MOSCOW, March 18, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - Russia on Wednesday condemned the Oscar-
winning documentary "Mr Nobody Against Putin", saying it had featured 
children filmed without their parents' consent, in Moscow's first official 
reaction to the film scooping the prestigious award.

Small-town Russian school videographer Pavel Talankin, 35, won the Academy 
Award together with US filmmaker David Borenstein for the documentary, which 
chronicles pro-war patriotic lessons introduced in Russia's schools under 
President Vladimir Putin amid Moscow's Ukraine offensive.

Talankin, who fled Russia with the smuggled footage and now openly opposes 
the war, was instructed to film the propaganda lessons by the school 
administration, eventually deciding to secretly team up with the US director.

Russia's human rights council, a government body, said that "images of minors 
were used without obtaining the consent of their parents" in the documentary.

It added that the footage was intended as an "internal record of school 
activities for educational use", but then was used for commercial purposes.

The council said it requested the Academy that awards the Oscars and UN 
cultural agency UNESCO to launch an investigation.

Moscow has not commented on the substance of the film. State-controlled media 
largely ignored the award.

The documentary has proved polarising even among anti?Kremlin Russians, and 
some argued that children were filmed without parental consent.

Talankin fled Russia in 2024, leaving behind his mother and siblings.

Since sending troops against neighbouring Ukraine four years ago, the Kremlin 
has suppressed opposition to the war.

Authorities have introduced numerous patriotic activities across the country, 
especially in schools and universities, in what critics say is a mobilisation 
and militarisation of society to support the offensive.