Netizens discovered a video in which Volodymyr Solovyov, who is considered the favorite propagandist of Russian President Vladimir Putin, talks about the prospect of war with Ukraine in 2008, his position then was radically different from the current one.

The recording was also shared by BBC journalist Francis Scarr, who noted that it was filmed 14 years ago at an event at the Moscow Art Theater.

“Let me state the facts: there will never be a war between Russia and Ukraine, because anyone who seriously attempts such an act is a criminal. Moreover, I have no idea how big the criminal is,” he said at the time.

“People live in Ukraine with an absolute spirit of brotherhood, blood and common history, a war with whom would be the most terrible crime imaginable. We should not shout “Sevastopol is ours!”, we should not shout “Crimea is ours!” – urged Solovyov.

We just have to make life in our country so attractive that Ukrainians, Belarusians, Moldovans, Armenians, Georgians, all of them want to live with us in peace and come to us,” he added.

It is unclear whether the event at which Solovyov spoke took place before Russia invaded Georgia in August 2008.

What does Volodymyr Solovyov say today about the war against Ukraine

Francis Scarr on Tuesday shared a recording of Solovyov’s monologue on one of his shows after Vladimir Putin ordered his armed forces to launch a missile attack on Kyiv and other major Ukrainian cities on Monday.

“Well, it is clear that after the strikes, their (Ukrainians’) mood changed significantly. Those who yesterday laughed and shouted that they were winning, now say: “Why did you do this to us?”. You know, I have no sense of schadenfreude (no pleasure or satisfaction in other people’s problems). I feel sorry for ordinary people,” says the TV presenter.

“But when they ignored what was happening in Donbas for eight years, now they say to us, ‘Why are you bombing cities with a civilian population?’, they say, ‘Why are you hitting Kyiv, Lviv and Ivano-Frankivsk?’ I feel like saying, “Are you serious?” Solovyov says, then repeating one of the Kremlin’s favorite propaganda tricks, that Ukraine has bombed civilians in the territories occupied by pro-Russian separatists in Donbas for years.

“Now you bomb cities that refused to live under your junta and you have no problem with that. And forget how many people have died during the bombings in Donbas in just the last few days. But how many died today?” Solovyov asks decisively.

Then he says that the Ukrainians fired more than 100 rockets at the cities of Donbas. “Of course, every death is tragic, but fortunately not many civilians died. But their infrastructure was badly damaged. Their infrastructure has become…partly sick.”

“It was a round [de atacuri] in the morning and more modestly in the evening. And who says it will end there? I think this is just the beginning,” he concluded on the show, which most likely took place on Monday night.

As Francis Scarr also notes, the Russian TV presenter no longer even pretends that the Russian armed forces are striking military targets in Ukraine.

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