With tensions between the United States and Russia already at a boiling point, the Kremlin’s extensive propaganda apparatus is throwing more gasoline at the fire.
Appearing on state TV show 60 Minutes on Wednesday, State Duma member and chairman of Russia’s nationalist Rodina party Aleksei Zhuravlyov openly advocated for the abduction and imprisonment of U.S Congressman Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) over comments he made about how to handle the ongoing Ukraine-Russia crisis.
After returning to the United States from his recent trip to Ukraine, Gallego urged the Biden administration to take additional steps to deter further Russian aggression toward its neighbor by sanctioning Russia and arming Ukraine. In his interview from Kyiv on Sunday, Gallego told CNN’s Fredricka Whitfield that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s appetite for another escalation in Ukraine may be tempered only by a harsh military response.