Dmitry Kiselyov, chief propagandist for Russian leader Vladimir Putin, threatened the US with nuclear annihilation over Ukraine yesterday.
Dmitry Kiselyov posed in front of a mushroom cloud graphic during his weekly program on the Rossiya 1 news channel to boast that Russia was the only country in the world still capable of turning the U.S. into “radioactive dust.”
Kiselyov used animated maps to show how Russia would automatically respond with nuclear missiles if command and control were attack or disabled by the U.S.
It is important to understand that these threats are propaganda, not necessarily official Russian policy. ABC News explains:
His comments seem intended to reassure the public here that Russia - a day after being isolated at the United Nations and on the cusp of being isolated economically from the world - is still a mighty nation capable of standing tall on its own.
It's the distillation of Putin's nationalistic swing in recent years: Who cares about foreign criticism and sanctions? Russia is an exceptional nation with superior values that are lost in the morally decaying West that is clawing to maintain its edge.
Kiselyov is selling Putin's dream of the return of Russian might - the return of glory and empire lost - as the Kremlin flexes its muscles and reasserts itself on the world stage.
Kiselyov rose to power after the dissolution of RIA Novosti.
The move appears as a push by the Kremlin to consolidate state media resources at a time of increasing online criticism of Putin’s 13 years of rule, and to take a pro-active approach in shaping Russia’s image abroad.
Sergei Ivanov, Putin’s chief of staff, said the move will not only make state-owned media use budget funds “more rationally” but also transmit the Kremlin’s political message abroad more effectively.
He was already known for his anti-gay tirades.
The round-faced anchor who appears on a plethora of TV shows and radio programmes, is most infamous for saying in a talk show once that gays should be banned from donating blood, and their hearts, in case of a deadly car accident, “buried or burned as unfit for continuing somebody else’s life.”
It is impossible to understand what is going on in Ukraine today without focusing on the role of hate media. It was hate radio, in part, which helped drive crackpot conspiracy theories about the alleged role of Saddam Hussein in the 9/11 attacks and the invasion and occupation of Iraq. And based on the fact that Kiselyov is in such a position of power in Russia, it is obvious that hate radio and hate TV is helping to drive this present conflict.