Their faces flicker across TV screens in Russia day and night. The propagandists in the service of the Kremlin are omnipresent. Since Vladimir Putin gave the order to attack Ukraine, the propaganda machine has been running at an unprecedented pace. No matter what time or day Russians turn on their television, they can be sure: one of the Kremlin’s loyal agitators will scream his hatred at them: hatred of the West, hatred of Ukraine, hatred of everything that is part of the system is repugnant to Putin or could threaten it.
In addition to the swollen security apparatus, it is the propagandists on whom Putin’s regime relies. Thanks to their constant work, the Kremlin is able to convince part of the population that Russia is only surrounded by enemies who want to destroy the country – out of pure envy. The other part of the population remains silent – out of fear or in the belief that they are alone with their opinion. Because views that contradict the Kremlin’s line no longer exist on Russian television.
It is people like Vladimir Solovyov or RT boss Margarita Simonyan who are constantly drumming the Kremlin’s dogmas into the public’s head. All means are acceptable: lies, fakes, incitement. With crude insults and denigrations, they constantly stir up sentiment against the so-called “collective West” – the convenient arch-enemy that Putin has chosen. Because this enemy has been familiar to the Russian public since Soviet times.
The hypocrisy of Kremlin propaganda
But the Kremlin propagandists are united not only by their hatred of the West, but also by their bigotry. While they tell their viewers about the supposedly evil, corrupt, diabolical, rotting West, they love to buy luxury real estate in Italy or Switzerland, go on vacation to the French Côte d’Azur, send their children to English universities or bring their offspring to the US -Citizenship.
True to the now popular saying: “The Russians want nothing more than the destruction of America – and the green card.”
Before the war, Vladimir Solovyov acquired four luxury properties on the picturesque Lake Como in Italy. According to research by Alexei Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Fund, his child was born in the USA with his lover, basketball player Svetlana Abrosimova.
Solovyov does not care about the so-called traditional values of the Orthodox Church, which he loves to preach to his audience and which the Kremlin wants to make the new standard of all things. The father of eight is married for the third time, but he still has a mistress.
Contrary to their sermons about supposed “traditional Russian values”, hardly any of the propagandists practice what they preach. Dmitri Kiselyov, for example, is married for the seventh time. His brother chose a different path: he is a citizen of Germany and fought in Donbass on the side of Ukraine.
Olga Skabeyeva married her Oleg Popov in New York – although in her shows the USA is likened to the spawn of hell. This is the second marriage for both of them.
Olesya Loseva, presenter of the program “Time Will Tell” on the central state broadcaster Pervyi Kanal, does not lead a life as the Orthodox Church would like to see. The 43-year-old has already been divorced twice and posed in a champagne bath on the cover of the men’s magazine “Medwed” (Bear) in 2001.
You can find out more about the most famous faces of Kremlin propaganda in our photo series.
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.
