A Russian politician from Putin’s party threatens to use a nuclear bomb on Britain. One of the most famous talk show presenters replies that “we should have done it” when the heads of state gathered for the queen’s funeral.
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Statements in Russian TV shows have become even more extreme lately – especially after Ukraine’s successful counter-offensive.
– It has become even more heated and screaming than before after the setbacks on the battlefield, says Inna Sangadzhieva of the Helsinki Committee, herself a Russian.
– Looks like it’s pure desperation. There are signs of a disintegrating society, history professor and Russia expert Kristian Gerner at Lund University told the VG.
One of the members of parliament, Andrei Guruljov, has appeared on several talk shows in recent days. In one of them, with the propagandist Putin Vladimir Solovyov, Guruljov says, among other things, this in a clip published on Twitter by Russian Media Monitor:
– Today I heard someone talking about “if we don’t win …”. It is not an option, we will win. We will win, whatever the cost.
Gurulyov says he doesn’t really like crushing Ukrainians (“many of us have friends and relatives there”), but says there is no choice but to “crush” Ukrainians.
He also talks about President Joe Biden’s condemnation of Russia’s use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine. Guruljov says it is not applicable, because it is their own people who will eventually live there. The longtime officer suggests that NATO is actually the enemy. Having spoken of Berlin as the most important decision-making center, Gurulyov nevertheless believes that Russia should first strike Britain – with nuclear weapons:
– Biden says they will respond, under Article 5 of the NATO pact, but if we turn the British Isles into a Martian desert in three minutes using tactical, non-strategic nuclear weapons, then who will use Article 5? asks the Russian politician.
– It will be a non-existent country, turned into a Martian desert. They won’t answer.
Article 5 states that when one or more NATO countries are subject to an armed attack, this is considered an attack against all NATO members.
On another talk show, with profiled Olga Skabejeva as presenter, also on the main Rossija-1 channel, where the Izium mass graves are denied as “fake news”. Guruljov also talks about nuclear weapons here:
– Why should we bomb Ukraine or Germany when we have Britain, the root of evil?
– We should have done it today when all the important people had gathered for the funeral, Skabejeva intervenes.
– They have 245 nuclear warheads that we can easily deploy, Andrei Guruljov continues.
Outspoken journalist Andrej Sidortsjik was also a guest from Skabejeva. He says:
– It is not only the power structures in Ukraine that are Nazi. Joe Biden is a Nazi, Olaf Scholz is a Nazi, Ursula von der Leyen is a Nazi – because what they do and what they say is actually Nazi. It is pure Nazism.
History professor Kristian Gerner at Lund University brings back the old expression “a regime facing fate”:
– The propaganda on Russian TV has been that it is Russia that is being threatened, that Putin is waging a defensive war. But what is coming to light now is so unreasonable and many Russians have gained knowledge of how bad the war is going. This shows a society in chaos. It indicates despair and is therefore disturbing, says Gerner.
– How do most Russians react?
– It is difficult to conclude on this, but it is probably shared. In any case, it reflects a society in disintegration and despair. On the one hand it is completely unrealistic, on the other hand it is unfortunate that there is an irrational public culture.
Inna Sangadzhieva of the Helsinki Committee says that the propaganda of the TV channels continues, at least as long as they get money.
– They must deliver what they are paid for – propaganda. They are heated, emotional, conspiracy theories and pure lies, she says.
Sangadzhieva says major TV channels cut entertainment programs and let debates take over after the war breaks out.
– For several years they have seen a decline in viewers, but the war has brought them back many viewers – and they only broadcast debates and analysis programs. But over the summer, people clearly got tired, the audience figures dropped, and now they’ve put entertainment back on the broadcast schedule, says Inna Sangadzhieva.
– Skabejeva and the other TV profiles are repeating more or less the same things they have been saying since 2014, but recent big leaks mean they need to scream even louder and make even more incisive statements.
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