The Ukraine war is discussed for hours on Russian TV every night, and it is frequently fired up under a hostile attitude towards the West – and disinformation is spread.
The latest to make sensational statements is the presenter of the state-owned TV Rossija-1 and host of the political talk show “60 minutes”, Olga Skabejeva.
She claims that the British have acquired a taste for a new – and slightly unusual – animal.
– Today it was revealed that some restaurants in what was once great Britain will start serving squirrels, she said during a live broadcast.
– Since there are many animals in the parks, why not eat them – since the country has a food shortage? she continued.
She further claims that it is all due to Britain’s support for Ukraine, and that the country has thus found itself in an economic squeeze.
– They eat squirrels, but will still contribute with Howitzer artillery weapons, said Skabejeva.
Putin’s strategic dilemma
The session has been widely shared on Twitter – also by adviser in the Ukrainian Ministry of the Interior, Anton Gerashenko.
Several make fun of it, among them UK Ambassador to Ukraine, Melinda Simmons.
– One clip suggests that squirrels will start coming as guests in restaurants, instead of on the menu, she jokes.
Hint of truth
There is no food crisis in Britain, as Skabejeva describes. However, there has been a sharp increase in the price of food – an increase of 17.1 per cent last year. And that could lead to some shortage of vegetables and fruit in the coming weeks.
The analysis company Kantar is following the effects closely and does not believe, however, that rationing measures, where shops set a maximum limit for how much one can buy of one item, will affect consumers.
NRK also writes that Skabejeva’s plan may have been inspired by a recent environmental campaign:
A little over a week ago the organization Exmoor Squirrel Project launched a campaign in the UK to conserve red squirrels in the wild. It requires that the population of gray squirrels be reduced in a humane way, because they are better at finding food, take up more space and can withstand a virus that kills the red ones, they believe, according to the channel, which discussed the matter first in Norway.
The organization therefore wants people to set traps on their property, and for restaurants to start serving dishes with squirrel meat in them.
However, that is far from happening, and Skabejeva’s version is, in that case, heavily distorted.
– Surprising and gross
Blacklisted
Dagbladet has previously written that Skabejeva is often described as “Putin’s propaganda chief on TV” and “Putin’s iron puppet”.
NUPI researcher and Russia expert Jakub Godzimirski has explained:
– She is known in light of her role, and one about whom opinions are divided. What characterizes her as a journalist, if you can call her that, because it is basically pure propaganda, is that she is very aggressive in her appearance.
Skabejeva is among those who have been put on EU sanctions list after the start of the war, with the following justification:
“Together with her husband Evgeny Popov, she hosts the most popular political talk show in Russia, ’60 Minutes’, where she has spread anti-Ukrainian propaganda and promoted a positive attitude towards the annexation of Crimea and the actions of separatists in Donbas.”
