DISINFO: German and European oligarchy uses Ukraine’s war to destroy welfare state
SUMMARY
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has become the killer of his citizens' welfare state for the sake of Volodymyr Zelenskyy. It's unacceptable not to have a bathroom with a gold toilet, but the money has to come from somewhere, and it's clear that the German -and European- oligarchy now sees the moment they've been waiting for since the fall of the Soviet Union, which is to destroy the welfare state. They've been gnawing at the cheese for a long time with small reform measures and now, with the war, they see the possibility of finally eating it.
RESPONSE
Conspiracy theory not backed by evidence, aiming to promote a recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about elites acting against the interests of the citizens, in this case in Germany and the EU. The ultimate goal is to turn audiences against Germany’s defence boost, by providing a convenient but ultimately false argument about German and European elites having been planning the destruction of the country’s welfare state for decades.
A secondary goal is to advance recurring pro-Kremlin messages about Ukraine as a singularly corrupt country unworthy of international aid, exploiting a high profile corruption case involving businessman Tymur Mindich, who had a gold toilet in one property raided by the Ukrainian police in November 2025, and which led to the resignation of president Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s aide Andrii Yermak.
The mention of the gold toilet along with president Zelenskyy is an attempt to link both together and suggest that Zelenskyy himself is corrupt, although no evidence has ever emerged of him being personally involved in any corruption scheme. Moreover, this disinformation story ignores that it is Ukrainian institutions who are exposing these corruption cases. No similar anti-corruption elements exist in Russia, which is ranked 13 positions worse than Ukraine in the latest Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index.
See other examples of similar disinformation narratives, such as claims that globalist elites keep arms supplies to Ukraine to maintain their hegemony, that a French general told the plebs to sacrifice their children for Ukraine, that European politicians are at the service of weapons manufacturers, that the war in Ukraine serves the purpose of Europe militarization, that Europeans and EU industry pay for the geopolitical crimes of Brussels' bureaucracy, that France wants to remove citizens’ holidays to fund a fantasy war with Russia, that Europe uses Russophobia to distract attention from its economic woes, or that Brussels works to bankrupt European citizens through its defence strategy.