RT suspends host Anton Krasovsky after he calls for Ukrainian children to be 'drowned in a river'
RT Editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan reported Monday that the outlet has suspended host Anton Krasovsky, four days after he called for Ukrainian children to be “drowned” and “burned” on air.
“Anton Krasovsky’s comments were wild and disgusting. Perhaps Anton will explain what kind of temporary insanity caused them and why they came out of his mouth. It’s hard to believe that Krasovsky sincerely believed that children should be drowned,” she said on Telegram.
Krasovsky himself said that he is “truly embarrassed,” writing, “sometimes it happens like this: you’re on the air and you get carried away. And you can’t stop.” He asked for forgiveness from everyone who “lost their mind over this," and said he "didn't see the boundary."
On October 20, during an interview with writer Sergey Lukyaneno on his show, Antonyms, Krasovsky said that Ukrainian children who have fallen victim to propaganda should be murdered.
“These children need to be straight-up drowned,” Krasovsky said. “This isn’t your method; you’re cultured people, you fantasy writers. This is our method. As soon as they say, ‘The Russkies have occupied [Ukraine],’ you throw them into a river with a violent, raging current.”
After Krasovsky’s statements began attracting negative attention, RT deleted its recording of the episode, though clips remain online.
Krasovsky did not respond to Meduza’s request for comment.
A fine line
Russia's propaganda networks are tasked not only with reporting specific stories to the public but also with planting specific emotions and associations in their viewers' heads. Luckily for them, the Putin administration issues specific instructions for doing this.
