Beastly News: Deutsche Welle Launches Russian Satirical Show
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Bored with politics? Tired of all the bad news on TV?
If you are a Russian speaker, Germany’s broadcaster Deutsche Welle may have just what you need: Zapovednik, a new Russian-language satirical show lampooning the world’s top politicians.
“Zapovednik” can mean both “nature sanctuary” and “radioactive exclusion zone” in Russian. And judging from its trailer, the show promises to pull no punches.
Crossdressing and Laser Guns
The weekly animation programme is hosted by an ominous-looking rabbit and a wolf. From a deserted radioactive forest, the two characters look back at the week in the news.
The trailer features Vladimir Putin, Angela Merkel, and Donald Trump drinking beer in a dimly-lit wooden cabin. Another scene shows Donald Trump in a frilly dress and a laser-wielding Petro Poroshenko defending Ukraine against aliens.
‘Puppets’
Political satire is a time-honoured tradition in Russia and Zapovednik may remind some of the defunct Kukly, or “Puppets,” a popular political satire show broadcast on Russia’s NTV television channel in the 1990s. The show was axed in 2000 and NTV came under state control after a particularly critical Kukly episode that featured Boris Yeltsin rocking a foul-mouthed baby Putin in a crib.
Zapovednik is scheduled to premiere on November 5 on Deutsche Welle’s Russian-language website.