A Russian TV presenter has reportedly been kicked off his show after condemning a missile strike which killed a three-year-old in Ukraine.
Maxim Galkin, who hosts the state TV show 'This Evening', is set to be replaced next week by a male ballet dancer.
The 45-year-old comedian criticised a strike which killed Ukrainian mother Valeriya Glodan and her daughter Kira in Odesa last weekend.
Mr Galkin slammed Russian authorities for celebrating the Orthodox Christian ceremony Holy Fire, while simultaneously attacking Ukraine with missiles on the eve of Orthodox Easter.
The TV host, who is in Israel at the moment, said in a video: "Let’s start with the fact that cruise missiles should not fly into residential buildings on normal days, not just on holidays.
"But you [Russian] officials, are simultaneously praying for peace with the Patriarch of Jerusalem, you come here, you take the Holy Fire to Moscow — and at the same, the same authorities are sending these missiles.”
He also vented his anger at Russia 's failure to take responsibility for the downing of MH17 and atrocities in Ukraine, The Times reports.
"Russia is guilty of so many terrible things, but always says it is innocent," he said.
"The barbarities in Bucha — that wasn’t us. The Malaysian Boeing — that wasn’t us. Mariupol razed to the ground — that wasn’t us.
"Missiles fly into Odesa — that was us, but not really us. Everything is not us. So what are we doing there?”
Mr Galkin shared his condolences with the family of those killed in the Odesa attack last weekend.
This Evening, which translates as Segodnya Vecherom in Russian, was put on hold after Mr Galkin and his family went to Israel in March.
He is married to the superstar Russian singer Alla Pugacheva.
Mr Galkin previously voiced his opposition to the war of Ukraine on social media.
Reacting to the invasion, he said: “I can’t find the words to say what I feel! How can this be possible! There can be no justification for war! No to war!”
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Vladimir Putin has railed against Russians criticising the invasion over the past two months, branding them 'traitors'.
The Kremlin is now encouraging everyday Russians to rat out supposed ‘traitors’ including family and friends, it has been reported.
The move is eerily similar to tactics employed by Soviet-era dictators like Joseph Stalin and his secret police, the NKVD.
A telephone hotline and website have been set up that allow “good citizens” to report “traitors”.
The Kremlin has reportedly sent Russian citizens in several regions texts with instructions how to report one another, with outspoken voices being tossed into jail.
