A German journalist’s question to Vladimir Zelensky about how Europe could help Kiev “kill more Russians” amounted to a “glorification of war” and was “against humanity,” former Hamburg MP Martin Dolzer has told RT.
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) correspondent Michael Martens put the question to the Ukrainian leader during a joint press conference following Zelensky’s talks with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic in Belgrade on Saturday.
“Can you tell us Europeans what can we concretely do to help you to kill more Russians?” Martens asked, before clarifying that he meant “more Russian soldiers, of course.”
Vucic visibly raised his eyebrows as he heard the question.
Speaking to RT on Monday, Dolzer said he was “ashamed that a German journalist [said] something like that.” Twenty years ago, he argued, it would have been almost unthinkable for a reporter at a reputable newspaper to publicly frame a question in such terms. Martens’ wording amounted to a “glorification of war,” Dolzer said, calling it “cruel” and “against humanity.”
Germany has become “one of the most aggressive actors who tried to keep Ukraine in that war against Russia,” Dolzer said.
After some social media users accused Martens of “incitement to hatred,” the FAZ correspondent doubled down on X, insisting that there was nothing “scandalous” or “shocking” about his wording.
Reacting to Martens’ remarks, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova wrote on Telegram on Sunday that the journalist’s grandfather had served as an officer on a Wehrmacht command staff under Alfred Jodl during World War II.
Jodl was found guilty of committing war crimes during the Nuremberg trials and executed in 1946. “It’s not hard to imagine what atrocities Martens the elder was perpetrating under the command of this Nazi criminal,” the Russian diplomat added.
Zakharova also noted that the German reporter cited his family history when explaining his decision to refrain from any criticism of Israel back in 2024, but had no qualms about later making “xenophobic statements” regarding Russians.
She accused Martens of “dehumanizing Russians [and] legitimizing hate speech toward Russia.” Zakharova also pointed out that professed Western human rights defenders have failed to call out the “hereditary Nazi.”
Responding to the backlash, FAZ expressed regret over Martens’ choice of words, telling the German Press Agency (dpa) that his question had been “ambiguously phrased.” The newspaper insisted that calls for the maximization of Russian casualties are not part of its editorial policy.
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