their names are Rostislav Tesliuk (pseudonym – Max Schlund) and Elena Kolbasnikova.

Rostislav Vyacheslavovich Tesliuk

He was born on April 23, 1982 in Moscow. He graduated from local school #956 in 1995. Then he received his higher education at the N.E. Air Force Engineering Academy. Zhukovsky in 2004. His mother used to work there.

His father, Colonel Vyacheslav Tesliuk, was head of the department at Balashov Military Pilot School. But apparently even his parents’ connections did not help Rostislav Tesliuk build a career in aviation. He soon retired to the reserve with the rank of Senior Lieutenant of the Air Force of the Russian Federation. Since about 2007, Tesliuk worked for private security firms.

In 2010, a Moscow court sentenced him to one year of probation for assaulting a man. As a result, Tesliuk moved to Germany in 2012 with his wife Yulia, who had German roots. Then their daughter Elena was born. After a while, Tesliuk left his wife and child and went to “like-minded woman” Elena Kolbasnikova.

Since then, Rostislav Tesliuk calls himself Max Schlund, taking the surname of his relatives as his pseudonym. From time to time Tesliuk visits his mother in Russia and even bought an apartment in Moscow in early 2022.

Elena Kolbasnikova

Born March 20, 1975 in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro, in 1992 she graduated from local school № 16. Kolbasnikova moved to Germany in 1996 and now lives in the city of Cologne. She is active in the local sect of Messianic Jews. But more remarkable is her action with nostalgia for the Soviet past.

Kolbasnikova worked as a nurse, taking care of the elderly at home. However, her colleagues learned of her racist views and categorically refused to work with Kolbasnikova. In addition, they told clients about her activities. They eventually got the nurse fired and “even called heran ‘idiotic Russian cow. After that she gained popularity and became one of the leaders of pro-Russian rallies in Germany. Interacts with far-right German politicians and Russian diplomats.

Kolbasnikova’s brother still lives in Ukraine and serves in the police force. In an interview with Reuters, he said that the family broke off relations with Elena because of her pro-Putin stance. Moreover, she herself complained on social media that eight years ago her parents abandoned her because Russia was trying to destroy her home country.

For Putin and against Ukraine

Rostislav Tesliuk and Olena Kolbasnikova are the “top stars” of a series of anti-Ukrainian actions that are regularly held in Germany after the beginning of Russia’s large-scale aggression against Ukraine. Although, even before last February, the activities of Tesliuk and Kolbasnikova had virtually no resonance.

Together with the biker club Motorstrings of Germany, they held rallies to glorify the Soviet army and in support of Putin. However, these actions did not attract the masses and were aimed at members of the Russian diaspora. At the same time, it allowed Tesluk and Kolbasnikova to form an “asset” that was eventually activated after February 24, 2022.

Since last spring, the pair organized a series of rallies and car rallies in Germany in support of Putin’s regime. In the summer, for example, Tesluk and Kolbasnikova organized a “day of music, food and sports” in Düsseldorf. The hall where the event took place was decorated with flags with the image of Ramzan Kadyrov. Then Chechen Minister of Information Akhmed Dudayev posted a photo of the celebration. He called Tesliuk and Kolbasnikova “goodwill ambassadors.

Eventually Tesliuk and Kolbasnikova changed the rhetoric of their actions. Thus, the main narrative was calls to lift sanctions on Russia. After all, “because of them, ordinary Germans have to pay more for utilities. They also demand to stop military aid to Ukraine. Because “the German government has no moral right to send its weapons after World War II. Allies of Putin’s agents in these demonstrations soon became far-right German politicians and organizations.

In October, Tesliuk and Kolbasnikova went to the temporarily occupied territories of the Donetsk region. They allegedly brought “humanitarian aid” as part of the PR campaign of the All-Russian People’s Front. This organization is headed by Vladimir Putin. In fact, the cargo was intended for the Russian military. In Donbass, the couple gave out interviews to propagandists, presenting themselves as “non-indifferent” Germans.

In December, Tesliuk and Kolbasnikova were supposed to go to a “forum for civil society activists” in Moscow. The tickets were paid for by the organization Russian House. It is part of Rossotrudnichestvo, a Russian state agency that has been under EU sanctions since July. The trip was disrupted, probably because agents Teslyuk and Kolbasnikova received a new assignment. Organize an action against Western arms deliveries to Ukraine under the Ramstein Air Base on February 26, 2023.

Kolbasnikova and Tesliuk are one step away from prison

Their activities have not gone unnoticed by journalists. Influential Western media outlets, including Reuters and DW, mention Kolbasnikova and Tesliuk in their investigations. The media has already labeled them as “Putin’s agents. The evidence gathered by journalists is enough for the couple to receive real prison sentences in Germany.

Thus, at the end of January it became known that Kolbasnikova and Tesliuk gave the Russian occupants 500 euros to buy radio equipment. The money was intended for the 42nd Motorized Division. This unit “distinguished itself” by a number of war crimes in the Zaporozhye and Mariupol directions.

According to the European Union regulation of February 25, 2022, the supply or financing of certain goods for the Russian army is strictly prohibited. The list also includes telecommunications equipment. At the same time, the laws of Germany suggest that violators of the EU sanctions are criminally liable – up to five years in prison. We hope that German justice will not hesitate to punish the Kremlin agents Tesliuk and Kolbasnikova.