'Worse than Afghanistan': Russian state TV defies Putin to air criticism of Ukraine war
Defiant guests on one of Russia's most popular state TV broadcasts denounced Vladimir Putin's decision to invade Ukraine as "worse" than the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, which eventually led to the fall of the Soviet Union.
Last week, the Russian government passed laws to punish anyone publishing "fake news" about the war with a 15-year prison sentence. The definition of "fake news," however, is set by the Kremlin itself and any criticism of the regime is likely to be classified as such. Almost all major independent news outlets in Russia have closed down since the legislation was passed, fearing a crackdown. Meanwhile, citizens looking for information on the conflict have to rely on state-controlled media, which has been accused of spreading disinformation about it being a "specialized military operation" to "de-Nazify" Ukraine.
RELATED ARTICLES
Russia releases list of unfriendly countries and makes a HUGE faux pas
Looters stripped and publicly humiliated by Ukrainian civilians amid Russian invasion
During an appearance on Russia 1's prime-time talk show 'An Evening with Vladimir Soloviev', academic and politician Semyond Bagdasarov called on Putin to end the offensive and warned that allies like China and India could soon turn their backs on Moscow if he didn't. According to the Daily Mail, Soloviev is often referred to as the Russian president's propagandist-in-chief. "There are more people and they're more advanced in their weapon handling," Bagdasarov said. "We don't need that. Enough already. If this picture starts to transform into an absolute humanitarian disaster, even our close allies like China and India will be forced to distance themselves from us." He added, "This public opinion, with which they're saturating the entire world, can play out badly for us... Ending this operation will stabilize things within the country."
Meanwhile, filmmaker and political pundit Karen Shakhnazarov also poked holes in the Kremlin's narrative that it was simply conducting a "special operation" in the Donbas region, citing relentless attacks on the capital of Kyiv, which is located hundreds of miles away. "I have a hard time imagining taking cities such as Kyiv. I can't imagine how that would look," he said, noting how Putin's troops are closing in on the capital.
That said, the information war went into overdrive on Thursday, March 10, as Moscow appeared to change its stance over the bombing of a hospital in the city of Mariupol. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said three people — including a child — had been killed in the shelling Wednesday, March 9, and rejected Russian claims that there had been no patients at the medical facility. "Like always, they lie confidently," Zelenskyy insisted.
I received an update from a relative of Marianna - a pregnant girl from Mariupol's bombed hospital. They were able to reach her on the phone briefly. Last night at 10pm, Marianna gave birth to a baby girl! They are ok, but it's very cold in Mariupol and the bombing doesn't stop pic.twitter.com/PSLxI6I0zZ
— Olga Tokariuk (@olgatokariuk) March 11, 2022
There were hints of inconsistency in the response from Russian officials despite facing worldwide condemnation. They have stuck to the narrative that Russia is conducting a special military operation in Ukraine ever since the start of the invasion on February 24. "Russian forces do not fire on civilian targets," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Reuters on Wednesday, March 8. The following day, he said the Kremlin would look into the incident. Meanwhile, some other Russian officials brazenly rejected the hospital bombing as fake news. "This is information terrorism," foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova declared.