Ukrainian Culture Minister Tetyana Berezhna said on Friday that Kyiv had imposed sanctions on the "producers and distributors" of the Russian children's cartoon series "Masha and the Bear." The step will enable Kyiv to seek removal and demonentization of the series on websites like YouTube and streaming services such as Netflix in the country.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a decree imposing the sanctions, targeting the studio, the show's founder, scriptwriter, and director over what authorities said was spreading of "pro-Russia narratives" and a threat to Ukrainian national security. "Russian propaganda has no place on children's screens — in Ukraine or anywhere in the world," Berezhna said on social media.
The cartoon, which launched in 2009 and became one of Russia's most successful television exports, has faced criticism from allies of Ukraine including Estonia and the UK for allegedly portraying Russia in a positive light or for occasionally displaying military or Soviet symbols. Berezhna said the Ukrainian language channel for the show had 800 million views in 2025 alone, with approximately 18 million subscribers.
Animaccord Animation Studios, the company behind the show, has dismissed past allegations of Russian propaganda as "false and defamatory," saying it operates independently and receives no funding from the Russian government. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the cartoon series had "conquered the world" by promoting "the finest human qualities," and questioned why Ukraine had "launched a war against cartoons."
Ukrainian authorities have scrutinized the show for nearly a decade, with the first complaint from the State Film Agency dating to 2017. In June, Kyiv protested Netflix's acquisition of rights to stream new seasons. More than 50 British parliamentarians appealed to their Culture Minister this year to urge streaming platforms to remove the cartoon, citing exposure to Russian and Soviet military imagery.
