‘This is what we want to see every day’

Russian state media celebrates the massive airstrike on Ukrainian civilians and energy supplies as the biggest military victory in months. Presenters cheer, cheer and dance to images of burning cars, smoking buildings and destroyed playgrounds in their neighboring country.

“This is what we want to see every day,” said presenter Anton Krasovski. “This is what Russia has been waiting for all these months, finally it has started.” He posted on social media a video of himself in which he does a happy dance on his balcony.

Usually, Russian state television hides images of destroyed civilian targets in Ukraine. But this time Kremlin channels also show images of burnt-out passenger cars and enraged civilians to reinforce the Russian airstrike. Civilian casualties, according to the presenters, are the result of failing Ukrainian air defenses rather than the actual murder weapons: Russian cruise missiles and combat drones.

“Russia is not losing, Russia is winning,” senator Konstantin Dolgov said on the talk show 60 minut while endless replays of explosions in Ukrainian cities were shown. The replays are accompanied by added sounds of whizzing missiles, popping explosions and war music. Another guest on the talk show, the deputy leader of Putin’s party: ‘The mood of many has improved.’

Russian state channels have struggled for months to cover up ongoing defeats on the battlefield and pretend that Putin’s “special operation” is going according to plan. That has been made even more difficult by Putin’s chaotic annexation of four Ukrainian territories that the Russian military does not even fully control and the mobilization that has sparked the greatest civil unrest in Russia since the 1990s. The ultra-nationalist presenters and talk show guests yearn for a turning point in the war.

According to military experts outside Russia, the air strikes will probably have little repercussion on relations at the front. But the Russian state channels speak of a new phase in the war. Aleksandr Artamonov, a Russian military expert, said Monday he hoped the missile strikes “continue systematically.” He substantiated that appeal by stating that Ukrainian society is ‘psychiatrically ill’.

State television is controlled by the Kremlin with secret manuals. In the almost daily oekazes, which several times have been leaked, Putin’s staff dictates how newsrooms should spin the war news. Last week, for example, the channels had to talk about “strengthening Russia” as a result of the annexations of four Ukrainian regions, a leaked document showed. And instead of reporting on Russian loss of ground, the TV should be about losses within the Ukrainian army.

The brakes have been lifted in recent months. Hardliners are given every opportunity to argue for the deployment of even heavier means than Russia is already deploying: calls for the deployment of nuclear weapons against Ukraine or Western countries are no longer an exception. Last weekend, a professor from Moscow State University suggested a new plan in a talk show: Russia must use heavy violence to generate a new wave of Ukrainian refugees. The intended goal: to threaten the survival of ‘the hungry, cold, dirty and poor Europe’.