Russian Youth Told Get Ready to Join Front Line Once They Come of Age

A new video on social media reportedly shows Vladimir Solovyov, a prominent Russian television host and propagandist, speaking to a group of youths and encouraging them to join the Russian military to fight in Ukraine once they come of age.

In the video, Solovyov uses biblical references, unsubstantiated claims of increased Russophobia and implies that Russia is not at war with Ukraine, but with NATO.

NATO has not sent any troops to fight in the conflict, but the alliance has supplied Ukraine with millions of dollars worth of military aid and equipment.

Solovyov told the young people that they should join the fighting "when your age allows."

"Be ready for the hatred you will encounter, when your age allows. Be ready for the hatred you will encounter including that from your peers who don't understand why Russia should exist," said the television personality, who has close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"For eight years, NATO countries have been pumping them [Ukraine] full of weapons and preparing them. They sent over 300,000 people across the contact line," Solovyov said. "They've smelled and tasted blood. Russophobia is off the charts, the hatred for everything Russian. Hating the way you could only hate your brother. The way Cain hated Abel. Biblical hatred was nurtured in the brotherly Ukrainian people."

Russia launched the invasion of Ukraine on February 24 in what Putin called at the time "a special military operation." It had previously invaded Ukraine in 2014 and annexed the Crimean peninsula in the east of the country. Since then, NATO countries, including the U.S. and the U.K., have been helping Ukraine with military aid and weapons. The West has stepped up this support since the war began.

"If we didn't intervene on the 24^th [of February], there would have been hundreds of thousands of victims," Solovyov said. "There would have been smoldering ruins and everything would have been covered in corpses."

Although Russia has taken some parts of eastern and southern Ukraine, it has suffered recent setbacks from Ukrainian counteroffensives in the occupied territories of Kherson in the south and Kharkiv in the east.

Despite these setbacks, in his speech, Solovyov claimed that Russia "defeated Ukraine a long time ago."

"Ukraine's military-industrial complex ceased to exist after the first six to eight weeks. For a long time now, we are not fighting Ukraine. NATO is there. They're delivering so many weapons to them, it's probably more than any NATO country has, except for the United States," he said.

"They're being saturated with everything and we are all alone. We are few. There are only 150 million of us. NATO is against us. NATO's economy is against us. That's 50 percent of the global economy."

Solovyov then spoke about the biblical story of David and Goliath, comparing Russia to David, the young underdog who defeated the large giant in single combat in a surprising turn of events.

"Because God is not in might but in truth. Can we win, if we keep living as though nothing is happening and there is no war with NATO?"

In late September, Putin announced that he would be drafting up to 300,000 military reservists to fight in Ukraine in a partial military mobilization. Following the announcement, thousands of Russians fled the country due to fear of being called up to fight in the military.

"Mobilization got underway & it suddenly became clear who is the first to go and not trying to run away," Solovyov said. "Sturdy guys, 40 and more [years old]. Where are the young people?"

Newsweek has reached out to Ukraine's foreign ministry for comment.