Anton Kuznetsov-Krasovsky was found guilty of calling for the overthrow of the constitutional order of Ukraine and the genocide of Ukrainians.
On February 13, the Shevchenkivsky District Court of Kyiv sentenced in absentia to five years in prison with confiscation of property the director of the Russian propaganda TV channel RT Anton Kuznetsov-Krasovsky, Detector Media reports.
Kuznetsov-Krasovsky was found guilty of two crimes – public calls for the overthrow of the constitutional order in Ukraine, as well as public calls for genocide and the production and dissemination of materials calling for genocide.
The court found that in January-March 2022, the defendant broadcast negative statements about the existence of Ukraine as a sovereign and independent state on the RT YouTube channel.
In one of the videos, Krasovsky directly stated: “B*tch! This country should not exist! And we will do everything to make sure it does not exist.”
In addition, Kuznetsov-Krasovsky published a post on his Telegram channel calling for the genocide of Ukrainians through physical destruction: “Guys, it’s obvious that we need to pull ourselves together. Pull yourself together. Stop thinking about ‘brothers’. They are not our brothers. I grew up there, I speak with knowledge. Soak them! Come on! Enough!”
The expert determined that the word “soak” here means “kill”.
In one video from January 2022, Kuznetsov-Krasovsky categorically denies the host’s statement that Georgia and Ukraine could join NATO and says that in this case Russia will send troops: “We will send troops to Ukraine. This is our land. F*ck you, not NATO. Don’t even dream about it, you bastards!”
When the host reminds him that the Euro-Atlantic direction of Ukraine’s foreign policy is enshrined in the Constitution, Kuznetsov-Krasovsky shouts: “We will take your constitution away from you… We will burn it on Khreshchatyk [the main street in Kyiv – Insight News] with you on your own fires, just as you like. On tires, on tires… No Ukraine, this is our Russian land. No Ukraine will solve anything there… Russia will take the legally deserved Russian lands, so-called Ukraine… Which were given to the Ukrainians by Stalin… Stalin created your Ukraine! Every city in Ukraine should have a huge monument to Stalin.”
As reported earlier, RT’s director was added to the EU sanctions list.
In October, during an interview with Russian science fiction writer Sergei Lukyanenko, Krasovsky called for the killing of Ukrainian children. This remark was related to Lukyanenko’s story about how in 1980 in Zakarpattia, western Ukrainian region “Russian-speaking children with Russian surnames were telling that Ukraine was occupied by Muscovites.” Krasovsky said: “And such children should have been drowned directly, right in the river […] Just drown them, drown them.”
After that, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called on all countries to ban Russia Today from broadcasting, describing Krasovsky’s statements as calls for genocide.
The head of the channel, propagandist Margarita Simonyan, known for her anti-Ukrainian statements, first publicly condemned Krasovsky’s statements, calling them “wild and disgusting” and said that cooperation with Krasovsky had been suspended. Krasovsky “apologized” to everyone “who thought it was wild,” including Margarita Simonyan, but in a specific way: “I am really embarrassed that I somehow did not see the line about children. It happens: you sit in the broadcast and you are driven, you can’t stop.”
However, on November 1, the Russia Today channel showed another film from the series Russia: The 21st Century series, authored and hosted by Krasovsky.
Will the Ukrainian court’s decision become a precedent and a legal basis for European states to bring Russian propagandists to justice?
However, one thing is clear: RT is headed by an openly hateful person, an aggressive figure who extends his aggression to all of his viewers.
This is one of the dozens of reasons why Russian propaganda platforms in Europe should be blocked permanently.
Earlier, we reported that Latvia blocked websites associated with Russia Today English, Russia Today UK, Russia Today Germany, Russia Today France, Russia Today Spanish, and Sputnik.
One way or another, Russian propagandists should be put on trial, because they are the ones who spread lies, inspire Russians to commit crimes, and justify the atrocities.
