RT suspends host after explosive remark about ‘children’

Anton Krasovsky called for the drowning of Ukrainian children, a statement condemned by the broadcaster’s editor and the rest of the team

RT editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan condemned Russian-language TV host Anton Krasovsky’s statement that Ukrainian children should be « drowned« , and suspended his contract.

Krasovsky previously made a provocative statement while airing his show, in which science fiction writer Sergei Lukyanenko was a guest. The writer said that in 1980, in a hospital in the Uzhgorod region, local children told him that « Ukraine is occupied by Muscovites » and that if this had not happened, they would have lived well. Krasovsky responded to this by saying: « You have to drown these children outright. A kid said ‘the Muscovites have occupied’ – you immediately throw them into a turbulent river. » When Lukyanenko objected, Krasovsky added that children could still be « beaten in the hut and burned. »

On Sunday evening, Simonyan released a statement on his Telegram channel, calling Krasovsky’s words « wild and disgusting. »

« Perhaps Anton will explain what temporary madness caused it and how it came out of his mouth. It’s hard to believe that Krasovsky sincerely believed that children should be drowned, ” she says.

Simonyan clarified that she was suspending her contract with the broadcaster, « Because neither me nor the rest of the RT team can even allow the idea that any of us are capable of sharing such nonsense. »

« For the children of Ukraine, as well as the children of Donbass and all other children, I wish that all of this ends as soon as possible, and that they can once again live and study in peace – in the language that they consider it their mother tongue ».

rt