Anne Applebaum is a journalist and scholar of Russian, Central and Eastern European affairs, educated at Yale, the London School of Economic and Oxford. She speaks Polish and Russian. Francis Scarr is with BBCMonitoring; he follows Russian state television.
You might not want a war with Russia, but Russia wants a war with you https://t.co/uhOm7yp0p6
— Anne Applebaum (@anneapplebaum) May 30, 2022
Olga Skabeyeva is a journalist who has covered the "criminal" activities of Russian opposition groups; the poisoning of Kremlin critics (which she has "debunked"); and Putin's favorite shibboleth, "Nazis in Ukraine." Olga and her husband have only their state TV incomes, yet own $4 million worth of Moscow real estate. She has been described as part of Russian TV's "special operation forces."
And her opinion — broadcast to millions of already ill-informed Russians — of what President Putin must do next is: launch World War Three.
Putin will do whatever Putin wishes to do, notwithstanding the illogic of it, or the external influences on it — something the West has yet to realize and appreciate. Instead, the West persists in coddling Vladimir's sensitivities. But in terms of militarily confronting NATO at some point, as Ms. Skabeyeva urges now, Putin will know he has a solid segment of the public behind him. Because state TV, its journalists and jingoists, are brainwashing the people of the Russian Federation for more war.