Putin’s fifth column is no longer allowed to teach in Basel

The “Z” on her lapel was the deciding factor. During the costume parade of the Federal Wrestling Festival (ESAF) last August, the woman of the Russian folklore group wore the emblem that has become the symbol of the Russian offensive war against Ukraine.

Investigations revealed that the woman is a member of the Ruskij Basel association, which was commissioned to teach Russian native language and culture (HSK) classes in the city. Three weeks later, the education department revoked the association’s license.

Russkij Basel sued against the revocation of the license, which had been extended for another four years in June. The judgment of the Basel Court of Appeal is now available. This shows that there were reasons why the education department should not have extended the permit at all.

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Problematic Instagram accounts

For example, research has led to pro-Russian propaganda on teachers’ private Instagram accounts. Including some of the grosser variants: a meme depicting the shooting of a woman symbolizing freedom. Or a meme in which a Ukraine lies in a hospital bed, armed with a gun and bills, kept alive by IVs from the US and the EU. Or another photo of a gas worker who has shut down the Nord Stream pipeline and tells an EU person “more sanctions, less gas, that’s what you decided”.

Members of the Russkij Basel club also maintained contact with the Nachtwolves motorcycle gang, which spread Russian war propaganda. The common meeting point is the celebration of the memory of Russian soldiers who fell in the Hörnli cemetery. Members of the association wore the Saint George ribbon, another emblem from the type case of Russian propaganda.

“Incredible claims of protection” by the association

The club denies any partiality with Putin’s Russia and has produced a justification for any reservation.

For example, the “Z” on the reverse does not stand for a political position at all, but for the last name of the woman, which the court describes as an “incredible protection claim”. The court writes that the attempt to cover up public partisanship in the war of aggression justifies doubts about the association’s neutrality.

The repeated defense of the Instagram posts also fails, according to the court. On a first attempt, the association questions whether the problematic content is actually on the teacher accounts. In a second attempt, the translation and political interpretation of the memes are challenged.

Finally, the third attempt claims that the accounts were hacked so that the content could not be attributed to the teachers. It’s just stupid that the criticized images were uploaded before the alleged hack.

Russkij Basel disrupted a university event

However, the verdict also shows that there have been doubts about Russkij Basel before. Eight years ago, members of the association at the University of Basel massively disrupted a discussion event about the Russian war against Ukraine and misused it for anti-Ukrainian propaganda. Since then, such events could only take place under special security measures.

Shortly before the renewal of the permit, allegations were made that the lessons were not politically neutral and contained pro-Russian propaganda. When a member of the government visited the school, apparently no influence was found and the permit was extended without reservation.

What was missed then has now been made up for: the association is excluded from local history lessons in Basel. It cannot provide an institutional guarantee of politically neutral education, nor can it guarantee respect for fundamental rights and fundamental democratic values. Russkij Basel is still allowed as a club. However, he has disappeared from public view.