(MOSCOW) – A Russian state television broadcast has revealed a stark contradiction in the Kremlin’s information policy, with a prominent propagandist calling for stricter censorship at home while admitting that banned Western resources remain freely accessible. The broadcast, from the programme Sunday Evening With Vladimir Solovyov, featured host Vladimir Solovyov and Margarita Simonyan, head of the state-funded broadcaster RT.
Simonyan launched into a tirade against the West, claiming that Russia has been “too noble” and that Western nations are driven by envy. She stated: “They envy us. And therefore they need to destroy us. And therefore they supported Ukraine.” She described Ukraine as an “uninteresting, unnecessary” country that the West “put under the knife,” adding: “They put under the knife an uninteresting, unnecessary Ukraine that they don’t feel sorry for.” She suggested that Western nations did not anticipate Russia’s response, saying: “We are a bear, not a mouse.”
Simonyan also commented on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s meeting with US President Donald Trump, claiming she watched it in English because she no longer trusts translators. She said Zelenskyy pleaded three times in 20 seconds: “Before winter, I beg you, before winter, I beg you, finish the war, I beg you, the war must end before winter.” She added: “Winter is coming,” suggesting Ukraine cannot survive the cold months.
Turning to domestic policy, Simonyan criticised the Russian government for allowing access to banned resources. She described searching Yandex for information on casualties during the 2014 annexation of Crimea and finding a Wikipedia article titled “The Capture of Crimea,” which stated that Russia began an undeclared war with Ukraine.
She said: “This is our Yandex. This Wikipedia has been banned for several years. How is this possible?” She noted that while legislation against LGBT propaganda and smoking is enforced with “wild fines,” enemy propaganda remains accessible. She warned: “What will happen next? Artificial intelligence. And this artificial intelligence, gathering information from all these enemy sources, will educate our children.”
Simonyan also linked access to Western information to Russia’s demographic crisis, claiming that propaganda promoting a “weakling” lifestyle discourages people from having children. She said: “The state is doing everything to help people give birth. But the birth rate is still falling.” She described this as a deliberate strategy, saying: “This is the propaganda of weaklings, so that everyone becomes weaklings.” She urged Russians to remember their ancestors who “fed someone at the age of nine in an occupied territory” and to tell themselves: “Get up and go.”
