A prominent Kremlin-backed TV presenter said that Moscow should not limit its arm supplies to Houthi rebels for use in attacks on U.S. and British ships.
Vladimir Solovyov, a Russian TV personality and ally of President Vladimir Putin, suggested that Moscow should supply Houthi rebels with weapons during an episode of his talk show on Russian state television Russia-1.
His comments come in the wake of escalating tensions between the US and Iranian-backed proxy militants in the Middle East since the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7.
The Houthis, an Iranian-backed militant group, have launched strikes against US-owned and British commercial ships in the Red Sea, as part of its campaign to coerce Israel, the US’s closest ally, to stop its ongoing military campaign in Gaza.
Despite the United States and its allies ramping up efforts to launch retaliatory airstrikes against the rebel forces since January, the Houthi attacks against ships crossing the Red Sea, the Bab-el-Mandeb, and the Gulf of Aden persists.
READ MORE: Fire erupts on Red Sea ship after being struck by two missiles
Solovyov said that Moscow should provide Houthis with arms as retaliation against the West, specifically the United States and NATO, for aiding Ukraine by sending ammunition and long-range missiles in its war against Russia.
Solovyov’s remarks were aired in a clip on X, formerly known as Twitter, by an account belonging to Anton Gerashchenko, former deputy minister at Ukraine’s Ministry of Internal Affairs.
The clip starts with Solovyov, in the presence of seven commentators, saying that an unnamed NATO ally is planning to supply Kyiv with long-range missiles that are capable of reaching Crimea.
Soloovyov then talked about the recent Houthi strike on the UK-registered cargo ship MV Rubymar in the Red Sea, saying that “it takes two to tango.”
He said: “Now, the Houthis sent a British ship filled with oil to the seabed… Well British, you wanna giggle now? Do you want to continue, let’s say, helping Ukranians?”
Soloyvov then discussed claims that a British drone “carrying several kilograms of explosives and approaching from the sea” had been downed by Russian military forces.
He labeled such actions by the British as a “terrorist attack” on a civilian facility in Mariupol, located in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region occupied by Moscow.
He then urged equipping the Houthis to strike U.S. and British targets, saying “the times are such” and the rebel group “will have everything.”
Soloyvov said: “The Houthis will have everything. They will have semi-submersible unmanned boats, they’ll have powerful guns, they’ll have everything.”
He added: “Brits, you’re saying it’s okay, you’re not engaged in hostilities, right? And American military bases will also, apparently, suffer in some way, but not because of us. We have nothing to do with it.”
“You want to play these games and then think that Russia should limit its arms supplies?” he continued.
Solovyov, host of the television talk show Evening with Vladimir Soloyvov, is listed by the US State Department as one of the top spreaders of Kremlin propaganda and anti-Western and anti-Ukraine disinformation.
The department even referred to him as “the most energetic Kremlin propagandist around today,” according to its website in a 2022 list that identifies Russian propagandists.
He is also known for making controversial statements about the war in Ukraine in 2022, such as claiming that Ukranians are staging attacks against their own civilians as part of a false flag operation against Russia. In January 2022, he also made baseless claims that Ukraine is a Nazi state and Ukrainian President Voloydmyr Zelenskyy is mentally ill.
Solovyov also made malicious statements about Alexei Navalny, an outspoken critic of Putin who died in a Siberian prison last week, in a recent episode on his radio show Full Contact.
He referred to the Kremlin opposition leader as “active participant in criminal activity,” “Berlin patient,” and someone who “wasn’t interesting to anyone, unwanted and forgotten.”
