KEY POINTS

  • Former Israeli politician Yaakov Kedmi slammed Solovyov during a debate over Russia's war strategy
  • Solovyov was seen crossing his arms and bowing his head during the rare incident
  • Kedmi recently suggested using strategic nuclear weapons to take down Ukrainian allies

In a rare moment on Russian television, Kremlin propagandist Vladimir Solovyov faced condemnation from one of his guests after calling for Ukrainian cities to be "wiped off the face of the earth."

A picture by the Ukrainian Emergency Service on August 8, 2022 shows a fire after a missile was shot down and hit civilian infrastucture in Uman district, Cherkasy region, amid Russia's invasion
AFP

The unusual moment saw Yaakov Kedmi, a geopolitics lecturer and former Israeli politician, describe Solovyov's comments as "criminal" during a heated debate over Russia's war strategy.

"I've asked this 100 times, why don't we say, if you're shelling us, Kharkiv will be destroyed, wiped off the face of the Earth, Kyiv will be destroyed," Solovyov said.

In response, Kedmi said, "It's obscene, it's not constructive, it's criminal to bomb peaceful cities. These words, 'To wipe Kyiv and Kharkiv off the face of the Earth,' they should not be uttered, especially in Russia."

"There were no wars in history, where the bombing of a peaceful city, of a civilian population, ever led to some kind of results on the battlefield. Would they be deterred by that? When did it ever happen? It didn't happen in any war. There are 1,001 ways to fight without touching civilians," Kedmi added.

Solovyov, who usually would have stood his ground, was seen crossing his arms and bowing his head until Kedmi was done speaking.

Russian pundits have become increasingly critical of President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine in recent months, especially after the latter successfully recaptured occupied territories in its counteroffensive operations.

Kedmi, for example, regularly criticized Ukraine and condemned the so-called "Nazi Ukrainian leadership." On Sunday, he appeared on a podcast show where he suggested using strategic nuclear weapons to take down Ukrainian allies, as per the Kyiv Post.

In May, he boasted that Russia had the capability to use a hypersonic Zircon missile and bomb Britain "back to the Stone Age" in 10 minutes, as quoted by The Daily Mail.

Solovyov and Kedmi's recent spat comes as Ukrainian forces continue to liberate more settlements in the Svatove-Kreminna direction in the occupied Luhansk region. As of Nov. 14, Ukraine successfully liberated 12 settlements in the area, including the village of Nevske, where local farmers were already beginning repair work, according to The New Voice of Ukraine.

Vladimir Putin and Vladimir Solovyov
Vladimir Solovyov, a top Kremlin propagandist and an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images)