"I'm not a propagandist." Posner spoke out about the SVO and ran into criticism. Why did his words cause discontent in Ukraine?

TV presenter and journalist Vladimir Pozner faced a wave of criticism after an interview with the British media Radio Times. For the first time since 2023, he spoke about a special military operation (SVO) in Ukraine and explained his position.

The interview was released on YouTube on September 30. According to Posner, he agreed to talk with the British media only after the journalists guaranteed not to edit his answers and publish them in full.

Posner predicted Russia's victory on the battlefield

The journalist said that he has no doubt about the victory of the Russian Armed Forces. He noted that the army has superiority in the number of weapons and military personnel.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if, say, in about a month the Ukrainian front collapses,” he added.

After this, a number of Ukrainian media criticized the journalist. In particular, UNIAN published an article entitled “It would be better to remain silent!

At the same time, Posner is convinced that in order to end the conflict, both sides need to make concessions, and Europe also needs to give up “certain conditions,” since NATO plays an extremely active role in the situation.

In addition, the TV presenter pointed out the significant support of Russian President Vladimir Putin from citizens. In his opinion, this is also evidenced by the elections held in the country.

The journalist promised to publish an open letter after a wave of criticism

Posner admitted that he did not expect such a violent reaction to his opinion, and decided to “dot the i’s” in the near future.” According to him, all his answers were based on facts, not emotions. However, he urged not to judge his attitude to these issues based on one interview, since “the topic is huge.”

Posner also emphasized that he is not a propagandist, and one can either agree or disagree with his opinion.

“Perhaps just one of these days I will post on my website something like an open letter addressed to both my supporters and my opponents, in which I would like to dot all the “i’s.” I don’t know whether I’ll do it or not, I’m thinking about it,” he concluded.

In 2024, Posner gave a long interview to Forbes for the first time since the start of the SVO. In it, the journalist said that he had refrained from communicating with media employees since 2022, as he was asked to talk about Putin.

“And the condition is this: you must first speak out about Putin and about politics, and in a certain way. I said: “Listen, this is not journalism, this is completely different.” They say: “These are the conditions.” I said, 'No. Thank you very much, I didn't,'" he explained.