Putin’s Propagandists Rage Against the Republican ‘Betrayal’

Kremlin mouthpieces are having a hard time explaining why a supposedly sympathetic US Congress has just passed a huge military aid package for Ukraine.

It seems like only yesterday Russia’s propagandists were rejoicing over the successful interruption of the US aid to Ukraine, reportedly at the behest of former US President Donald Trump.

The delay has undoubtedly cost countless lives and imperiled Ukraine’s critical infrastructure, left wide open due to diminished air defenses. Russian state TV had delighted in the destruction of the Trypilska Thermal Power Plant, the largest supplier of electricity to Kyiv, Cherkasy, and Zhytomyr regions, remarking that it will take years to rebuild it.

Celebrating the decline in Ukraine’s capabilities without American help, prominent propagandists started to refer to Speaker of the House Mike Johnson as “our Johnson,” in a similar vein to claiming Trump as their own, calling him “our Trump” or affectionately referring to him as Trumpushka.

When Speaker Johnson finally advanced the long-stalled aid package and the House approved $61bn of desperately needed foreign aid for Ukraine — including a measure to allow the sale of frozen Russian sovereign assets to help Ukraine’s war effort — the disappointment in Moscow was palpable.

During Sunday’s broadcast of Sunday Evening with Vladimir Solovyov, Russia’s No. 1 propagandist Vladimir Solovyov took comfort by repeating his go-to nuclear schtick, describing himself as “a member of a small group of nuclear maniacs, the proponents of nuclear Armageddon.” He vowed that Russia would keep fighting and that the war or wars would continue for a long time. He surmised, “I believe that a war with NATO is unavoidable.”

Solovyov noted: “We are dealing with a cunning, systematic, and extremely brutal enemy. It’s not about negotiations. It’s either us or them.” He added: “What is interesting is how Biden totally broke Trump and his supporters. He utterly destroyed them! This is Biden’s unequivocal, brutal victory because, in return, he did not give anything to Republicans.”

Solovyov yelled, “Biden achieved everything! He apparently used backstage methods to lure to his side the man whom the Republicans chose to represent the House [Speaker Johnson.] He betrayed them! He totally betrayed them! Not us, we have no friends there . . . This is all you need to know about American politics. They’re traitors!”

Get the Latest Sign up to receive regular emails and stay informed about CEPA's work. Email Δ

Solovyov immediately contradicted himself by lauding one congressional representative who has stuck with the anti-Ukraine campaign. He approvingly played a clip of the extreme right-wing Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene and one of her tirades against US aid for the embattled country. She was followed by the head of RT, Margarita Simonyan, a frequent guest on Solovyov’s programs who always gets the first word after the host.

Simonyan praised Greene, describing her as “a real beauty,” for her blonde hair, white coats, and fur collars. Later in the show, the RT head clarified that it doesn’t take much in America to be considered beautiful or to win a beauty contest. In case viewers wondered about her expertise on the issue, Simonyan revealed that she had once worked as a waitress in Maine.

Meanwhile in Russia: head of RT Margarita Simonyan praised Marjorie Taylor Greene as "a real beauty," who wears white coats and furs. Simonyan asserted that only Russia can stop this war and it will do so only after Moscow achieves whatever it wants.https://t.co/GDoJnX539d — Julia Davis (@JuliaDavisNews) April 21, 2024

Having implied that Americans are predominantly ugly, Simonyan added that they are extraordinarily stupid. With a chutzpah that only be displayed by an utterly shameless propagandist, she blamed what she called the “dumbification” of the people by the US media.

In this way, she explained, “normal people” like Greene were vilified and instead of being lauded, they are labeled as “conspiracy theorists.” (Among other things, Taylor Greene famously suggested in 2018 that California wildfires were started by covert space lasers operated by mysterious group of powerful people and has argued Ukraine is killing priests.) It should be noted that Russia’s state media mocked Greene until her usefulness to the Russian cause became apparent.

But other than some words of support for the Georgia congresswoman, most of the response was pure rage and insult directed at the United States. Boris Yakemenko, who hosts a show called Morning Z on the Solovyov Live, channel described Americans with their “melting pot” as a bunch of disrespectful mutts with no history or national pride. He claimed that America is a brazen gopnik — an expression reserved for members of a delinquent subculture in Russia.

Beneath the seething anger is an unspoken truth — that the enormous US aid package seriously complicates Russia’s realistic path to victory and ensures yet more tens of thousands of young Russians will suffer death and dismemberment. The evidence of enormous casualties is available for all to see in the swelling graveyards of the homeland.

Despite the boasting and bluster, Russians are suffering under the weight of Putin’s war of aggression and the cracks are starting to show. Appearing on The Evening With Vladimir Solovyov last week, Karen Shakhnazarov urged fellow propagandists to start telling the truth about Russia’s internal struggles and its many problems. Instead, others on the panel simply warned the viewers that hard times were coming and there was no resolution in sight, but Russia would certainly win in the end.

Despite Tucker Carlson gushing about shiny shopping carts he saw in Moscow, state TV pundits begrudgingly admit that Russia is struggling and increasingly resembles the late USSR. When they say Russia is in a "pre-war" state, they mean against the West. https://t.co/LQL4d1z9Za — Julia Davis (@JuliaDavisNews) April 20, 2024

One of the visual demonstrations of this dichotomy was provided by host Yulia Vityazeva, who mocked Ukrainians for receiving American “handouts,” and in the same breath asked fellow citizens to keep sending donations to supply Russian troops with a long list of urgently needed items, which the government still fails to provide.

Julia Davis is a columnist for The Daily Beast and the creator of the Russian Media Monitor. She is a member of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, the Screen Actors Guild, and Women In Film.

Europe’s Edge is CEPA’s online journal covering critical topics on the foreign policy docket across Europe and North America. All opinions are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the position or views of the institutions they represent or the Center for European Policy Analysis.