Anton Krasovsky
{{Short description|Russian television personality}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Anton Krasovsky
| native_name = Антон Красовский
| native_name_lang = ru
| image = Anton Krasovsky 2022.png
| imagesize =
| alt =
| caption = Krasovsky in 2022
| birth_name = Anton Vyacheslavovich Kuznetsov-Krasovsky
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1975|7|18|df=y}}
| birth_place = Podolsk, Moscow Oblast, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
| death_date =
| death_place =
| occupation = {{flatlist|
}}
| citizenship = Russia
| years_active = 1996–present
| spouse =
| children =
| education = Maxim Gorky Literature Institute
| URL =
}}
{{Listen
| filename = Anton Krasovskij voice.oga
| title = Voice of Anton Krasovsky
| description = From the live of Echo of Moscow
21 September 2013
| pos =
}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
Anton Vyacheslavovich Krasovsky (Kuznetsov-Krasovsky){{cite web|url=https://base.garant.ru/70135466/53f89421bbdaf741eb2d1ecc4ddb4c33/|title=Список доверенных лиц кандидата на должность Президента РФ Прохорова Михаила Дмитриевича|language=ru|trans-title=List of confidants of the presidential candidate Mikhail Dmitriyevich Prokhorov|date=2 February 2012}}{{cite web|url=https://meduza.io/news/2018/06/15/zhurnalist-anton-krasovskiy-podal-dokumenty-dlya-vydvizheniya-v-mery-moskvy|title=Красовский подал документы для участия в выборах мэра Москвы|language=ru|trans-title=Krasovsky submits documents to participate in Moscow mayoral election|website=Meduza|date=15 June 2018}} ({{langx|ru|Антон Вячеславович Красовский (Кузнецов-Красовский)}}; born 18 July 1975) is a Russian television presenter, journalist and activist.{{cite web|url=https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-tv-presenter-krasovsky-drown-ukrainian-children-outrage/32097102.html|title=Russian State TV Presenter Said Ukrainian Children Should Have Been Drowned, Sparking Outrage|website=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty|date=23 October 2022}}{{Cite web|url=https://khpg.org/en/1608809975|title=Kremlin-funded RT presenter claims Ukraine is Russian land that Russia will 'take back' by force}} He was a presenter and director of Russian-language broadcasting on the Russian state-controlled broadcaster RT from 2020{{Cite web |date=2022-10-24 |title=Russian TV presenter accused of inciting genocide in Ukraine |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/oct/24/russian-tv-presenter-anton-krasovsky-accused-of-inciting-genocide-in-ukraine |access-date=2022-10-25 |website=the Guardian |language=en}} until his suspension in October 2022,{{cite web|url=https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukraine-urges-global-ban-russias-rt-after-presenter-calls-drowning-ukrainian-2022-10-23/|title=Ukraine urges global ban of Russia's RT over presenter's call to drown children|website=Reuters|date=23 October 2022}}{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-63378613|title=Krasovsky: Russia bans 'burn Ukrainian kids' TV presenter|website=BBC News|date=24 October 2022}} after comments he made caused a backlash.{{Cite web|url=https://newtimes.ru/articles/detail/207381|title=RT: Мы сожжем украинскую конституцию на Крещатике|website=The New Times|date=2022-01-15|publisher=|access-date=2022-10-15}}{{Cite web|language=ru|url=https://ru.krymr.com/a/rossiya-ideologiya-vladimir-putin-propaganda/31946054.html|title=В России предлагают создать идеологию "путинизма"|website={{ill|Krym.Realii|uk|Крим.Реалії}}|date=2022-07-16|access-date=2022-10-15}}{{Cite web|language=ru|url=https://meduza.io/episodes/2022/09/18/v-etoy-ipostasi-on-absolyutnoe-zlo-portret-propagandista-antona-krasovskogo-ot-svetlany-reyter|title="В этой ипостаси он абсолютное зло". Портрет пропагандиста Антона Красовского от Светланы Рейтер|website=Meduza|date=2022-09-18|access-date=2022-10-15}}{{Cite web|language=ru|url=https://theins.info/news/255868|title="Танцую в пижаме "Армии России"", "Ответочка прилетела", "Я счастлив". Пропагандисты об ударах по Киеву, в результате которых погибли люди|website=The Insider|date=2022-10-10|access-date=2022-10-15}} Previously, he came to prominence for his defense of gay rights in Russia, including his criticism of the Russian gay propaganda law.{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/world/la-xpm-2013-feb-23-la-fg-russia-gay-qa-20130224-story.html|title=Gay Russian TV personality reflects on his firing and his country|website=Los Angeles Times|date=23 February 2013}}{{cite web|url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/meet-anton-krasovsky-the-gay-man-running-for-mayor-of-moscow|title=Meet Anton Krasovsky, the Gay Man Running for Mayor of Moscow|website=The Daily Beast|date=29 June 2018}}
Life and career
Krasovsky was born on 18 July 1975 in Podolsk and studied at the Maxim Gorky Literature Institute. In 2011 Krasovsky participated in the presidential campaign of Mikhail Prokhorov. He also worked as a journalist and editor at the pro-Kremlin{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/profile/anton-krasovsky|title=Anton Krasovsky {{!}} The Guardian|website=The Guardian|language=en|access-date=2019-05-28}} NTV channel. He previously worked at Kommersant, Yandex, Nezavisimaya Gazeta and Vogue.
Krasovsky later began work at another pro-Kremlin channel, Kontr TV, started by himself and Sergey Minaev in December 2012. On 25 January 2013, during a discussion of a proposed national ban on "homosexual propaganda", Krasovsky revealed his homosexuality, stating on-air, "I'm gay and I'm as much a human-being as President Putin and Premier Medvedev." ({{langx|ru|Я гей и такой же человек, как президент Путин и премьер Медведев.|links=no}}) His statement was not made available online or was deleted soon afterwards, and on 28 January Krasovsky resigned from the channel and denounced the working environment there. According to other sources, he was fired the same day. His face was soon censored from the show website and removed from the TV show's archives.
Krasovsky stated that he came out because he had had enough of feeling like a hypocrite. He later referred to the channel's entire output as "propaganda." In May, following the murder of Vlad Tornovy reportedly because he was thought to be gay, Krasovsky published an article in The Guardian denouncing homophobia in Russia. He wrote:
{{blockquote|How did it come about that today in Russia a good gay person is a dead gay person? How did there come to be a law in the Duma that forbids justifying homosexuality? Until now, the only thing you were forbidden to justify in my country was terrorism.... So as far as the deputies are concerned I am not a human being in the same sense that they are; I am to be classed as scum, like a terrorist. As far as the deputies are concerned I am scum by the fact of my birth, and it was criminal negligence not to have made a note of that in my birth certificate. What seemed like a bad dream only a couple of years ago has now become reality. And it is terrifying to imagine what could happen tomorrow.}}
Krasovsky spoke out in August 2013 against the boycott of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Russia that some gay rights activists proposed. He said: "If you want to boycott Olympic games in Russia, you're trying to boycott 7 million gay people in Russia. You want to boycott me." He is interviewed about his experiences in the 2014 documentary film Campaign of Hate: Russia and Gay Propaganda.{{cite web|url=http://www.out.com/entertainment/movies/2014/05/16/russia-deadly-campaign|title=Russia's Deadly Campaign|author=|work=Out|date=2014-05-16|access-date=2015-04-08}}
In July 2016, Krasovsky and the head of the outpatient department of the Moscow Regional AIDS Center Elena Orlova-Morozova established The Foundation in support of people who live with HIV — AIDS.Center.{{cite web |url= https://newizv.ru/news/society/06-10-2016/247659-zachem-nam-vashi-dengi-fond-spidcentr-prosit-o-pomoshi |title=Фонд "СПИД.ЦЕНТР" просит о финансовой помощи |trans-title = AIDS.Center Foundation asks for financial help |author= Yesenia Martynova |date=2016-10-06 |publisher= New Izvestia | language = Russian |access-date=2018-04-15}}
Since 2021 Krasovsky has presented a program on Russia Today called The Antonyms.
In October 2022, Krasovsky, who is openly gay, supported the approval of a law banning "LGBT propaganda" in Russia.{{Cite web |date= |title="Эта нога — у кого надо нога" - Гея гей запрещай скорей |url=https://novayagazeta.eu/articles/2022/10/21/eta-noga-u-kogo-nado-noga |access-date=2022-10-24 |website=Новая газета. Европа |language=Ru}} Previously, in 2013, Krasovsky spoke out against such laws and urged gay people to fight for their rights.{{Cite web |date=2013-05-17 |title=Красовский: если геи не будут бороться, их сожгут |trans-title=Krasovsky: If gays don't fight, they will be burned |url=https://www.bbc.com/russian/multimedia/2013/05/130517_v_krasovky_homophobia |access-date=2022-10-24 |website=BBC News Русская служба |language=ru}}
= 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine =
Krasovsky was a prominent supporter and pro-war commentator during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. Prior to the invasion, amid a rise in bellicose rhetoric in Russian state media, Krasovsky referred to Ukrainians as "animals", described Ukraine as "our Russian land", and warned that Russia would invade if Ukraine was close to joining NATO.{{cite news|date=2022-01-17 |title="Kremlin-funded RT presenter claims Ukraine is Russian land that Russia will 'take back' by force" |url=https://khpg.org/en/1608809975 |access-date=2022-03-02 |language=en|last=Coynash|first=Halya|work=Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group}}{{cite web |date=2022-01-11 |title="Александр Баунов: что случилось в Казахстане? // Антонимы с Антоном Красовским"("Alexander Baunov: what happened in Kazakhstan? // Antonyms with Anton Krasovsky ") |website=YouTube |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJquCDmQ51w&t=3409s |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220302215727/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJquCDmQ51w&t=3409s |archive-date=2022-03-02 |access-date=2022-03-02 |language=ru}}
After the Vinnytsia missile strikes in July 2022, which killed 23 people, including 3 children, Krasovsky said that "Vinnytsia is not enough", and voiced his hope for a "final solution. A real, military one".{{Cite web |url=https://theins.ru/news/256310 |title="Никаких украинцев быть не должно". 10 людоедских цитат Красовского, которые не возмутили Симоньян |trans-title="There shouldn't be any Ukrainians." 10 Cannibalistic Krasovsky Quotes That Didn't Outrage Simonyan|date=2022-10-24 |access-date=2022-10-29 |website=The Insider |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221027153330/https://theins.ru/news/256310 |archive-date=2022-10-27 |url-status=live |language=ru}}
In August 2022, he said that "there should not be any Ukrainians at all" and therefore, that the Ukrainian language should be banned.
On 10 October 2022, in the aftermath of missile strikes across Ukraine which caused 14 deaths, Krasovsky shared a video of him dancing on a balcony in a cap with the letter Z,{{cite news|url=https://ctnews.ru/post/zhurnalist-anton-krasovskiy-stanceval-na-video-iz-za-raketnyh-udarov-po-ukraine|language=ru|title=Журналист Антон Красовский станцевал на видео из-за ракетных ударов по Украине|trans-title= Journalist Anton Krasovsky danced on video because of rocket attacks on Ukraine|work=CTNews|date=10 October 2022}} stating: "To say that I am happy is to say nothing at all. I'm just dancing on the balcony in Russian Army pajamas."{{cite web|url=https://istories.media/news/2022/10/10/rossiya-udarila-raketami-po-ukrainskim-gorodam-chego-ona-dobilas-i-chto-teper-grozit-ukraine/|language=ru|title=Россия ударила ракетами по украинским городам. Чего она добилась и что теперь грозит Украине?|trans-title=Russia fired missiles at Ukrainian cities. What has she achieved and what is now threatening Ukraine?
|date=10 October 2022}} In another post on Telegram, Krasovsky stated that the attack was "not enough".{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/russian-officials-commentators-call-for-more-missile-strikes-on-ukraine|title=Russian officials, commentators call for more missile strikes on Ukraine|website=pbs.org|date=11 October 2022}}
== Suspension from RT ==
{{main|Krasovsky case}}
In late October 2022, during a broadcast, Krasovsky said that Ukrainian children who had in the past criticised the Soviet Union as occupiers of Ukraine should have been thrown into river to make them drown there or been burned alive in their cottages. When Krasovsky said Ukraine "should not exist at all", his interviewee objected as this would mean incorporating many people who did not wish to live under Russian rule, to which Krasovsky said Russia should "shoot" these people.{{cite news |last1= |first1= |date=23 October 2022 |title=Propagandist Anton Krasovsky fired from RT |work=Russian Free Press |publisher= |url=https://russianfreepress.com/2022/10/23/propagandist-anton-krasovsky-fired-from-rt/ |access-date=23 October 2022}}{{cite news |last=Cooney |first=Christy |date=23 October 2022 |title=Russia-Ukraine war live: Russian defence minister holds calls with foreign counterparts; Kyiv sees scheduled power cuts |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2022/oct/23/russia-ukraine-war-live-g7-condemns-russian-kidnapping-of-zaporizhzhia-nuclear-plant-leaders?page=with:block-63554ab18f0885fc0bbd338e#block-63554ab18f0885fc0bbd338e |work=The Guardian |location= |access-date=23 October 2022}}{{cite news |last=Tyshchenko |first=Kateryna |date=23 October 2022 |title=Російський пропагандист пропонує вбивати українських дітей, Кулеба закликав заборонити RT [Russian propagandist suggests killing Ukrainian children, Kuleba calls to ban RT] |language=uk |url=https://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2022/10/23/7373140/ |work=Ukrainska Pravda |location= |access-date=23 October 2022}} The comments sparked outrage both outside and inside Russia, and Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba called on countries to ban RT for what he described as incitement of genocide. RT's editor-in-chief, Margarita Simonyan, said that she had suspended Krasovsky over the "disgusting" comments.{{cite news|url=https://www.svoboda.org/a/rt-ostanavlivaet-sotrudnichestvo-s-krasovskim-iz-za-prizyva-szhigatj-detey/32097163.html|title=RT "останавливает сотрудничество" с Красовским из-за призыва топить детей|newspaper=Радио Свобода|date=24 October 2022}}{{cite tweet|user=JuliaDavisNews|number=1584054018145685504|last=Davis|first=Julia|date=2022-10-23|access-date=2022-11-23|title=Meanwhile on Russia's state-funded RT, director of broadcasting Anton Krasovsky suggests drowning or burning Ukrainian children, makes hideous comments about the rapes by Russian soldiers in Ukraine, says Ukraine should not exist and Ukrainians who resist Russia should be shot.}}
That same day, Krasovsky apologized:{{Cite news|title=Телеканал RT остановил сотрудничество с Антоном Красовским из-за его призыва "топить" детей в Украине. Он ответил: "Бывает так: сидишь в эфире, тебя несет" |url=https://meduza.io/news/2022/10/24/telekanal-rt-ostanovil-sotrudnichestvo-s-antonom-krasovskim-iz-za-ego-prizyva-topit-ukrainskih-detey-on-otvetil-byvaet-tak-sidish-v-efire-tebya-neset |date=2012-10-24|access-date=2022-10-24 |work=Meduza |language=ru|trans-title=The RT channel stopped cooperation with Anton Krasovsky because of his call to "drown" children in Ukraine. He replied: "It happens like this: you sit on the air, you are carried"|last=Simonyan|first=Margarita}}
{{blockquote|Look, I'm really embarrassed that I somehow didn't see that edge. About the children. Well, it happens like this: you're sitting on the air, you're going wild. And you can't stop. I apologize to everyone who was freaked out by that. I apologize to Margarita (Simonyan), to everyone for whom it seemed wild, unthinkable and irresistible. I hope you'll forgive me.}}
On the evening of the same day, Krasovsky recorded a four-minute video apology stating that "every baby's tear is my pain, my worst nightmare".{{Cite news|title="Я дурак, смешал добро со злом и облажался, скурвился". Антон Красовский — о своем призыве убивать украинских детей |url=https://meduza.io/news/2022/10/24/ya-durak-smeshal-dobro-so-zlom-i-oblazhalsya-skurvilsya-anton-krasovskiy-o-svoem-prizyve-ubivat-ukrainskih-detey |access-date=2022-10-24 |work=Meduza |language=ru|date=2022-10-24|trans-title="I'm a fool, mixed good with evil and screwed up, screwed up." Anton Krasovsky on his call to kill Ukrainian children}}
Personal life
On 25 January 2013 he came out as a gay man.{{Cite web |title=Ксения Соколова. Антон Красовский: Я гей, и я такой же человек, как президент Путин |url=https://snob.ru/selected/entry/57187 |access-date=2022-10-24 |website=snob.ru |language=ru |archive-date=24 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210424051612/https://snob.ru/selected/entry/57187/ |url-status=dead }}
In December 2017, Krasovsky revealed that he has been HIV positive since 2011.{{cite web|url=https://iz.ru/679211/2017-12-05/zhurnalist-anton-krasovskii-rasskazal-o-svoem-polozhitelnom-vich-statuse|title=Журналист Антон Красовский рассказал о своем положительном ВИЧ-статусе|language=ru|work=Izvestia|date=2017-12-05|access-date=2017-12-05}}
=Sanctions=
In late February, following the start of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Krasovsky was sanctioned by the European Union;{{cite web|url=https://tass.ru/mezhdunarodnaya-panorama/13905587|title=ЕС ввел санкции против 26 россиян, включая Дмитрия Пескова|website=TASS|date=28 February 2022}} the government of the United Kingdom did the same as a result of the invasion.{{cite web |title=CONSOLIDATED LIST OF FINANCIAL SANCTIONS TARGETS IN THE UK |url=https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1150217/Russia.pdf |access-date=16 April 2023}}
References
{{Reflist|refs=
{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-22509019 |access-date=20 August 2013 |date=13 May 2013 |title=Arrests over 'anti-gay' murder in Volgograd Russia |work=BBC News |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130609040359/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-22509019 |archive-date=9 June 2013 |url-status=live}}
{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/may/14/being-gay-russia-likened-to-terrorism |title=I came out because gay people in Russia are suffering – it's time for courage |last=Krasovsky|first=Anton|work=The Guardian|date=14 May 2013 |access-date=18 August 2013 |archive-date=26 August 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130826204614/http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/may/14/being-gay-russia-likened-to-terrorism}}
{{cite web|url=http://www.kyivpost.com/content/russia-and-former-soviet-union/prokhorovs-campaign-to-be-run-by-journalist-anton--119775.html |title=Prokhorov's campaign to be run by journalist Anton Krasovsky |agency=Interfax-Ukraine |work=Kyiv Post |date=29 December 2011 |access-date=18 August 2013 |archive-date=24 May 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130524183513/http://www.kyivpost.com/content/russia-and-former-soviet-union/prokhorovs-campaign-to-be-run-by-journalist-anton--119775.html}}
{{cite news|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/russian-anchor-fired-after-coming-out-on-live-tv/ |title=Russian anchor fired after coming out on live TV |work=CBS News |date=14 August 2013 |access-date=18 August 2013 |archive-date=18 August 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130818110905/http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57598579/russian-anchor-fired-after-coming-out-on-live-tv/}}
{{cite news|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/08/15/anton-krasovsky-russian-tv-presenter-sacked-after-coming-out-as-gay-on-air_n_3760386.html|title=Anton Krasovsky, Russian TV Presenter Sacked After Coming Out As Gay on Air|work=The Huffington Post|date=15 August 2013|access-date=18 August 2013}}
{{cite news|url=http://lenta.ru/news/2013/01/28/krasovsky/ |script-title=ru:Антон Красовский покинул канал Kontr TV |trans-title=Anton Krasovsky have left Kontr TV channel |website=Lenta.ru |date=28 January 2013 |access-date=17 August 2013 |archive-date=18 August 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130818053202/http://lenta.ru/news/2013/01/28/krasovsky/}}
}}
External links
- {{LiveJournal}}
- {{Twitter}}
- [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/russia-the-country-that-hates-gay-people-8616223.html Russia: The country that hates gay people], The Independent, 14 May 2013
- [https://www.latimes.com/world/la-xpm-2013-feb-23-la-fg-russia-gay-qa-20130224-story.html Gay Russian TV personality reflects on his firing and his country], Los Angeles Times, 23 February 2013
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Krasovsky, Anton}}
Category:Russian television journalists
Category:Russian LGBTQ rights activists
Category:Russian LGBTQ broadcasters
Category:Russian LGBTQ journalists
Category:Russian people with disabilities
Category:20th-century Russian journalists
Category:21st-century Russian journalists
Category:Maxim Gorky Literature Institute alumni
Category:21st-century Russian LGBTQ people
Category:Russian propagandists
Category:Anti-Ukrainian sentiment in Russia
Category:Russian individuals subject to United Kingdom sanctions
Category:Russian individuals subject to European Union sanctions