A new surreal moment happened on Russian television: one of the presenters of “Gazpromovsky” television noted a paradox, due to which he was unable to comment on the withdrawal of Moscow troops from Kherson.

“If you expect me to explain what I think about it, I won’t tell you anything. But I will explain why. If I support the decision and say that the Ministry of Defense is doing the right thing by leaving Kherson, then I am publicly calling for a violation of the territorial integrity of the Russian Federation,” says presenter Andriy Norkin from the purchased NTV channel. in 2001 by Gazprom Media, the media division of the Russian energy giant.

“We have this in the Criminal Code in Part 1 of Article 280. I specifically checked this morning. Several years in prison,” Norkin explains.

“And if I do not support the decision and believe that the Ministry of Defense did wrong by leaving Kherson, then I publicly discredit the Armed Forces, which is also in Article 280, but in paragraph 3 with approximately the same term of imprisonment.” , – he continues.

“I don’t want to sit in prison,” the Russian TV presenter emphasizes. “So let’s watch the report, and then I’ll pass the baton to our dear experts,” he concludes.

“Fake” information about the military is illegal in Russia

Back in March, the Russian parliament adopted a draft law that provides for criminal liability for the dissemination of “false” information that discredits the country’s armed forces, and later the legislation was extended to all Russian state institutions operating abroad.

The laws, however, allow defendants to get away with only a fine, a situation that independent analysts attribute to the fact that Moscow authorities are still reluctant to imprison celebrities or popular public figures who do not pose a threat to the Kremlin.

For example, the model and actress Kristina Asmus, once the “sexiest woman in Russia” according to Maxim magazine, was summoned to the administrative court at the end of August with the threat of a fine of up to 50,000 rubles, although she was accused on the basis of an article about discrediting the armed forces.

Olga Valeeva, the winner of this year’s Miss Crimea beauty pageant, was also fined 40,000 rubles after she was accused of defaming the armed forces by performing “Chervona Kalina”, a song that became a symbol of Ukrainian resistance after the Russian invasion began on February 24 .

Gazprom television is one of the most militant in Russia

Andriy Norkin’s short monologue is all the more remarkable because he is by no means a dissident who contradicts the Kremlin’s official propaganda line, but rather falls into the category of Moscow propagandist TV presenters, such as Volodymyr Solovyov, Olga Skabeeva, or Dmytro Kiselyov.

This could be seen recently in one of his shows at the end of October, when guest sociologist Oleksiy Roschyn dared to declare that Russia is waging a “brutal” war against the civilian population in Ukraine, directly referring to attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.

“I don’t understand what order we can talk about when we destroy their power plants and infrastructure in Ukraine. This is cruelty and sadism, a war against the civilian population. This war is against the people. As a citizen, I am responsible, but I did not approve the bombing of Ukrainian power plants,” he said.

“Let’s imagine we’ve heard enough of your manifesto, do you have anything else of substance to say? I understand that you wanted to return to television, but I’m afraid you went down the wrong path. No one cares what you say,” Norkin replied.

Also in October, NTV aired some of the most shocking footage from Ukraine shown on Russian television since the invasion, showing attacks on Ukrainian cities and the dumping of lifeless bodies into mass graves by the Russian invaders.

The report was broadcast as an introduction to Norkin’s show “Meeting Place”, presented in the form of a debate with guests.

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