Kathrine Frich
The outburst comes at a tense moment on the battlefield.
Late-night television usually serves up light entertainment or standard news recaps.
In some parts of the world, however, prime-time broadcasts take a much darker turn.
One prominent presenter has just used his airtime to issue a chilling demand to foreign journalists.
Radioactive dust threats
According to the Daily Express, Russian state TV presenter Vladimir Solovyov used his programme on the Russia-1 network to threaten European capitals with nuclear strikes. Addressing Western countries directly, he mocked their military drills and questioned who they were trying to frighten.
“Every century, you unite just to get kicked right in the face by a Russian soldier. And this time the boot will be nuclear. We won’t even need to reach your cities,” Solovyov said on the broadcast.
He did not stop there. “I mean, what is there to do among the radioactive dust of Paris, Brussels, Berlin? Besides, we don’t even wear boots anymore,” the presenter added, before telling foreign media: “Don’t forget to quote this in all your newspapers tomorrow.”
Ukrainian official Anton Gerashchenko shared the video clip online. “Russian propagandist Solovyev is once again threatening Paris, Brussels, and Berlin with radioactive dust. He explicitly asks to be quoted in European newspapers. After all, that’s what he gets paid for,” Gerashchenko wrote.
As the Daily Express notes, the TV host has a long history of calling for atomic strikes against NATO members, including proposing underwater Poseidon drone attacks against Britain.
Shifting front lines
The outburst comes at a tense moment on the battlefield.
According to the Daily Express, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky recently stated that his army holds its strongest position in quite a while after pulling off several covert missions to win back land.
Near Kupiansk, Ukrainian soldiers crept through underground gas pipes to get behind Russian lines during Operation Veles, alongside an eastern air raid and Operation Vivaldi in the north.
Still, the bombardment continues. Over the last fortnight, Moscow has launched over 100 ballistic missiles at Kyiv and nearby regions, hitting a university campus and other civilian areas.
At the same time, the Daily Express reports that a local truce brokered by the United States around the occupied southern town of Oleshky has lasted for 30 hours, letting aid in and residents out.
Looking ahead, lower-level peace discussions between Washington, Moscow, and Kyiv are set for November, following a rare phone call where Norway’s prime minister and Finland’s president pressed Vladimir Putin to stop the war.
