Russian State TV Host Says There Was No Other Choice But to Invade Ukraine

Kremlin propagandist Vladimir Solovyov suggested Russia had "no other choice" but to invade Ukraine in February 2022, and that doing so has "saved millions of lives."

The clip of Rossiya-1 host Solovyov, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was shared on Twitter on Thursday by Ukrainian internal affairs adviser Anton Gerashchenko.

"I sometimes wonder what goes on inside his head as he says all this," Gerashchenko tweeted.

Solovyov, who's been nicknamed "Putin's voice" for his support of the Kremlin, made the remarks during an episode of his radio show, Full Contact (Polniy Kontakt).

"What would have happened if we hadn't stopped the Ukrainian Nazis on the counter? In a few hours they would have reached Russia's borders in Donbas, destroying the cities of Donetsk and Luhansk, wiping it off the face of the earth with the artillery their NATO b****rds have provided them since 2014," he said.

The state TV presenter was repeating the rhetoric that was used by Putin to justify his full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022.

The Russian president said last February that his "special military operation" sought to "demilitarize" and "denazify" Ukraine. Putin has often referred to the Ukrainian government and its armed forces as neo-Nazis. Kyiv and the international community have rejected the veracity of those goals.

Solovyov continued by saying that if Russia hadn't invaded, Ukrainians would have entered Crimea—the Black Sea peninsula that Putin illegally annexed from Ukraine in 2014.

"They would have brought death and destruction! On February 24 we had no other choices. We saved millions of lives of our compatriots, those who put their faith in us," he concluded.

Since the start of the war nearly a year ago, Solovyov has been a vocal supporter. He has recently ramped up his support of the conflict, calling it a "holy war" against "Satanism."

The presenter recently replayed a clip of himself giving a pep talk to troops fighting in Ukraine.

The Kremlin propagandist said 50 countries are against Russia, and that they're united by "Satanism."

"No matter what they say, no matter how they try to find beautiful words, this candy has a rotten filling. The destiny of this country depends on you. If we don't win, not Russia but the whole world will disappear. Who needs the world if there is not Russia in it?" he concluded.

Solovyov finished his broadcast on state TV by saying: "We are fighting against Satanists. This is a holy war and we have to win."

Newsweek has contacted Ukraine's foreign ministry for comment.

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