ABC presenter Sarah Ferguson lashed out at the Russian ambassador to Australia in a tense television interview.
Ferguson questioned Ambassador Alexey Pavolovsky about his country’s invasion of Ukraine and questioned how he could support its leader, Vladimir Putin.
Dr. Pavlovsky was immediately surprised and uncomfortable as he answered the tough questions on ABC’s 7:30 show Monday.
“Ambassador, you are here in Australia enjoying the benefits of a free and open society,” Ferguson said.
‘How do you live with yourself representing Putin’s repressive and dictatorial regime?’
ABC presenter Sarah Ferguson criticized the Russian ambassador to Australia in a tense television interview.
Ferguson questioned Ambassador Alexey Pavolovsky about his country’s invasion of Ukraine and questioned how he could support its leader, Vladimir Putin.
Dr. Pavlovsky gave an awkward smile that prompted Ferguson to respond.
‘Do you find that funny?’ she said.
“What I find funny is his way of starting an interview,” Dr. Pavlovsky replied.
“It was a pretty direct question,” Ferguson said.
“Yes, too straight,” he said.
‘First, let me tell you that I never had a problem living in my country. I lived there for 13 years after my previous appointment before coming to Australia.
‘I never had the impression of living in an authoritarian environment, how did you express it?’
“Repressive and dictatorial,” Ferguson said.
‘This is a regime that invaded its neighbor. It is a regime in which protests are suppressed, in which the freedom of the media is gagged, in which dissidents are murdered or imprisoned, in which the extent of war casualties is hidden from the public. .
‘How would you describe this form of government, if not as a dictatorship?’
“I was preparing myself for substantial questions about Russia’s policy and Russia’s position on certain issues, Russia’s role in the world,” Dr. Pavlovsky said.
Ferguson said those questions would “come” but that it was important for viewers to understand “who you are and who you represent.”
Continuing, he mentioned Dr. Pavlovsky’s earlier claim that Australians had been “brainwashed” into supporting Ukraine in its fight against the invasion of Russia.
‘The Russian invasion of Ukraine was a criminal action, and the Russian military has terrorized the people of Ukraine. Do you understand that you don’t need to be ‘brainwashed’ to understand that?’ Ferguson asked.
The Russian ambassador responded by bringing up the US-led invasion of Iraq 20 years ago, calling it an “immoral aggression.”
Continuing, he mentioned Dr. Pavlovsky’s earlier claim that Australians had been “brainwashed” into supporting Ukraine in its fight against the invasion of Russia.
Ferguson tried to bring him back to the issue at hand: Ukraine.
“When we talk about brainwashing the public, it’s about not being able to see events in context, and especially the context of national history,” Dr. Pavlovsky said.
Ferguson pointed to a newly released United Nations report detailing various war crimes allegedly committed by the Russian military in Ukraine, including “torture, rape, execution,” the “indiscriminate” shelling of civilian infrastructure, and the forced deportation of children. Ukrainians to Russia. .
‘How can you claim that this is a war to ‘liberate’ Ukraine?’ she asked.
Dr. Pavlovsky suggested that the assessments by both the United Nations and the International Criminal Court were biased against Russia because they did not mention “Ukrainian war crimes.”
‘I would like to see these reports. From what I’ve seen so far, I’ve deduced that the bodies you’re referring to are more than skewed. They have tunnel vision. They prefer not to notice the ample evidence of war crimes committed by the Ukrainians,’ he insisted.
Dr. Pavlovsky repeatedly refused to accept that Russia was involved in a war with Ukraine, instead repeating the Kremlin’s favorite euphemism, “special military operation.”
The interview was recorded before the ICC issued war crimes arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin, accusing him of deporting Ukrainian children.
Echoing Putin’s talking points, Dr. Pavlovsky asserted that the Ukraine conflict had turned into “a NATO proxy war against Russia.”
‘Sarah, you don’t have to record every time you disagree with me. You probably are, you invited me to hear my opinion, ”she said in response to Ferguson’s interjections.
‘Absolutely. Alright. I wanted to ask your opinion on this. I put it back to you. Russia has caused the death of more than 8,000 Ukrainian civilians since February 2022,’ Ferguson said.
In his address to the Russian Federation last month, President Putin said: ‘We are not at war with the people of Ukraine.’ My question was, why are you killing them?
‘How do you live with yourself representing Putin’s repressive and dictatorial regime?’ Ferguson asked Dr. Pavlovsky
“I would say that this tragedy in Ukraine started when the West sponsored a coup in kyiv and brought an ultranationalist and xenophobic government to power. That was the government that actually burned more than 50 people alive in Odessa,’ argued Dr. Pavlovsky.
“If you’re just going to repeat Russian propaganda tropes of the past, I’ll ask you to move on,” Ferguson told him.
‘Sarah, you’re repeating Western propaganda, and is that okay?’ she replied.
Dr. Pavlovsky also argued that Australia’s involvement, with the provision of 90 Bushmasters to Ukraine, was a problem.
‘The Australian government knows our position. The position is that it is very simple, the more weapons you give Ukraine, the longer this war goes on, the greater the casualties and destruction of Ukraine will be, ”he said.
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24 of last year,
In a statement to 7.30Ukraine’s ambassador to Australia, Vasyl Myroshnychenko, said his nation was grateful for the Australians’ support.
“The war would end tomorrow if Russia simply withdrew to the borders it has illegally crossed to invade a smaller, peaceful neighbor and practice ethnocide against its people,” he said.
“If it doesn’t, the quickest way to end the war, achieve peace and restore stability to the world and to Australia is to help Ukraine emerge victorious in the coming months.”
