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By Isabel van Brugen
News Reporter
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Russian officials thought the war that began after the invasion of Ukraine in February "would be a lot easier," a host on Russian state TV recently said.
Russian TV host and ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Vladimir Solovyov, nicknamed "Putin's voice" for his stridently pro-Kremlin views, made the remarks on his Total Contact show on Tuesday, while giving his thoughts on the war, which began more than eight months ago.
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An excerpt of the show was published on Twitter by Julia Davis, a columnist at The Daily Beast and creator of the Russian Media Monitor, which added English subtitles to the clip.
"Russian propagandist Vladimir Solovyov is angry and despondent because Russia is floundering in Ukraine. He lies that NATO started the war against Russia on Feb. 17 and airs a multitude of grievances against Joe Biden, Volodymyr Zelensky, Jamie Raskin, Oleg Tinkov, Germany et al," Davis wrote.
Solovyov, a pro-Kremlin propagandist, said that on February 17, "a Nazi spear of the NATO forces had pierced the flesh of Donbas. And on February 24 we came to save them."
"True, not everything is going smoothly, yes, we thought everything would be a lot easier," he said.
"Yes, we anticipated and they started negotiations which have been derailed because nobody needs the Ukrainian people," Solovyov continued.
The TV host suggested that the Ukrainian people "have to burn in the fire of this civil war, as the president [Putin] defined it."
"Because we are one people. This is a war of civilizations. This is a war between life and death. This is a war between good and evil," he added.
Solovyov was repeating the Kremlin line that Russia and Ukraine are one nation. In July, Putin published an essay denying Ukraine's independent history, although Ukrainians and Russians have lived apart more than they have lived together.
Solovyov was also the first propagandist to describe Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine as a "war." Before that, state propaganda had repeated the Kremlin's narrative that the conflict is a "special military operation" and not an "all-out war."
Joanna Szostek, an associate fellow with Chatham House, a U.K. think tank, told Newsweek last month that the shift in tone on state TV is likely "expectation management" as Ukraine successfully presses on with counteroffensives to retake land seized by Russia in the war.
"The Kremlin can't easily 'cover up' its loss of territory, so it has to be discussed on the talk shows," she said.
Newsweek has reached out to Russia's foreign ministry for comment.
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