At a press conference organized by the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) organization, the journalist promised that Vladimir Putin’s government was lying to Russian citizens, from the handling of the news to the continuing references to Ukrainian “Nazism.”
“Russia needs to listen to what I have to say, the people must learn to recognize the propaganda and stop being zombies,” Agalgova said during a conference on Tuesday. “I’m a lot hesitant,” he said with tears in his eyes before starting to say, “I hope I have no choice.”
But why not now before the war with Ukraine? “Throughout my life, I have accepted things. However, invasion is my limit,” he promised.
In mid-March, another television journalist, Marina Ovsyanikova, disrupted the broadcast of the popular Pervi Canal news with a poster condemning the Putin regime’s attack and “propaganda” and causing a stir inside and outside Russia.
“We have been seeing turmoil within this propaganda media in recent days,” RSF Secretary-General Christophe Deloir assured, refusing to examine its impact within Russia.
Perry Canal (public television) Paris correspondent Agalkova says he resigned on March 3, a week after the invasion of Ukraine. He added that the Russian media “only broadcast the Kremlin’s views.”
“Our news broadcasts do not show what is happening in the country. They show the leader, what he ate, who gave him a hand, even with a bare chest, but we do not know if he is married or has children,” he said. Journalist.
“Power seeks to suppress the independent media,” he continued. To justify the invasion, he explained, “the government is using the most sensitive issues for the Russians”, the memory of World War II and the memory of the 27 million Soviets who died in the conflict against Nazi Germany.
“When Russia sees the word Nazi, there is only one reaction: ‘We have to end this.’ This is manipulation, a big lie,” the journalist criticized. Moreover, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has denied the allegations and recalled that on several occasions he was Jewish, despite the presence of far-right nationalist militants in Ukraine’s security forces.
Agalgova has not worked in his country since 2005, beginning his career as a foreign correspondent, first in Paris, then in New York in 2013, and finally returning to the French capital.
“By explaining life in Europe, especially in Paris, I thought I could avoid being a preacher,” he said.
In particular, the journalist elaborated on his experience in the United States during the Russian invasion of the Crimean peninsula in 2014. “I could not help but campaign. I should only explain the negative things about America. For example, abused adopted children,” he explained.
“I’m not lying, every event is real, but when you take the real facts and mix them up, it ends up being a big lie,” he admitted. “Many journalists, producers and people working in the (Russian) media think like me,” he concluded.
“Hardcore explorer. Extreme communicator. Professional writer. General music practitioner. Prone to fits of apathy.”