A presenter working with state-funded Russian television channel RT has finally apologised after he was suspended for calling for the burning of Ukrainian children.
Africa Daily News, New York reports that the 47-year-old Anton Krasovsky who is a pro-Kremlin pundit under Western sanctions, took to his Telegram on Tuesday to write; ‘I apologise to everyone who was stunned by this. I apologise to Margarita, to everyone who found these comments wild, unthinkable’.
The chief editor of RT, Margarita Simonyan who is formerly called Russia Today, during the night from Sunday to Monday announced the channel was suspending its work with Krasovsky over his “wild and disgusting statement”.
Krasovsky’s comments last week sparked an uproar on social media after he responded to a guest talking about meeting Ukrainian children in the 1980s who said they saw Russia as an occupier in Soviet times.
Read Also: Russian Firm Drags Germany To Court Over Refinery Seizures
These children ‘need to be drowned… shove them into their huts and burn them up,’ Krasovsky said.
Simonyan, who has been a fierce supporter of Russia’s military action in Ukraine, said on Monday she wanted to ‘warn those who call for atrocities. Don’t do it.’
Africa Daily News, New York reports that the Russian investigative committee, which looks into serious crimes, said it had ordered a probe into the incident after a viewer complained.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Sunday called on governments to “ban RT worldwide”, accusing the channel of “aggressive genocide incitement”.
Krasovsky had previously said on air that Ukraine “should not exist, and we are doing everything to make sure it does not.”
After being accused of spreading Kremlin propaganda, RT has been blocked in most Western countries since President Vladimir Putin sent troops to Ukraine on February 24.