Netflix and ITVX becomes home for new "Masha and The Bear" despite backlash from UK MPs

New episodes of the Russian cartoon series "Masha and The Bear" (Maша и Медвeдь) has found a home on Netflix and ITVX, despite growing concerns and even discussions in Parliament against the show.

Produced by Cyprus based Animaccord since 2009, "Masha and The Bear" is one of the most successful chidren's cartoons in recent years, with videos on YouTube reaching as many as 5 billion views. The show also aired on Tiny Pop here in the UK from 2017 until its second and (so far) final closure at the end of last year.

Despite being seemingly innocent, it has often been labelled as a soft propaganda tool to push Kremlin ideals and values. A cross party letter has been signed by MPs from the Liberal Democrats, Labour, the Conservatives, the Greens, the SNP and Plaid Cymru. Tony Gordon, the Lib Dem MP for Harrogate who initiated the letter, described the content of the show as "unsubtle propaganda".

One episode in particular has been singled out by the MPs, in which Masha, the human protagonist, wears what appears to be uniform the of the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs or NKVD, the secret police force of the former Soviet Union. In the 1930s the force was responsible for mass torture and deportations under Stalin's orders, resulting in millions of deaths. A now deleted post on Twitter features Masha wearing the uniform with the caption "A real army girl with a butterfly net! Who hoo, I’m in the army now!".

Part of the letter reads: "We are writing to demand urgent government action following Netflix’s announcement that it has acquired two new seasons of the Russian animated series Masha and the Bear and extended its licensing agreement for existing seasons and spin-offs across more than 100 countries. This content is also streamed in the United Kingdom on ITVX. British children are being reached through both a major global streaming platform and a prominent domestic broadcaster and we believe this is unacceptable. British parents have a right to expect that content reaching their children through licensed platforms has been subject to proper scrutiny, especially where credible concerns about state propaganda have been raised by our allies".

Animaccord, strongly rejects any claims of propaganda in the show, despite organisations and thinktanks in Estonia and Ukraine declaring otherwise. Russian state media calls the controversy "trivial".