Invited on Monday evening on the Russian state channel Rossiya 1, military analyst and retired colonel Mikhail Khodarenok uttered words that stain the Kremlin’s propaganda.
“The situation for us is clearly going to get worse […] We are in total geopolitical isolation and the whole world is against us […] even if we don’t want to admit it,” he warned, as Ukraine continues to arm itself with military equipment sent by the West.
The ‘extraordinary’ TV exchange was translated and shared by BBC News’ Russia editor on Twitter.
Extraordinary exchange on Russian state TV’s top talk show about Ukraine. Military analyst & retired colonel Mikhail Khodarenok tells anchor Olga Skabeyeva “the situation for us will clearly get worse…we’re in total geopolitical isolation…the situation is not normal.” pic.twitter.com/ExMwVDszsk
—Steve Rosenberg (@BBCSteveR) May 16, 2022
“The Ukrainian army can arm a million people. […] We have to take this into account in our strategic calculations, because it is clear that the situation is going to get worse for us,” Khodarenok said during the show. 60 minutesone of the most watched in Russia.
Visibly annoyed by the remarks of the ex-colonel, the presenter, Olga Skabeyeva, argued that “the soldiers [ukrainiens] mobilized must not be very good [au combat] “. According to her, Russia, which has hired contract soldiers, has more “professional” fighters.
However, “the level of professionalism of an army is not determined by the recruitment of soldiers under contract, but by the level of training of the troops, their morale and their willingness to shed blood for the fatherland”, retorted the analyst. “And the desire to defend their homeland, as they see it in Ukraine, does exist and they are ready to fight until…”
Until what? Ms Skabeïeva did not let the speaker finish her sentence. After several interruptions, she concluded the program by hammering that Russia will emerge victorious: “We were forced to [intervenir en Ukraine]. Our very existence is at stake. Surrender is not possible. Getting along with those who want to see us disappear is impossible. We will have to go all the way. We will get there, our great country will win”.
However, the guest was able to comment on the imminent accession of Finland and Sweden to NATO. “The most important thing […] is not to brandish missiles, for heaven’s sake, in the direction of Finland,” he said, as Moscow on Saturday called the choice of the Nordic country a “mistake.”
It is not the first time that Mikhail Khodarenok has strayed from the official line of the Kremlin, which calls its invasion a “special military operation” and has passed a series of laws criminalizing dissent.
More than two weeks before the start of the war, launched by Vladimir Putin on February 24, Mr. Khodarenok already underlined the power of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and warned of the “triumphant eagles and hasty cuckoo clocks” predicting a lightning Russian victory.
Several acts of media resistance have taken place in Russia in recent weeks. In this context and considering his remarks in recent weeks going against the official positions of the Kremlin, the presence of Mr. Khodarenok on state television is surprising. It is possible that he fell through the cracks, or that the Rossiya 1 channel sought to prepare its audience for negative news. The Ukrainians have, according to kyiv, regained control of part of the border in the Kharkiv region.