RTVS invited Čarnogurský, who spread Russian rumors about the dead of the Crimea, which witnesses questioned – Denník N

The day after Russian President Vladimir Putin “acknowledged the independence” of the separatist republics in eastern Ukraine and asked for troops to be sent to the country, RTVS invited one of Putin’s best-known dissidents and former prime minister, Jan Charnogursky, to evening reports and commentators.

Čarnogurský is the head of the Slovak-Russian company and a member of the Valdai Discussion Club, which aims to improve Russia’s image abroad. The reports and comments are the analytical program that follows the evening news program of the RTVS Report.

The former prime minister contacted the moderator Katarína Martinková at a distance. In a thirteen-minute session, their conversation took about three minutes. Other guests of the program were the former Chief of the General Staff of the Czech Army Jiří Šedivý and the expert on international law Lukáš Mareček.

In the evening’s program, Mareček called the Russian move “a violation of the principle of the territorial integrity of another state”, and Šedivý called the announced sanctions against Russia “not sufficient”. It is clear that the dramaturgy of RTVS news called Čarnogurský to “balance” these views – which are in line with the statements of the representatives of the Slovak government and the majority of the opposition – and brought a pro-Russian view to the broadcast.

This is in line with what the current director of RTVS, Jaroslav Rezník, and the head of news, Vahram Chuguryan, have been saying for a long time: they imagine telephony as a tribune that offers viewers different and non-mainstream views. But by inviting Čarnogurský, they also offered them targeted propaganda and distortion of reality.

Corsican pogrom

Čarnogurský was asked by the presenter why Russia is exacerbating the situation on Donbas by sending troops there, and how to read Putin’s statement that while Russia respects the sovereignty of the post-Soviet republics, Ukraine is an exception.

He ignored the question and began talking about the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014. Among other things, he said: “When Maidan was