Two Russian journalists fight on the air when discussing Stalinism

Two well-known Russian journalists - Maxim Shevchenko and Nikolai Svanidze - got into a fight with each other during a debate in the studio of the Komsomolskaya Pravda radio station.

The incident occurred during a discussion about the role of Stalinism in Russia. The topic of the debate was: "Is Stalinism a disease that should be treated?"

The discussion between the two journalists, evolved into a fight at the very end of the program, which was also broadcast live on YouTube. According to Svanidze's point of view, "Stalin took the country to war with Hitler while the nation was in a catastrophic state, and by the end of 1941, we had had 3.8 million people captivated all thanks to Stalin ..."

In turn, Maxim Shevchenko said that "unlike France, the Soviet Union did not fall to its knees, but fought back." Shevchenko then said that his opponent in the debate was spitting on Soviet soldiers' graves.

Immediately afterwards, the opponents raised the tone of their dispute and accused each other of lies. Svanidze called Shevchenko a scoundrel and said that he would punch him in the face. "Go ahead and punch me! Stand up and punch me!" Shevchenko responded. Nikolai Svanidze stood up from his chair and slapped Shevchenko in the face. The latter responded with a series of punches, knocking Svanidze down. The shocking host of the program had to call other men for help to break the fighters apart.

Later, Svanidze admitted that it was his fault, because he was first to start the fight. "I had to hold back. It's my fault that I could not do it, it was a heated conversation, Maxim Shevchenko said the words that I took as a personal insult, he said that I "spit on the graves," and I could not stand it, I slapped him in the face, and he punched me in return, we did not part as friends. We have not apologised to each other and we are not going to," he said.

Shevchenko later said that he was not a champion of fights during intellectual discussions. It was not me who started the threats. If you start threatening, you have to understand that you may receive a response," the journalist said.

Pravda.Ru

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