When Vladimir Solovyov insults someone as a Nazi, you can be sure that they have touched a sore spot. Because even if the master of propaganda cannot admit it, he still knows the truth.
The truth hurts. Millions of Putin supporters had to experience this last year. In Russia, in Germany, in the USA and also in Ukraine. Because wherever the Kremlin propaganda can be heard, it is there. The truth is that Putin has not kept a single promise made during his 23-year rule. During this period, Russia has not risen to become a blooming paradise. The small strides the country has made towards prosperity over the past 30 years were wiped out with the stroke of a pen when Putin signed the order to invade Ukraine.
The war has brought Russia to the abyss. At the moment a fall into this abyss is more likely than a saving turn. This truth hurts a lot. As is the fact that it wasn’t the German Leopard tanks that led Russia to this abyss. But admitting this would be tantamount to suicide for many.
One of them is Vladimir Solovyov. The propagandist has managed to become the most well-known mouthpiece of Kremlin propaganda in recent years. In the service of Putin, he shrinks from nothing: no provocation, no insult, no lies. But he also knows the truth. And it hurts him just as much as the victims of his propaganda work.
Vladimir Solovyov in his Nazi element
When someone also reminds him of this truth, Solovyov can’t help but howl in pain. That’s what happened on his show last Tuesday. The German government’s promised deliveries of Leopard tanks to Ukraine have made Germany the number one target for propaganda. Solovyov also indulged in Nazi fantasies, about which the star reported.
The light in which he appears in the German media does not please Solovyov at all. He’s just not used to having his tirades sold as the ultimate truth. And so he plagued loose – against those who held up the mirror to him. “I’m turning to Goebbels’ heirs, to the Nazi bastards who haven’t been finished off. That’s you: ‘Bild’, ‘Stern’ and the other freaks!” Solovyov scolded, imitating Joseph Goebbels’ tone.
After rolling over Annalena Baerbock and Olaf Scholz like a steamroller, the master of propaganda made an amazing suggestion. The “Nazi bastards” he calls “Nazi bastards” are supposed to prove that they “understand freedom of expression.” How? By broadcasting his broadcasts.
“Since you are miserable beggars who have plunged your country into poverty and inflation, (…) we will provide you with a German translation of our wonderful programs at our own expense,” Solovyov indulged in a wet dream.
With a calm heart, he continued to lie: In his studio, you can express any opinion. “Unlike you, freaks of the Fourth Reich! You who are afraid to tell the truth to your unfortunate citizens,” Solovyov shouted.
Small Germany-Russia comparison
Because he wants it so badly, so a bit of truth for Solovyov.
According to the latest statistics from the German pension insurance, the average pension in Germany is 1620.90 euros gross in the old federal states. In the new federal states, a standard pensioner can count on a gross pension of 1598.40 euros.
According to the Russian authorities, the average pension in Russia is 241.72 euros (18,521 rubles).
The monthly average salary of an employee in Germany in 2021 was around 4,100 euros gross. In Russia, an employee gets an average of 815.29 euros (62,470 rubles, as of October 2022).
The salaries are barely enough to live on. Only recently, emergency room paramedics from the Altai region made headlines: “The salaries are meager and I work every day. We used to get 40,000 to 50,000 rubles. Now the salaries are said to have increased. But we don’t notice it! Our salaries have gone down,” said one. As a paramedic and senior paramedic, she does not get 30,000 rubles a month (391 euros) in one person.
The reality behind the propaganda
However, the price level in Russia is comparable to that in Germany. 1 liter of milk currently costs an average of 80 rubles (1.04 euros); 1 kilo of flour 60 rubles (0.78 euros); 1 kilo of sugar 65 rubles (0.85 euros).
While Solovyov chanted about the “poor beggars” in Germany, the Russian state TV at the same time praised “generous gifts” to selected families of mobilized Russian soldiers. This week some of them were happy about ten kilograms of potatoes and ten kilograms of carrots. These gifts from the shoulders of the rulers – as a Russian idiom puts it – reveal more about life in Russia than propaganda would like.
Not only are the salaries miserable, the living conditions are also disastrous. 23 percent of the Russian population live without a connection to a sewage system. 18.1 percent of Russians use cesspools as toilets, in rural areas the figure is even 48.6 percent. And 4.9 percent have no access to any type of toilet. These are official data from the Russian statistical office Rosstat from 2021, whose figures are very flattering for the Kremlin.
The Bitterst Truth
It is not the British Isles that Putin has reduced to ashes, as his propaganda constantly fantasizes. It’s the Russian economy.
But Solovyov knows all this. It was luxury properties in Italy that he bought – not dachas in the beautiful Altai Mountains. Solovyov called four villas on Lake Como his own last year. But now they’re gone! The Italian dream is over for Solovyov. The gems have been confiscated. Solovyov is under sanctions.
And for Solovyov that is by far the more painful truth than the disaster in his homeland. He has chained himself to a regime whose true character he knows. He knows whom he serves. But there is no escape for him. If Putin goes down, he goes down with him. The Italian emergency cushion is playful. And so Solovyov is forced to keep singing his song. Until the end.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
