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"Sunday evening with Vladimir Solovyov", one of the most popular political talk shows in Russia, the moderator who is loyal to Putin is on the EU sanctions list.
The political scientist Sergei Michejew was a guest last Sunday, and he brought two frightening military scenarios with him.
Number one: a Russian nuclear attack on Europe.
Sergey Mikhayev, political scientist
»Europe should be made aware of one simple thing: it will experience an atomic bomb attack if it decides to deploy and deploy NATO peacekeeping forces.
Brave Poles, your Warsaw will disappear within a second.«
Tamina Kutscher, Editor-in-Chief dekoder.org
»In this respect, the talk shows are almost a genre of their own.
It's really about confrontation and not about exchange.
And above all, it's about offering certain official discourses, I would say, or propaganda narratives as an emotional amplifier."
Tamina Kutscher is the editor-in-chief of decorder.org, a platform that translates and categorizes independent Russian media.
For Russian talk show viewers, she says, Sergei Mikheiev is a familiar face.
Tamina Kutscher, Editor-in-Chief of dekoder.org
'He's also a frequent guest at Solovyov's.
Well, there's a bit of laughter because the same people keep appearing.
Michejew is one of them.
You could describe him as a left-wing nationalist, he also belongs to a corresponding party.
He just represents very national, patriotic, if you like, conservative values, again the rhetoric against the West, so Russia as surrounded by the West, the West as an enemy that always wants the worst for Russia.
Well, Putin also emphasized in his speech on February 24: Anyone who gets involved will get an answer that he hasn't seen before, something like that.
And that's what he's saying again, very rhetorically impressive and you can also say quite hateful, if you will."
The second scenario that Mikheev addresses is the creation of a land connection from Russia to the Kaliningrad exclave, i.e. a Russian invasion of Lithuania and Poland.
Sergei Mikheiev, political scientist
»Maybe it's time for a corridor to Kaliningrad?
A land connection to Kaliningrad.
Why not?"
Vladimir Solovyov, moderator
»If we can make it to Transnistria [through Ukraine], we could definitely do it again.«
Sergey Mikhayev, political scientist
»Lithuania and Poland are too rude.
They don't understand that we'd be done with them faster than with Ukraine."
Tamina Kutscher, Editor-in-Chief dekoder.org
»The talk show formats, which might also be interesting, have been particularly popular since 2014, i.e. since the annexation of Crimea and the outbreak of war in eastern Ukraine.
They were also increased, there have been more and more of them since then, and some of them are running more often.
And that's how it is now, for example, with the evening with Solovyov, which since shortly before the outbreak of the war has been running almost every day in the whole of Ukraine, that is, except for Saturdays.
What is being sent is what the Kremlin wants to send, the message the Kremlin wants to send.
But of course the Kremlin and not the guests on the talk shows will decide what the consequences will be.'