In Russian propaganda broadcasts, threats about Russia seizing major European capitals are quite common. In a recent programme broadcast on Russian state television, Ljubljana was one of those capitals.
“This will continue to develop, and we will increasingly take on the role that the Russian empire had had before. I was not joking in the last programme that Berlin, Dresden, Prague, Ljubljana, everything will be ours. Why? That was the way it used to be! You see, when we entered Paris in 1815 and Berlin in 1941, at the end of the 18th century, it was no coincidence. Russia is the biggest country in Europe, a huge power”, said one propagandist.
However, Nikolai Vavilov, who also announced the invasion of our capital, got quite a few of those dates wrong. The Russian Emperor, at the helm of the coalition that defeated the French, invaded Paris in 1814, and the Red Army invaded Berlin in 1945.
Olga Skabeyeva, the presenter of the show, did not correct the confident interviewer, but instead asked, “Why did we leave every time? Why were we so irresponsible with our victories?”
Former Prime Minister Janez Janša responded to the post, writing: “Well, forget Ljubljana. Your cousins tried once in 1991 and left Slovenia badly defeated.”
Propaganda on national television
The threats were made on Russian national television, on the show 60 Minutes. The host of the talk show is the well-known Olga Skabeyeva, famous for her statement that the purpose of the Russian invasion was to protect the inhabitants of the Donbas from the Ukrainian “Nazi” regime. She also said that the destruction of the pride of the Russian navy, the Moskva ship, represents the beginning of the Third World War. The US State Department sanctioned her two days after the invasion began.
Ž. K.
