Putin criticized on Russian television: "The regime will fall"

Nadezhdin compared Putin to Tsar Nicholas I, saying the war will lead to "the fall of the regime."

The TV show spreads daily disinformation about the war to justify Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine.

Yet Nadezhin has been a regular guest – and this is not the first time he has been critical of the war. After Ukraine's counteroffensive last fall, when it recaptured large parts of the areas previously captured by Russia, he said that "it is completely impossible to defeat Ukraine."

Illegally going against the Kremlin's image

After that statement, Vladimir Solovyov, a Russian broadcaster and propagandist, said that Nadezhdin should be thrown in jail. In Russia, it is illegal to spread an image of the war that goes against the Kremlin's narrative.

The fact that certain opposition voices are allowed on state television is a way of producing a scapegoat who can be publicly lectured by other guests who are in favor of the war. This is what Abbas Gallyamov, an independent political analyst and former speechwriter for Putin, has previously told the AP news agency.