'No other option' — Russian state media article demands no Ukrainians 'be left alive'
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Russian state-run media outlet RIA Novosti on July 30 published a column titled "There is no other option: no one should be left alive in Ukraine."
In the piece, columnist Kirill Strelnikov describes Ukrainians as "happy with their fate" and claims they are "ready to die" for what he derisively calls "the best army in the world."
The article refers to Ukrainian soldiers as "laboratory rats," denies their humanity, and includes a grotesque comment about "no need for lacy underwear for the dead."
Strelnikov repeats Kremlin propaganda lines, including the claim that Ukraine is a "military training ground" for the West and that Ukrainians are mere pawns of the U.S. and Europe.
The article dismisses Western military analyses recognizing Ukraine's battlefield gains, naming institutions like the Atlantic Council and the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and derides U.S. and U.K. generals for praising Ukraine's military.
The piece marks an escalation in Russia's dehumanizing war propaganda.
Claims that Ukrainians are "ready to die" contradict the lived reality of a population resisting an unprovoked invasion, which Moscow started back in 2014, to defend their homes and sovereignty.
This rhetoric reflects a long-standing Kremlin narrative designed to strip Ukraine of agency and portray its people as expendable.
Russia's war effort has increasingly relied on genocidal framing, echoing prior statements by state officials and propagandists that deny Ukraine's right to exist as a nation.
RIA Novosti is one of Russia's central state media arms and has consistently served as a platform for war propaganda, disinformation, and anti-Western messaging.
Strelnikov, the article's author, is a co-founder of the nationalist media project Politrussia and a frequent contributor to other Kremlin-aligned outlets. His previous articles have spread falsehoods about the war, many of which have been debunked by independent media.
