Residents of Russia’s Urals region received blunt advice from their local newspaper when they opened its TV guide: Don’t watch Kremlin propaganda — it’s bad for your health.
Instead of listings for Rossiya 1, the state channel, readers of the Berezovsky Rabochy found the following: “Our supplier did not provide the schedule for the Rossiya 1 TV channel. Well, maybe it’s for the best. The less Solovyov, the healthier your sleep.”
The comment was a reference to Vladimir Solovyov, a pro-Kremlin presenter known for vicious on-screen attacks on opposition figures and the West during his Sunday evening talk show. “Personally, I prefer sleeping at night to watching propaganda,” said Sergei Stukov, the newspaper’s editor.
Solovyov, 57, has in recent years called opposition protesters “demons”
