Russian Pundit Goes Too Far for State TV

A well-known Russian state television pundit has been fired after making a series of derogatory remarks about two high-profile Russian diplomats, according to a Kremlin propagandist.

Yevgeny Satanovsky, a frequent guest in Russian state broadcasts, accused Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova of being a "heavy-drinking" antisemite. He added that Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov was a "hopeless drunkard" in an interview posted to YouTube earlier this week and translated by Julia Davis, who runs the Russian Media Monitor account.

Satanovsky was quickly dismissed from "our channel," prominent Kremlin-aligned Russian state television host, Vladimir Solovyov, said in a clip posted to X. It was translated by Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to Ukraine's Interior Ministry. Solovyov regularly hosts talk shows on the state-run Russia-1 channel.

Satanovsky's comments were absolutely unfair and inadmissible, Solovyov said. He added that the political scientist and president of Russia's Institute of the Middle East had "insulted both [of] these respected diplomats and the ministry of foreign affairs."

"As a result, I see no possibility of continuing professional communication" with Satanovsky, Solovyov said. "I would like to apologize to the ministry of foreign affairs of the Russian Federation," he said in the brief clip, as well as extending an apology to Zakharova and Bogdanov. Newsweek has reached out to the Russian Foreign Ministry for comment via email.

Satanovsky is known for his virulently anti-U.S. rhetoric. He has said that the U.S. could be caught in the "crosshairs" of a nuclear strike, should the war in Ukraine escalate.

"The question is, will it all reach the nuclear phase or not? Because if it keeps going like this, it will definitely happen," Satanovsky said in an appearance on Russian state TV in mid-June. If Moscow did detonate nuclear weapons in Ukraine, the U.S. would be one of the "targets that need to be in the crosshairs," he added.

Satanovsky said the U.S. should abandon all of its global military bases and withdraw every one of its nuclear weapons.

"There shouldn't be a single point where these guys can start concentrating troops and creep up on our borders, concentrating nukes and bringing them to our borders," Satanovsky said in February. "There shouldn't be any. That's the first goal."

Solovyov, one of the Kremlin's most-recognizable voices, is one of several commentators linked to Russian authorities who publicly call for attacks on U.S. soil and assets. He has predicted a third world war with Western nations, and has called for harsher penalties for critics of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

Solovyov has also repeatedly appealed for the use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine.

UPDATE, 10/23/2023 at 4.27 a.m. ET: This article was updated to include a reference to a clip posted by Julia Davis.