Two European Parliament deputies from the ultra-left German party BSW, led by Sahra Wagenknecht, held meetings in May with organizers of the Russian influence network Voice of Europe, which is under EU sanctions, according to German portal t-online.
T-online obtained photographs from the Moscow visit of BSW MEPs Michael von der Schulenburg and Ruth Firmenich in May 2025. The images show them with Nadia Sas, wife of fugitive Ukrainian MP Oleh Voloshyn, who is under British and US sanctions and is believed to be involved in organizing the Voice of Europe network. Sas, a former TV host on Viktor Medvedchuk's channels in Ukraine, now works as a propagandist on Belarusian television.
Medvedchuk is behind the Voice of Europe influence campaign, through which pro-Kremlin narratives were spread in the EU using Russian money.
T-online notes there are reasons to believe Russia paid for von der Schulenburg and Firmenich's trip. While the politicians reported paying for the journey themselves, they were officially invited by the so-called "Russian Peace Foundation," which, according to investigative journalists, regularly passes personal data of its guests to Russian military intelligence GRU.
Firmenich is considered a long-time confidante of BSW founder Sahra Wagenknecht and works closely with von der Schulenburg in the European Parliament.
T-online describes this as one of the first concrete proofs that BSW has contacts with the Russian side. According to the portal, Voice of Europe agents have repeatedly attempted to reach Wagenknecht's party.
The 56-year-old leader of the far-left BSW, Sahra Wagenknecht, has been called Germany's "Putin's friend" due to repeated pro-Russian statements. She previously demanded removing Ukraine's NATO membership prospects from the agenda and called for a referendum in Germany on providing Ukraine with Taurus cruise missiles.
In November, Wagenknecht announced her intention to step down as BSW chair, with the decision to be confirmed at the party congress in December.
