Ukraine charges top Russian propagandist Solovyov with genocide incitement

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) documented and filed criminal charges of genocide against prominent Russian propagandist Vladimir Solovyov for repeatedly promoting Russia’s war against Ukraine and calling for attacks on Ukrainian civilians. He is not detained yet, as he lives freely in Russia.

Russian propaganda has been crucial in justifying the invasion of Ukraine, both to the Russian public and to the international community. State-controlled media outlets framed the war as a necessary operation to “liberate” Ukrainians from the alleged threat of “Nazism” and to “protect” Russian-speaking people in Ukraine.

Ukrainian leadership, including President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, is frequently depicted as a puppet of the West, especially the United States and NATO, who are blamed for allegedly provoking Russia.

The Kremlin mouthpieces consistently denied responsibility for atrocities in Ukraine, such as the bombing of civilian infrastructure, and instead blamed Ukrainian forces or fabricated stories about the situation on the ground.

The SBU reported that Solovyov, described as “one of the Kremlin’s main mouthpieces” in Putin’s media circle, faces suspicion under five separate articles of Ukraine’s Criminal Code.

The five criminal charges include encroachment on Ukraine’s territorial integrity, genocide, justification of Russian armed aggression, actions aimed at violently changing Ukraine’s constitutional order, and war propaganda.

Evidence gathered by investigators shows Solovyov “repeatedly called for strikes against Ukraine with tactical nuclear weapons” during his broadcasts on Russian state television.

The security service also documented his recent televised demands for “the complete capture of four regions in southern and eastern Ukraine.”

“Throughout 2024-2025, Solovyov repeatedly ‘proposed’ destroying civilian infrastructure and residents of Ukrainian cities in various regions,” the SBU stated.

The SBU noted these statements were made across multiple platforms including his programs on Russia-1 television, Moscow radio, and his Telegram channel.

Solovyov was among the first group of 55 Russian media figures added to Ukraine’s “Kremlin Mouthpieces” section on the War & Sanctions portal in 2024, alongside other prominent Russian propagandists like Margarita Simonyan, Olga Skabeyeva, and Alexander Dugin.

Human rights organizations presented over 300 instances of hate speech made by Dmitry Medvedev, Vladimir Solovyov, Margarita Simonyan, Dmitry Kiselyov, and Sergey Mardan between 2022 and 2024 to the International Criminal Court (ICC), urging to investigate the Russian propagandists for crimes against humanity.

In 2024, the Ukrainian court sentenced another Russian propagandist Anton Krasovsky, who openly called to drown Ukrainian children, to five years in absentia. However, he remains free in Russia, raising the issue of challenges in prosecuting propagandists.