Ukraine calls for global ban on Russian RT over presenter’s call to drown children

(Reuters) – The Ukrainian government on Thursday turned Russian state broadcaster RT on after it said Ukrainian children should have been drowned because they saw Russians as Soviet-controlled occupiers. He was denounced as an instigator of genocide.

Within hours, the channel’s editor-in-chief, Margarita Simoyan, said she had suspended host Anton Krasovsky for “disgusting” comments, adding that no one on RT shared his opinion. rice field.

On his show, which aired last week, Kraszowski said that children who criticized Russia “should have been thrown straight into the rushing river.”

Krasovsky is a pro-war commentator on Russian television and is sanctioned by the European Union.

When Russian science fiction writer Sergey Lukyanenko first visited Ukraine in the 1980s, he told him that children would have a better life if Moscow did not occupy their country. I was replying to an explanation of what I said.

“They should have drowned in the Tishna (river),” replied Krasovsky. “Drow them, drown them,” he said.

In a brief portion of the social media interview, Krasovsky also laughed at reports that Russian soldiers raped an elderly Ukrainian woman during the invasion.

“Governments that have not yet banned RT need to see this excerpt,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitro Kuleba said on Twitter, linking to a clip of the interview.

“Aggressive genocidal incitement (bringing this person to justice) that has nothing to do with free speech. Ban RT worldwide,” Kreba added.

Russian state television is under the control of the Kremlin and is loudly cheering for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Presenters routinely dismiss reports of Russian war crimes, with many using airtime to call on President Vladimir Putin to take a more aggressive approach to aggression.

The Kremlin denies that its troops have committed war crimes in Ukraine.

In a statement posted on the channel’s website, Simoyan said, “For the children of Ukraine, the children of Donbass and all other children, I hope that all this will end as soon as possible so that they can live in peace.” , I hope that I will be able to study, again, in a language that is considered native.”

Reported by Reuters.Edited by Clarence Fernandez

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