Calls to remove Vladimir Putin air on Russian state TV in first since Ukraine invasion
By Lottie Kilraine, Multimedia Producer
President Vladimir Putin has faced criticism on Russian state television for the first time since the invasion of Ukraine over a year ago.
Opposition politician Boris Nadezhdin, who has previously spoken out about Putin's invasion, called for the long-term ruler to be replaced in the country's 2024 elections while appearing on Russia's NTV channel.
It marks the first time anyone has publicly called for the Putin to be replaced on a Russian state-approved channel since the war began, the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) said.
It comes as Ukraine's air defence shot down more than 30 Russian cruise missiles and drones on Friday in what is Moscow's sixth air attack in six days on the capital Kyiv, the city's officials said.
In a broadcast on NTV, one of the three main state channels in Russia, Nadezhdin said: "We simply have to choose different authorities to govern the country that would stop this story with Ukraine."
He added that electing a different government would allow Russia to "build relations" with European countries and "everything will come back into place".
Co-anchor Ivan Trushkin, a pro-Putin broadcaster, attempted to interrupt Nadezhdin by responding: "I was expecting you to say all of this word for word."
But Nadezhdin continued: "We need to choose somebody else [in the 2024 presidential elections], and not Putin. Everything will be good then."
In the last 15 months, Russia has introduced limitations on freedom of speech which haven’t been seen since Soviet times.
"Nadezhdin has been a vocal critic of the war since the invasion, but this is highly likely the first call for Putin to be replaced on Russian state-approved TV since it began," the MoD said.
However, there have been signs of tension between some of Putin's military figures, which UK officials say could be encouraging the anti-war critics.
"There is a realistic possibility that recent vitriolic rhetoric by nationalist figures such as Wagner Group owner Yevgeny Prigozhin is emboldening opposition figures to challenge taboo topics," the MoD added.
Prigozhin has used the battle for Bakhmut, a city in eastern Ukraine, to frequently vent his personal views about the conduct of Russia's military hierarchy and the direction of the war.
Meanwhile, a recent spate of attacks on Kyiv this week has put a strain on residents and tested the strength of Ukraine's air defences.
The capital city was the target of drone and missile attacks over 17 days last month, including daylight attacks.
It comes as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that a cease-fire in the war cannot be declared unless it is part of a “just and lasting” peace deal that includes Russia’s military withdrawal.
Mr Blinken made the speech during a visit to Finland, which recently joined NATO and shares a long border with Russia, on Friday.
He added that “a cease-fire that simply freezes current lines in place" and allows Putin "to consolidate control over the territory he has seized, and rest, rearm, and reattack - that is not a just and lasting peace.”
Russia must also pay a share of Ukraine’s reconstruction and be held accountable for launching its full-scale invasion of its neighbour in February 2022, Mr Blinken said.
Allowing Moscow to keep the one-fifth of Ukraine territory it has occupied would send the wrong message to Russia and to “other would-be aggressors around the world,” he added.
The US is a leading Western ally and supplier of arms to Kyiv to help it push back against the Kremlin's forces.
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