(MOSCOW) – Archival footage from Russian state television broadcast just 11 days before the full scale invasion of Ukraine has surfaced, revealing the internal propaganda and military overconfidence of the Kremlin. The broadcast of Sunday Evening With Vladimir Solovyov featured prominent state media figures and political analysts who openly mocked Western intelligence reports that correctly predicted an imminent military assault by the Russian dictator. During the panel discussion, participants dismissed warnings from American and British intelligence, referring to Western nations as wild Anglo Saxon tribes attempting to impose their will on Moscow.
The pundits engaged in highly aggressive rhetoric regarding the geopolitical status of Europe and Ukraine. Professor Dmitry Evstafiev claimed that Ukraine had concentrated 80 percent of its military forces in the east and described the nation in deeply derogatory terms. Evstafiev further asserted that Europe had lost its geopolitical independence. He suggested that the Western threat of economic sanctions provided Moscow with an opportunity to seize Eastern Europe, American military bases, and Ukraine simultaneously for the same strategic price. The panel confidently predicted that any military action would result in a swift collapse of Ukrainian defences, with one analyst estimating that the Ukrainian military would fall within five hours of an assault by Black Sea naval forces and marines.
Throughout the broadcast, the guests intertwined threats of conventional military dominance with the spectre of nuclear war. They warned that any escalation in Europe could turn into a nuclear conflict in seconds. Margarita Simonyan, the head of the state broadcaster RT, stated that Russia had no intention of starting a war but would only intervene to stop what she characterised as an eight year conflict against the Russian speaking population. Simonyan mocked the efficacy of previous Western sanctions imposed after the annexation of Crimea, noting the passing of American politicians like John McCain while the Russian dictator remained securely in power. She also questioned the value of diplomatic visits from British officials, suggesting they were merely creating a media spectacle.
The panel concluded with a stark assessment of public sentiment and military disparity. Political scientist Sergey Mikheyev claimed that the average Russian citizen was far more aggressive than the state media apparatus. He asserted that the Russian public wanted to completely destroy the current Ukrainian state, erect a 500 metre monument to the Russian dictator in Kyiv, and wipe the western city of Lviv off the map entirely. Mikheyev suggested the territory of Lviv could be planted with grass and sold to whatever remained of Europe. The broadcast ended with the unanimous agreement that the Russian armed forces possessed a colossal and insurmountable advantage over the Ukrainian military.
Russian state TV show “Sunday Evening With Vladimir Solovyov,” featuring host Vladimir Solovyov, head of RT Margarita Simonyan, Professor Dmitry Evstafiev, political scientist Nikolai Zlobin, political scientist Sergey Mikheyev, and Estonian politician Jana Toom.
