Russian TV Host's Call to Kill Enlistment Officer Resurfaces After Shooting

A video of a Russian TV host calling for the shooting of an enlistment officer hours before an actual shooting has begun circulating on social media.

The video shows footage from the Russian State TV show Evening with Vladimir Solovyov on Sunday featuring guest Margarita Simonyan. The pair were discussing Russia's partial mobilization efforts following an announcement by Russian President Vladimir Putin last week.

As Simonyan, RT's editor-in-chief, highlighted issues she has with the current strategy, Solovyov called for a conscription officer to be executed or sent to the front lines.

Hours later, reports of a young Russian man opening fire at a military registration and enlistment office in Russia's Irkutsk region started to flood in.

Videos posted by Telegram accounts "Incident Ust-Ilimsk" and Baza show the moment a man took out his gun and fired, shooting a military commissar, before others who were in the building ran away screaming.

Simonyan argued that the wrong people were being drafted, days after reports that a 63-year-old Russian man with diabetes and a severe brain injury was called up to fight in Ukraine.

She said she is aware of ex-servicemen who she knows personally who are not getting drafted while "students" and a mother of two are getting called up, according to a translation by Newsweek.

She continued: "So we need to do something about that and not harm the people."

Solovyov replied:" But can we just shoot them down execution style?"

She replied: "I'm against executions."

To which he replied: "I am all for it. I would take a couple of such [conscription officers] and send them to the front line. Give him a little spade so he can start digging a trench."

The governor of the Irkutsk region, Igor Kobzev, has since come out on Telegram to give more details about the shooting of an enlistment officer.

"A young man fired at the military registration and enlistment office," he said, noting that the military commissar who was shot, Alexander Vladimirovich Eliseev, is in intensive care and in serious condition.

According to multiple reports, before the shooting, the man said: "No one will fight" and "now we'll all go home." The words couldn't be heard in the footage.

Kobzev said the man was "immediately" arrested, adding: "He will definitely be punished!"

"I am ashamed that this is happening at a time when, on the contrary, we should be united. We must fight not with each other, but against real threats," the head of the region wrote.

"I really hope that the doctors will do everything possible for Alexander Vladimirovich to survive," he added. "I gave instructions to strengthen security measures. I ask everyone to remain calm."

This act of violence followed days of protests across Russia against mobilization in Ukraine.

Newsweek reached out to Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs for comment.