On a broadcast of the Russian TV channel "Channel One," Deputy Speaker of the State Duma of the Russian Federation Pyotr Tolstoy publicly called for "open" strikes on Ukrainian cities in order to "demoralize" the population and force it to capitulate. RBC-Ukraine reports this, citing the Telegram channel "We Can Explain." The statement was made during a discussion in which the channel's propagandists claimed that more than 20 million people allegedly live in Ukraine, and they asked Tolstoy what would happen to them if the country's territory were turned into a "wasteland."
"With raised paws": the logic of a "humane" warning
In response to a question about the fate of the civilian population, Tolstoy proposed warning residents of Ukrainian cities a day in advance of upcoming strikes and allowing them to leave their settlements. "Do you think we are calling for cruelty? We are calling for the public to be demoralized to such an extent that they come out to meet our troops with their paws raised," the deputy declared. In essence, this amounts to deliberate psychological pressure on peaceful civilians aimed at breaking their will to resist, which under international law is considered an impermissible impact on the civilian population.
Repeated belligerent statements from the State Duma
As journalists note, this is not the first time that representatives of the Russian parliament have made such statements. Deputy Andrey Gurulev called for "beating the enemy mercilessly, without any qualms," Andrey Kolesnik spoke of the need to "keep delivering strikes so that they cannot even raise their heads," and the leader of the "Rodina" party, Alexey Zhuravlyov, previously stated the need to destroy half of Ukraine's population. According to observers, the totality of these remarks forms a sustained rhetoric aimed at justifying massive strikes on civilian infrastructure.
Diplomatic and military backdrop
The resonant statements were made against the backdrop of a series of events. Earlier, RBC-Ukraine reported how Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov complained to the Vatican about Ukrainians, though, according to the outlet, he was unable to achieve anything. In addition, the article described the tasks with which the head of the CIA arrived in Moscow on the eve. Meanwhile, in Russia, new "Geran" drones were announced as being used in an attack on Ukraine. In this context, public calls to "demoralize" the population appear as an element of an information campaign accompanying the military operations.
