It wasn’t that long ago that the Kremlin declared 2022 the country’s “Year of Unity,” a sentiment that quickly broke when Vladimir Putin’s closest allies formed their own circular firing squad over the country’s leadership in the war against Ukraine.
Now those power struggles have reached their climax in spectacular and hilarious fashion, as one of the Kremlin’s most rabid mouthpieces has been challenged to a duel by one of the Kremlin’s most notorious suspected terrorists.
Of course, the duel will not be fought with a sword or a pistol as in the old days, but if Igor Strelkov has his way, it will be a public debate.
Strelkov, the former self-proclaimed “defense minister” of Ukraine’s equally self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, took to Telegram on Wednesday to take issue with none other than top Kremlin propagandist Vladimir Solovyov.
The meat? Solovyov used his TV show on Tuesday to publicly mock Strelkov for his “pseudo-patriotic” attempt to rejoin the war in Ukraine and subsequent failure to make it to the front.
Strelkov left in October to join Russia’s ranks in eastern Ukraine and spent nearly two months there before revealing he was back in Moscow after his attempts “did not end successfully”. One of the most high-profile Russians involved in Putin’s first phase of the 2014 war on Ukraine, and an outspoken critic of current military strategy (not to mention his involvement in the downing of Flight MH17), Strelkov was widely ridiculed for returning with them his cock between his legs.
“He went into battle, screwed up and came back,” Solovyov said of the former Russian commander. “If you really wanted to fight, join Wagner. Strelkov went with such presumption, now it turns out that he was not allowed to go to the front. Well, you should have enlisted with Wagner and showed what you’re really worth,” Solovyov said, referring to the private army that the Kremlin used to bolster troops with the help of prison inmates.
“And now he’s an anti-patriotic blogger who tells the high command how to fight. Why didn’t you show it yourself? Why did you screw yourself?” Solovyov raged.
Strelkov responded to the TV host’s diss on Wednesday, challenging the “cowardly and completely wrong creature” to a live debate.
“I am open to any public debate with him on a neutral platform (ie not edited by him or his sponsors). On any subject he wishes to raise… The only condition on my part is that the debates be broadcast live and, in addition, be recorded by “neutral” operators,” Strelkov wrote.
He said he doesn’t expect Solovyov to risk his “reputation” by agreeing to the debate, but he suggested the Kremlin cheerleader might be confident enough to agree in hopes of spotting his opponent on live television to destroy”. .
There was no immediate response from Solovyov, and it was not immediately clear when or where the debate might take place if the challenge is accepted.