Russian Host Says Foreign Media Stokes Panic, Urges Viewers to Self-Censor

Amid mounting losses in Ukraine, a host on a Russian state-run media channel urged viewers to self-censor against foreign reporting.

A clip of the host, Armen Gasparyan, was shared on Twitter on Monday evening by Julia Davis, a journalist and creator of the Russian Media Monitor watchdog group. In it, the host acknowledged that it can be hard for Russian citizens to make sense of the losses recently incurred in Ukraine, particularly the setback in Lyman over the weekend. In response, Gasparyan urged his viewers to practice their own "internal censorship."

"I understand that from a layman's standpoint, all of this is simply unbelievable," Gasparyan began. "This is a difficult scenario, no doubt about it. Exactly for that reason, in the absence of censorship during the special operation in Ukraine, you should implement internal censorship, stop reading ideological adversaries."

As of Tuesday afternoon, the clip had been viewed over 196,000 times and liked over 3,000 times.

On Saturday, the Russian Defense Ministry acknowledged that troops in Lyman had been forced to retreat after being encircled. The city, in the vital contested region of Donetsk, served as the Russian military's hub for logistics and transportation to areas that have hampered their efforts.

The retreat also came around the same time that Russian President Vladimir Putin declared the annexation of the Donetsk and three other regions. But a successful counteroffensive by Ukraine in Lyman cast doubt about the authority of Russia's proclamation.

Gasparyan then warned viewers that negative reports about the war effort in Ukraine are seeking to induce panic in the Russian people.

"You have to realize, they are working to make you panic so that on the inside, you start to feel betrayal," he said. "It's an excellent configuration, hard to beat."

The host claimed that while the loss of Lyman was difficult, the military's goals in Ukraine remain unchanged and within sight, urging viewers not "to get hysterical." He also claimed that foreign reports about sinking morale in Russia from foreign outlets were the result of Russians reading allegedly false reporting and complaining about the state of things, specifically citing stories from CNN.

"Yes, it's traumatic and hurts the soul," Gasparyan said. "All of that is true. But you have to grit your teeth and understand that a word is also a weapon."

Newsweek reached out to the Russian Foreign Ministry for comment.