Russian state broadcaster RT has fired Kremlin propagandist Anton Krassovsky after hateful comments about Ukraine prompted a backlash at home and abroad.
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"Anton Krassovsky's statements are barbaric and atrocious," the head of RT, Margarita Simonjan, said on her Telegram channel on Monday.
As head of RT's Russian-language program, Krassovsky had spent months making hateful comments about Ukraine. The 47-year-old has been on the EU sanctions list since February.
The scandal was triggered by Krassovsky's demand in a television program that Ukrainian children who believed that Ukraine had been occupied by Russia should either be thrown into a river and drowned or locked up in a hut and set on fire.
He also denied Ukraine's right to exist, called for the shooting of Ukrainians and trivialised rape.
The broadcast caused international outrage, with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba calling on the international community to ban RT, which also has an English-language outlet.
Simonjan said Krassovsky had been afflicted by "temporary insanity" and that she was temporarily ending RT's relationship with him so that no one would get the idea that she or other RT employees shared these views.
Krassovsky, who was once considered a liberal journalist, has attracted attention several times in recent years for glorifying violence.
As recently as early October, he said he was celebrating missile strikes against Ukraine. "I'm dancing on the balcony in a nightgown with 'Russia's Army' written on it," he said.
Krassovsky said on Monday that he regretted crossing the line, adding that he sometimes got "carried away."
Australian Associated Press
