https://www.newsweek.com/russian-state-tv-world-war-three-middle-east-israel-hamas-1862659

Russian State TV Predicts World War 3

by Isabel van Brugen
January 22, 2024

A top Kremlin propagandist predicted that World War III will break out in the Middle East, stemming from the Israel-Hamas war, and that this will distract the world from Russia's ongoing conflict in Ukraine.

Margarita Simonyan, the editor-in-chief of the Russian state-controlled media organization Russia Today (RT), made the comment during a state TV broadcast. The Daily Beast's Julia Davis shared an excerpt of her remarks on state TV channel Russia-1, where she spoke alongside host Vladimir Solovyov, one of the most prominent figures in Kremlin-backed media.

"Margarita Simonyan predicted that WWIII would soon start in the Middle East and expressed her hope that it would distract the West from Russia," Davis wrote on Sunday in a post on X, formerly Twitter, alongside the video. "Meanwhile in Russia: Vladimir Solovyov claimed that 'Satanic NATO' started the war when it attacked Russia."

Margarita Simonyan, the head of state-run television network RT, attends a ceremony at the Kremlin in Moscow on December 20, 2022. She predicted that World War III will break out in the Middle East. VALERY SHARIFULIN/SPUTNIK/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
Kremlin propagandists have routinely warned of a looming world war. Ties between Washington and Moscow have become increasingly strained over Russian President Vladimir Putin's decision to launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

"Will there be a World War 3? I think that World War 3 will certainly happen! There's bad news and good news about this," Simonyan, a loyal ally of Putin, began. "The bad news is that it will happen without fail and in our lifetime. As long as a brick doesn't fall on our head tomorrow, it will happen in the near future."

"The good news is that we won't participate in it," said Simonyan, adding that Russia "will be observing from the sidelines."

"A world war will definitely break out and it will break out in the Middle East. It will fire up for sure, there's no way around it," the Kremlin propagandist continued. "However tragic it is that there'll be a war and casualties, the good news in it for us is that Western powers will be distracted with that, and even though they won't completely leave us alone, they will kind of forget about us."

Newsweek has contacted Russia's foreign ministry via email for comment.

Simonyan previously said she believed a world war would break out following Hamas' attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

Last October, Simonyan said on state TV that the U.S. and the U.K. were "leaving Ukraine" and now have "no more time for Ukraine" amid the Israel-Hamas war because "the world is on the brink of World War III.

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She also said Iran is an "enormous military nation," that is "five minutes away from getting a nuclear bomb" and possesses "many other interesting things."

"How is [the Israeli army] planning to handle Iran? I wanted to say, 'I'd like to see that,' but no, I would not want to see that," Simonyan added. "I don't wish for anyone to see that, because this is on the brink of WWIII. At this point, no one cares about Ukraine!"

Other state TV guests have accused the United States of instigating a new world war in coordination with members of the NATO military alliance.

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Isabel van Brugen is a Newsweek Reporter based in Kuala Lumpur. Her focus is reporting on the Russia-Ukraine war.