“<…> They told me that Ukraine is occupied by Moskals (a derogatory word for Russians used in Ukraine and other countries — translator’s note). If it wasn’t for the Moskals, they’d live like they were in France. And those weren’t Ukrainian children who speak Ukrainian. There were children like that there too, and they were completely normal,” Russian author Sergey Lukyanenko recalled his childhood trip to Ukraine’s Zakarpattia in an interview with Krasovsky, broadcast by RT. Editor’s note: the quotes from the interview are provided with minor cuts.
“But where were those children from?” Anton Krasovsky interrupted the author.
“They were Russian-speaking boys with Russian surnames. <…>”
“They should have been drowned in Tysyna [River], right where the ducklings swim. Drown them right in the Tysyna. It’s not your method, you’re cultured people, you’re fantasy writers, but it’s how we operate. Once you hear ‘occupied by the Moskals’, throw them into a river with a raging current,” the propagandist replied, making a clumsy reference to Ukrainian folk song Plyve Kacha, which was put on during the funerals of Euromaidan activists in 2014. At the end of another monologue, the TV presenter went as far as to offer to burn children inside “pine huts”. Then the interview went on.
Propaganda built on bones
Anton Krasovsky, a reporter and former director of the AIDS Centre Foundation, started working with RT in 2019. In October 2020, Krasovsky was promoted to head of broadcasting in Russian, and in 2021, he was made the host of his own talk show dubbed Antonyms. In Antonyms, the reporter interviewed various public figures: politicians, entrepreneurs, cultural figures. At times, he gave his own take on current events. Russian singer Nadezhda Babkina and Sevastopol governor Mikhail Razvozhayev were among his last guests. During the show, they discussed the war in Ukraine: from a pro-Russian standpoint, of course.
The episode of Antonyms featuring writer Sergey Lukyanenko (the author of the Night Watch saga) was published by RT Russia on VK last week, on 20 October. The interview has been deleted since then. Meduza pointed out that Krasovsky had even had time to promote the interview to his Telegram followers. The TV host wrote that he had shot a great live episode featuring the writer, however, he later deleted the message (it still appears on the Internet archive).
At first, no one really took note of the scandalous episode of Antonyms. Bloodthirsty statements are not a novelty for Russian propaganda, especially against the backdrop of the ongoing war in Ukraine. And Krasovsky himself has never been known for his tact and good-naturedness. He even offered to “drown children” once before, though it were Russian children, not Ukrainian.