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Photos purport to show leading Russian state TV host Dmitry Kiselyov on vacation at a luxury Dubai resort.
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Images of Kiselyov, known as “Putin’s mouthpiece,” were posted to Telegram by an account tracking Russian censorship.
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Kiselyov had threatened a nuclear strike on the UK hours before his reported arrival.
Photos posted to social media purport to show President Vladimir Putin’s chief propagandist, Dmitry Kiselyov, vacationing at five-star resort in Dubai hours after threatening the West with a nuclear strike on TV.
Several photos of Kiselyov, the lead host on the state-run Russia-1 network who is known as “Putin’s mouthpiece,” were posted to Telegram on Monday by Moscow Laundry, an account documenting Russia government censorship.
Kiselyov arrived in Dubai on Monday and has plans to visit boutiques and eat at Michelin-starred restaurants, the account said, without giving further details.
Kiselyov is staying at the Jumeirah al-Qasr hotel, Moscow Laundry said, posting a photo of him on the premises with a woman closely resembling his wife, Maria.
Evidence of his apparent trip to Dubai emerged just hours after Kiselyov warned on his Sunday “News of the World” show that the UK could face a nuclear strike from Russia that would “turn whatever is left of them into radioactive desert.”
“Why do they threaten vast Russia with nuclear weapons while they are only a small island? The island is so small that one Sarmat missile is enough to drown it once and for all,” Mr Kiselyov said, referring to an intercontinental ballistic missile that Russia recently test-fired. It is not clear if the show was live or prerecorded.
Kiselyov’s remarks came in response to UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace telling local radio that Russia’s nuclear threats did not faze him. Since invading Ukraine in February, Russia has repeatedly raised the threat of a nuclear attack.
“I don’t feel rattled. We have strong armed forces and a nuclear deterrent and we’re part of a NATO partnership of 30 nations who outgun him, outnumber him and have potentially all the capabilities at our disposal,” Wallace said of Putin. “I don’t fear him, and I think we should be very grateful in this country that we have a nuclear deterrent.”
Kiselyov was presumably able to travel to Dubai as the United Arab Emirates has not introduced any sanctions linked to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Despite his proximity to Putin and unlike numerous Russian institutions and businessmen, Kiselyov has not been sanctioned by the US. He was previously sanctioned by the European Union and the UK in 2014 following Russia’s annexation of Crimea.
The UK has been especially vocal in its support for Ukraine, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson visiting President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv last month and later promising $130 million in additional military support.
Read the original article on Business Insider
