The Konflikt series is shown on the Russian streaming service under strict censorship.
The cast of the series includes, among others, Pirkka-Pekka Petelius and Sara Soulié. MTV3
Aku Louhimiehe’s Conflict series has ended up on a Russian streaming service.
The award-winning six-part Konflikti is about NATO-Finland.
At the beginning of the series, a foreign power invades Finland at Hankoniemi. The series follows the military operation after the invasion.
The attacking state is not named directly in the series, but the invaders in military uniforms speak Russian and move around in Russian-made armored vehicles.
The reference to the “little green men” who took over Crimea is clear.
The version shown on the Russian Wink streaming service has been heavily censored. The Russianness of the attackers has been completely erased. In addition, all references to Ukraine and Crimea seen in the series have been removed.
Russian version of the series looked at editor of the independent Russian media Novaya Gazeta Europa.
Salah Isse Mohamed plays a soldier named Youssuf Osman in the Konflikti series. MTV3
In Russian fashion, the series’ original soundtrack has been removed and re-dubbed in Russian. The Russian speaking of the attackers heard in the original version is not conveyed to Russian viewers, as all the characters without exception speak Russian.
In the original version, one of the actors plays a Ukrainian woman and her shirt has the three-pointed coat of arms symbol of Ukraine.
In the Russian version, the woman’s Ukrainian identity does not appear. The coat of arms has also been removed.
The Ukrainian greeting heard in the last episode of the series “Slava Ukraini – Herojam Slava” (Finnish: Glory to Ukraine, glory to the heroes) has also been removed.
In some places, the content of the series has been edited even further
In the first episode, we see a scene where Finnish soldiers remove the face hood from a dead attacker. The facial features seen in the original version refer to the Buryats, a minority ethnic group in Russia that has been overrepresented in the war in Ukraine.
In the Russian version, his face is not shown.
The Russian streaming version even has content that the Finnish original series does not have
In the third episode, an added dialogue is heard, where the characters hear a conversation over the noise of the radio:
– Spain? Why did Russians speak Spanish?
– They are not Russians, they are mercenaries.
Performance rights
The show rights of the Konflikt series have been sold to several European countries, including France, Poland and the Baltic countries. The series has been given free of charge to a Ukrainian television channel.
Series producer Andrei Alén is surprised by Iltalehti’s inquiry.
– We do not do any kind of cooperation and we do not do business with Russia or Russian companies. We have not been aware that the series has ended up on a Russian streaming service.
According to Alén, the issue is copyright infringement and unauthorized distribution.
The production company is also not aware of the modifications made to the series.
– This kind of content manipulation is part of a wider influence of information, which has been seen before. It is phenomena like this that have also partly inspired us as storytellers, and we will deal with them in the upcoming seasons of Konflikt, says Alén.