– Now it’s time to show mercy – VG

After the Ukrainian counterattack, the use of words about the war became increasingly harsh on Russian television channels. An expert tells VG that it is fascist thinking that is beginning to emerge.

– Now the real war begins. Now is the end of showing mercy, says Senator Igor Morozov on the important matter Rossiega-1 TV Channel.

We have shown humanity for a very long time. Now it’s over, says talk show host Olga Skapigeeva, aka “Putin’s Iron Doll”.

Every evening, Russian TV channels discuss the Ukraine war for hours. Guests often return. But there has been a shift in recent days:

It is a reaction to Ukraine’s recent success on the battlefield. There has been a kind of panic in the Russian establishment, and we see it clearly on these talk shows, says Professor Wili-Pekka Tenkinen of the Alexandre Institute in Helsinki.

– The fascist mentality that we see in Putin’s regime also appears on these talk shows, he tells VG.

– In what way?

– In an imperialist way of thinking that sees Russia as a powerful power that has the right to destroy other countries and languages ​​- it does not want to be under the rule of Deputy Russian Government Tenkinin.

– Does Putin himself have the same mentality during the day?

– It’s hard to say. In general, it was so in this war, because these are state-controlled television channels. Nothing happens without management approval. But there has been some criticism lately, and it may be because they want to blame others than Putin for what happened – the military and other powerful people. In this sense, this may be in Putin’s favour.

“Russian Media Monitor” I collected a number of examples of phrases, which appeared in particular on the Rossija-1 website, as well as on other TV channels. Although there’s been some criticism of the war lately, it’s hardcore who really dominate these talk shows. And their statements say it all:

It’s time to take off the white gloves. We must destroy the economic and military potential of Ukraine, says military expert Igor Korotchenko in one of the clips.

20 million will escape

In another passage, Korotchenko likens Ukraine to the “Third Reich” (Hitler’s Germany) and says:

– We must act firmly and relentlessly now. First of all, we must blacken the whole of Ukraine, region by region, so that 20 million Ukrainians have fled by December.

“The real war begins now,” says Igor Morozov, a senator of the Russian Federation Council, at the Russia-1 meeting.

Everyone is fighting us. We must defend the homeland, we must defend our people. We must do everything to destroy the West, which is training and arming the Ukrainian forces.

Another politician, Konstantin Zatolin, who represents Putin’s United Russia party in parliament, describes it as follows:

– Attacks on civilian infrastructure should have come much earlier.

“Don’t we have missiles?”

On the NTV channel, Bogdan Bezpalko, a member of the Kremlin Council on Interracial Relations, has the same thoughts:

It is not possible to distinguish between civilian and military infrastructure. If all Ukraine were left in the cold and darkness, and if the railways ceased to function, no one would be able to supply the army. There must not be a single gas station left!

Senator Igor Morozov says of the Rossija-1 website:

– Why is the government district of Kyiv still standing? We don’t have missiles, do we?

Professor Willi-Pekka Tenkinen says that many Russians, especially the older generation, follow these talk shows on line TV.

The same panic we see in the establishment on television, we saw in Vladimir Putin when he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Central Asian leaders this week. There is a reaction with more violent propaganda in response to the losses at the front.

– It will create more patriotism

– Why is it like that?

One of the reasons may be to prepare the Russian people for the sacrifices they face, both financially and personally. This is an attempt to create more patriotism, so that people should be willing to sacrifice themselves for Russia, answers Tenkinen, who doesn’t think Putin will start full mobilization anytime soon.

– Putin and the Kremlin are afraid of a large-scale mobilization, because this could awaken the Russian people. Today, most people are silent about the war, and therefore it is possible to continue like this. Today, soldiers come from republics and poor regions of the Far East – not from such large cities as Moscow and Saint Petersburg. A full mobilization will change that, and will probably wake up all those who are currently silent about the war.

So the Finnish professor believes that the ideas that appear on Russian TV shows are fascist:

– It is based on the same ideas as Hitler’s Germany – extreme nationalism and racism. It is based on the superiority of the Russians over the Ukrainians. It reminds us of the German way of thinking.

One of the most popular TV profiles in Russia, Pro-Putin Vladimir SolovyovAnd the Came Thursday night with a new proposal In the series of proposals, how can Russia get more soldiers: bring in volunteers from Russia’s “friends” in Venezuela, Iran, North Korea, Cuba and Nicaragua.

Note: Vladimir Putin and others in the Kremlin’s political leadership never participate in talk shows on Russian TV channels.