A clip of an elderly Russian woman denouncing the “brainwashing” of citizens by state television has been viewed nearly 1 million times online as of Monday morning.
The clip is taken from the Telegram channel, Neshutki, an opposition outlet. There are a few of these, such as Sota and others, that have been conducting interviews on Russian streets to gauge public opinion on various issues.
Human Rights Watch listed the arrest of Neshutki’s owner in 2022 as an example of repressions against those opposing the war.
In the excerpt, which has circulated on Twitter, the woman is asked whether she believed Russia has “enemies.” After pausing to consider, the unnamed woman responded that she wasn’t sure.
In this clip, the interviewer then said that typical answers listed Western countries, including the U.S., as “enemies.”
“I think that opinion is incorrect,” the senior woman then answered. The interviewer proceeded to ask her why so many Russians would believe that Western countries are their country’s adversaries.
“We have really bad television,” the senior woman said. “It completely brainwashed our people, and that’s why people give such answers.”
In the clip, the interviewer is seen asking the woman why “everyone else” would be “brainwashed,” yet she avoided that fate.
“I’m 92 years old,” she told the interviewer. “I’ve lived through four wars,” she added.
“I know how to think, how to analyze,” she continued. “Do you really think I’m going to listen to Solovyov?”
The woman appears to be referring to state-media anchor Vladimir Solovyov. He is a personal associate of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and he regularly hosts state broadcasts focusing on current affairs.
Solovyov is known for his extreme, anti-Western perspectives. He often calls for violent or catastrophic action from Russia against the likes of the U.S. and the U.K.
In a clip posted to Twitter on March 14, Solovyov and state-media guests discussed unleashing a nuclear torpedo on countries such as the U.S.
Solovyov has argued in previous broadcasts for a return to the methods of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin. He added that Russia’s “historic mission” is to defeat the U.S., Europe and other members of “the collective West.”
In a clip published by journalist Julia Davis, who runs the Russian Media Monitor account, on March 4, Solovyov said during a broadcast on the state-run Russia-1 channel that Moscow was “facing off against NATO” in a “big, difficult war.”
Solovyov has repeatedly framed the Ukraine war as “holy” conflict against “Satanism.” He has also used Kremlin language around the “denazification” of Ukraine, which has been popularized by Moscow’s leaders since the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022.
On February 24, 2022, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that “Ukraine should be liberated, cleaned from neo-Nazis, from people sharing pro-Nazi sentiment and ideas,” according to a state news readout.
This month, a Kremlin spokesperson admitted that Russian President Vladimir Putin is losing control of Russia’s narrative over the Ukraine war, according to U.S. think tank the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
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