At the end of October, something unusual happened in Russia. A well-known piece in the Kremlin’s propaganda apparatus, TV personality Anton Krasovsky, was fired. At first glance, Krasovsky is not a typical Putin friend. He is openly gay and previously worked for queer rights in Russia. In 2020, he became presenter and editor for the country’s largest English-language TV channel, Russia Today – RT. There he distinguished himself with patriotic reports from the trenches in Donbas. Now, two years after he was brought into the heat of the Russian propaganda apparatus, he has been taken off the air. Editor Margarita Simonjan says Krasovsky’s “madness” does not belong at Russia Today. What happened? – They should have been drowned in the Tysa river, said Krasovsky when he interviewed the writer Sergej Lukyanenko on Russia Today. Photo: FAKSIMILE / RT – Drown these children We rewind to Sunday 20 October. Today, Anton Krasovsky is the presenter of a literature program on Russia Today. In the middle of an interview with sci-fi author Sergej Lukyanenko, the 47-year-old makes very crude, anti-Ukrainian statements. Denigration of Ukraine and hate speech against Ukrainians is by far the norm in state-controlled Russian media. But this time it is Ukrainian children who are spared: – They should have been drowned in the Tysa river, where the ducks swim. Drown these children who say that Moscow has occupied them, says Krasovsky. The presenter continues to preach about how the Ukrainians should be “locked in their small, ugly houses to be burned alive”. – Ukrainian grandmothers would have liked to have used their savings to be raped by our Russian soldiers, he says. His glassy gaze has been interpreted by several as a sign that he may have been drunk when the words fell. Four days after the program aired, the RT editor removed Krasovsky from the screen. Margarita Simonjan described his statements as “wild and disgusting”, and ended her collaboration with him. The program had been approved by the censors. What or who caused the editors to turn? – The regime and Putin could say: “We do not violate gay rights. Just look here, we have Krasovsky”, says Inna Sangadzhieva. Photo: Paul White / AP – A populist news has tried to get in touch with both Russia Today and Anton Krasovsky. We have not received a response to our inquiries. Krasovsky is a former influencer, known for many different things. In 2013, he came out as gay to protest against laws banning so-called “LGBT propaganda”, as the Russian authorities call it. This led to him being fired from the TV channel KontrTV. For many Russians at the time, he was best known as a celebrity blogger who spoke openly about both his sexuality and his HIV disease. That Krasovsky, as a homosexual, was given a prominent position in the state media was used by the regime as a fig leaf, believes Inna Sangadzhieva of the Norwegian Helsinki Committee. – The regime and Putin could say: “We do not violate gay rights. Just look here, we have Krasovsky,” she explains. – I remember him well from his visit here in Kyiv. He portrayed himself as a friend of Ukraine, someone who cared about our country, says Katerina Sergatskova. Photo: MAXIM SHEMETOV / Reuters In October, Putin changed the law so that the ban on “LGBT propaganda”, which previously only applied to children, now also applies to adults. Krasovsky also changed his mind. He now supports the law that makes it difficult to be gay in Russia. – He is a populist who adapts to the current. He is part of the regime, but because he is gay, he is perceived in a different way, says Sangadzhieva. “Ukraine friend” As a child, Krasovsky spent several years in Ukraine. In the time after Russia annexed Crimea, he was in Ukraine several times as a journalist and wrote a lot about the country. – I remember him well from his visit here in Kyiv. He presented himself as a friend of Ukraine, someone who cared about our country, says editor Katerina Sergatskova of the Kyiv-based website Zaborona. But the turnaround came long before Russia invaded Ukraine in February this year. In 2020, Krasovsky got a job at Russia Today and his attitude towards Ukraine apparently changed radically. RT is considered by the EU as a propaganda channel that spreads fake news about the war. After the Russian invasion, they are no longer allowed to broadcast in the EU. – She could have fired absolutely everyone who works at Russia Today for the same type of statements that Krasovsky made, says Katerina Sergetskova. According to Katerina Sergatskova, dehumanization of Ukrainians is commonplace at RT. – It was quite strange. She (RT’s editor, editor’s note) could have fired absolutely everyone who works at Russia Today for the same type of statements that Krasovsky made, says the Ukrainian editor. Nevertheless, there were many in Kyiv who reacted to the way the Russian presenter referred to Ukrainian children, she says. – We hear daily on state Russian TV that Ukrainians are evil and should be removed, which is repeated by Anton Krasovsky. Then his boss, the great propagandist Margarita Simonjan, says that what he came up with was something exceptional. That it violates the standards of Russia Today. This is madness! Putin’s mouthpiece Russia is ranked as country number 155 out of 180 on the Reporters Without Borders press freedom index. “After Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, almost all independent media have been banned, blocked and/or declared foreign agents,” the organization writes on its website. The lack of freedom of the press characterizes the way the war in Ukraine is discussed in public in Russia. – Russia Today and the other propaganda channels use the same language as Putin. The language he uses is street language with a lot of swearing and bad words, says Inna Sangadzhieva. The Russian propaganda is professional and effective. It utilizes new technology and plays on emotions. According to the Russian Levada Center, 73 percent of the population supports Putin in his war against Ukraine. – Ever since 2014, the Russian propaganda has portrayed Ukrainians as non-human and Ukraine as a non-country. They have done this in a very educational way, says Sangadzhieva. She says that the propaganda consists both of news stories that angle reality the way Putin wants, and of historical films that do the same, but in a “softer” and more entertaining way. Russian media are not allowed to use the word “war” when discussing what is happening in Ukraine. Here, news anchor Yekaterina Andrejeva protests against the ban. Photo: FAKSIMILE / RUSSIA1 Seen from Moscow Those who watch Russian TV get the same message hammered home, again and again. – During these months, the topic has been developed in the media. That the Ukrainian people have been deceived, frightened and that they have now become fascists, says Elena Ivanitskaja from Moscow. She works at a Russian university and has to be careful with what she says, so as not to break the law. She therefore refers to state media and public events when she answers news’s questions. – This theme reached its climax recently, when the Federation Council made a declaration that Ukrainians have been brainwashed by Satanists and that it is therefore an important task for Russia to “de-satanize” Ukraine. Ivanitskaja points out that several Russian media have supported Anton Krasovsky after he was taken off the screen. No longer brothers Ukraine and Russia have a long history as neighbors and partners, often described as brotherly people. But the years of propaganda and war have already done irreparable damage to the relationship between Ukrainians and Russians, says Yuriy Zalizniak, professor of journalism in Lviv. – I do not think that the relationship between Ukraine and Russia will ever be the same as before 2014. Perhaps Russia can go through the same process as Germany after the Second World War. But the word “brotherhood” has already lost its meaning in rivers of blood and ridiculous propaganda, says Zalizniak. Russians have not been exposed to Ukrainian bombs. Their relationship with the neighboring country has been damaged by years of anti-Ukrainian propaganda. – The war also damages relationships on an interpersonal level, says Evgeniya Khoroltseva in the Norwegian-Russian democracy organization Smårådina. She says that things have only gotten worse after Russia has attacked civilian targets in Ukraine in recent months. – There are people who do not want anything good for Ukraine as a country. But those who want to hate will almost always find a reason to hate, says Evgeniya Khoroltseva. The human rights activist emphasizes that among 140 million Russians there are those who hate Ukrainians, those who are indifferent and those who have a bad conscience for what the Russian army is doing. – I would think that someone in Russia struggles with a guilty conscience that something like this could happen for real. Some have woken up only now and are beginning to understand what is going on after being either indifferent or concerned with survival and running between 2-3 jobs to make ends meet, says Khoroltseva. – There are people who do not want anything good for Ukraine as a country. But those who want to hate will almost always find a reason to hate. Russian President Vladimir Putin. Photo: Alexei Druzhinin / Sputnik Putin, “children’s friend” After the invasion, a new law was introduced which, among other things, prohibits the use of the word “war” about Russia’s war against Ukraine. This led to several Russian media having to shut down, while journalists who wanted to report freely left the country. The TV channel Dohzd was initially closed, but now broadcasts online from the Netherlands. – No one would have noticed Krasovsky’s statements if he had not been removed. The fact that the program was recorded in advance, and that the content was only reacted to four days after it was broadcast, speaks for itself, says Mihail Fishman in Dohzd to news. – I think the order came from Putin. Like all dictators, he has a soft side, says Mihail Fishman. Photo: twitter He was one of many journalists who left Moscow after the start of the war. Fishman believes that Vladimir Putin did not like that Anton Krasovsky encouraged the drowning of children. – I think the order came from Putin. Like all dictators, he has a soft side. In his hypocritical way, he cares for the children. I don’t think Putin liked that Krasovsky referred to children the way he did, says the Russian journalist in exile. Difficult to control Could the reaction against the presenter be a sign of a change in Russian propaganda? Inna Sangadzhieva of the Helsinki Committee believes so. She believes that descriptions that were OK a few months ago will no longer pass muster. – Propaganda has used the same type of language for a long time. Krasovsky has talked about drowning and burning Ukrainians also before 2022. Now it is not as good to say the same thing. Putin celebrated the illegal annexation of four Ukrainian regions. On the ground in Ukraine, there is currently little to celebrate for the Russian soldiers. Photo: Grigory Sysoyev / AP The withdrawal from Kherson is considered a great loss for Russia. But in the state-controlled media it is referred to in a different way. According to Sangadzhieva, this is the message the Kremlin wants to send: “The withdrawal from Kherson was planned. We have everything under control. We’re pulling out to save lives, and we’re going to come back.” At the same time, it is becoming more difficult for the Kremlin to maintain control over the news that is disseminated about Ukraine. Recently, the mothers of Russian soldiers have addressed Putin through videos. – They are the mothers and wives of the soldiers. They are people whom propaganda cannot blackmail. One cannot say that they are paid by the USA or Ukraine. There are people who have been at the front themselves or know someone who has been there, says Sangadzhieva. Scapegoat The propaganda fails to cover all the information coming from the front. News from Ukraine also reaches ordinary Russians. That gives the authorities an explanation problem, believes Sangadzhieva. And that makes it necessary to find someone to blame for the Russian soldiers’ failure to take control of Ukraine. The development on the ground has led to the state-controlled media now referring to Ukrainians in a different way, according to Sangadzhieva. – Krasovsky has become someone to blame, a scapegoat, says Inna Sangadzhieva. Photo: The Norwegian Helsingborg Committee Anton Krasovsky, who has previously been good at adapting to the tone set in the Kremlin, has not realized that there has been a change in the use of language, she believes. – Krasovsky has become someone to blame, a scapegoat. You can say: “It’s not us who spread hate, it’s him”, and then distance yourself from it. Inna Sangadzhieva does not rule out that Putin and the Ministry of Defense will remove more voices and actors to show action in the future. – The hunt for scapegoats takes place both on the political level and in the military. They want to distance themselves from the harsh militarism, and rather focus more on something resembling a form of negotiation.
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The statements that were too late for Russian TV – Urix
