Politician From Germany’s Pro-Russian AfD Party Took Part in Combat Against Russia

Tim Schramm, a German politician from the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, secretly joined the Ukrainian military and fought against Russian forces for several months.

The 22-year-old Schramm became a member of AfD in 2022 and served as deputy chairman of the district branch in Wuppertal, according to his interview with Nius.de.

After Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Schramm adopted a pro-Ukrainian stance and took part in delivering humanitarian aid. He later enlisted in the Ukrainian army, serving as a mortarman and reconnaissance drone operator from March to June 2025.

He did not inform his party of his decision to go to the front.

“We were shooting, we were being shot at, we were attacked by drones,” Schramm said, describing his combat experience.

In late June, he gave an interview to Nius, explaining why he chose to fight for Ukraine. He said he and other AfD members in North Rhine-Westphalia had held “transatlantic views” and supported Ukraine. He called Russia “an authoritarian country permeated with propaganda.”

Schramm rejected the notion of Russia as a “conservative alternative,” noting that public protest is not tolerated there. “You can’t demonstrate against migrants,” he said, adding that Russia itself was undergoing “Islamization.” He also criticized the Kremlin for resettling migrants in occupied Mariupol.

“Russia is doing exactly what many on the right accuse the globalists of doing, only worse. Islamization, migration, all under the guise of anti-fascism. And many German right-wingers still believe in the fairy tale about Russia,” Schramm said.

AfD Attacks Schramm

Following his return from Ukraine, Schramm faced disciplinary action from the AfD leadership, Die Welt reported.

Party officials presented him with a document requiring that he step down from all party positions and refrain from running for office until September 30, 2026. It also instructed him not to participate in military operations for foreign armed forces, give interviews, or make public statements about the war in Ukraine until October 31, 2026.

Schramm refused to sign the document.

“I don’t repent. I fought for what I believe in, and I don’t regret it,” he said.

Rainer Kraft, an AfD member of the Bundestag, criticized the move to expel Schramm as “cowardice.”

According to Die Welt, one of the key figures pushing for Schramm’s expulsion was MEP Hans Neuhoff, a known pro-Russian voice within the party. Neuhoff has referred to the Ukrainian government as “the Zelensky regime” and justified Russia’s invasion as a “defensive act against NATO.”

“Russia is not an enemy of Europe, but an empire that defends itself and protects its interests,” Neuhoff said.

In a comment to Die Welt, he described Schramm’s conduct as a “serious violation of party principles,” comparing it to the actions of members of the far-right Third Way group.

Schramm responded by saying Neuhoff’s conduct was more in line with the members of Vladimir Putin’s ruling United Russia party.

AfD, a far-right party known for its hardline stance on immigration, is widely viewed as sympathetic to Moscow. Its members have faced allegations of ties to Russian intelligence. In February 2024, The Insider and Der Spiegel reported that some AfD politicians had coordinated public remarks with handlers from the FSB.

The party opposes military aid to Ukraine and rejects the country’s NATO membership bid. It has also called for normalization of ties with Moscow.

Despite its extremist label, AfD remains politically influential. It finished second in the last federal election and currently holds 152 of the 630 seats in the Bundestag. In May 2025, German authorities classified the party as extremist, granting security agencies expanded powers to monitor its activities, intercept communications, and gather confidential data.