Journalist Anton Krasovsky attends a session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) in Saint Petersburg, Russia June 16, 2022. REUTERS FILE PHOTO
A Russian TV presenter apologized on Monday for calling for Ukrainian children to be drowned, as Russia鈥檚 state Investigative Committee said it was probing his remarks.
In a show last week on state-controlled broadcaster RT, presenter Anton Krasovsky said Ukrainian children who saw Russians as occupiers under the Soviet Union should have been 鈥渢hrown straight into a river with a strong current鈥� and drowned.
Ukraine said on Sunday that RT was an inciter of genocide and should be banned worldwide. Margarita Simonyan, the channel鈥檚 editor-in-chief, said she had suspended Krasovsky because of his 鈥渄isgusting鈥� comments, adding that no one at RT shared his views.
Krasovsky said in a social media post he was 鈥渞eally embarrassed鈥�.
鈥淲ell, it happens: you鈥檙e on air, you get carried away. And you can鈥檛 stop. I ask for the forgiveness of everyone who was stunned by this,鈥� he said.
鈥楽harp statements鈥�
State television, heavily controlled by the Kremlin, has been a vocal cheerleader of Russia鈥檚 invasion of Ukraine, often calling on President Vladimir Putin to take an even more aggressive approach to the war. But Krasovsky鈥檚 comments appeared to have crossed a line for the authorities.
The Investigative Committee, which handles serious crimes, said it had been asked to look into his 鈥渟harp statements鈥� and had ordered a report.
Krasovsky is a pro-war commentator on Russian television who has been sanctioned by the European Union. In last week鈥檚 show, he also talked about shoving children into huts and burning them, and joked about the rape of Ukrainian women.
鈥淕overnments which have still not banned RT must watch this excerpt,鈥� Ukraine鈥檚 Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Twitter, linking to a clip of the interview. He said Ukraine would put Krasovsky on trial for 鈥渁ggressive genocide incitement鈥�.
In a statement on RT鈥檚 website, Simonyan said: 鈥淔or the children of Ukraine, as well as the children of Donbas, and all other children, I wish that all this ends as soon as possible, and they can live and study in peace again 鈥� in the language they consider native.鈥�
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