Russian State TV Tension as Guest Describes Ukraine's 'Powerful Army'

Tensions rose in a Russian state TV studio when a guest said Ukraine now has a "powerful army."

The remarks were made by Anton Khashchenko, a Russian journalist, political scientist and TV presenter, during a broadcast on state TV show Mesto Vstrechi. Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to Ukraine's minister of internal affairs, shared an excerpt from the show, tweeting: "The agenda on Russian propaganda shows is certainly changing."

Khashchenko's remarks come on the heels of comments made by Wagner Group head Yevgeny Prigozhin during an interview with pro-Moscow blogger Konstantin Dolgov published late Tuesday. The head of the Russian paramilitary outfit suggested that Ukraine now has one of the world's most powerful armies.

"Firstly, Ukraine is not becoming a NATO member not because it has not rearmed, it is in fact already heavily armed ... the Ukrainian army with American and European weapons is probably the strongest of all its European partners right now," said Khashchenko.

Throughout Russia's full-scale invasion, which began in February 2022, Kyiv has received a trove of weapons and military equipment from its Western allies to assist in its fight against Moscow, including MiG-29 fighter jets, anti-aircraft systems, tactical drones, rocket systems, howitzers and artillery rounds.

Ukraine, Khashchenko said, is "pumped full of weapons."

Visibly frustrated Mesto Vstrechi presenter Andrey Norkin interrupted Khashchenko and said: "Well, look, if you stock up on weapons like that, but you can't use them..."

"What do you mean you can't use them? If they give us a year's worth of trouble," Khashchenko responded.

"Ukraine now has a really powerful army. It is battered, but even in this condition it is stronger than any country of the European Union," he continued. "I am not comparing it with us now. There is nothing similar there in terms of mobilization and so on."

After another guest on the state TV show interjected, Khashchenko said: "If it is not so, then why do we have such problems? Because of their army."

His remarks echo Prigozhin, who said in his wide-ranging interview that Ukraine's army has a "high level of organization, a high level of training," and a "high level of intelligence."

"They have various weapons, and moreover, they work on any systems, Soviet, NATO, anything, equally successfully," Prigozhin said.

Kyiv has been building up its military inventory to prepare for a counteroffensive to try to recapture the territories seized by Russia in the war.

Mikhail Podolyak, adviser to the head of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's office, said this week that Ukraine's counteroffensive "has been going on for several days."

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