Russian State TV Host Names Western Countries It Would Be 'Easy' To Bomb

Kremlin propagandist Vladimir Solovyov has rattled off a list of countries which Russia could bomb because of their support for Ukraine.

With the war caused by Russia's invasion entering winter, Ukraine has called on its allies to provide more weapons, in particular air defense capabilities.

After a meeting his NATO counterparts, Ukrainian foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba said on Wednesday that his country needs the U.S.-made Patriot missile defense systems to protect its civilian infrastructure and would work with the German government to get them.

But systems to combat the barrage of missiles Russia is firing at Ukraine to impact its energy infrastructure raised the hackles of Solovyov on his nightly program on the Russia-1 channel.

Russian TV journalist Vladimir Solovyov
Russian TV journalist Vladimir Solovyov is pictured on May 13, 2016 in Sochi, Russia. He has repeatedly said on his program that Russia should hit western cities with missiles. Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images

Solovyov said Germany had "handed over their air defense systems" and that "we can easily hit German territory."

"Britain gave their air defense systems so it's easy to hit Britain," he said. "France is 'naked' thanks to (President Emmanuel) Macron. So what's the problem?"

"Where is Stoltenberg from? The Norwegian? Or is he Danish?," he said referring to NATO's secretary general, who is from Norway.

"We have to knock on their door," he said, "so let's knock gently and say 'have you been rude to us?' Come out and line up," he added.

The clip was tweeted by Ukrainian internal affairs adviser Anton Gerashchenko who wrote, "Attention, Germany, Britain, France, Norway, Sweden, Denmark!" which are all members of NATO and so an attack on any of them would be treated as an attack on all under Article 5 of its charter.

"Solovyev is suggesting 'starting careful work' on these countries, meaning bombings," Gerashchenko added.

Newsweek has contacted the alliance for comment.

Solovyov is an ally of Vladimir Putin and he and his pundits have frequently referred to Russia's ability to fire missiles on Europe's capitals and boasted of Moscow's nuclear capabilities.

On his show in November, he called for the use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine, saying that "if we have weapons that secure total victory, it would be strange not to use them."

However, he faced criticism from panelists about the flaws of such a strategy, given most experts' view that nuclear weapons would not help Russia militarily.

The international military support that Kyiv has been receiving has been a bone of contention for Solovyov and Kremlin-friendly media. With Ukraine reeling from Russian strikes on infrastructure that have left an estimated six million people without power, Kyiv has reiterated its call to the West for further military support.

But on Thursday, Russia's foreign minister Sergei Lavrov accused the West of becoming directly involved in the war by supplying Ukraine with weapons and training its soldiers.

"You are directly participating in it," he told reporters, referring to the U.S. and NATO, Reuters reported.

A day earlier, the Pentagon announced a $1.2 billion contract for Raytheon Technologies to provide Ukraine with six national advanced surface-to-air missile systems (Nasams). The U.S. will also send Ukraine eight of the systems to protect itself from Russian missile and drone attacks.

Uncommon Knowledge

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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

About the writer


Brendan Cole is a Newsweek Senior News Reporter based in London, UK. His focus is Russia and Ukraine, in particular ... Read more

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