Top Putin propagandist asks Russians to embrace death; 'Why be afraid? Go to heaven'

“Life is highly overrated,” were the remarks propelled by Kremlin's mouthpiece Vladimir Solovyov, who, on Tuesday, asked the Russians to welcome death, motivating the men to go to the war in Ukraine and slay their lives for the country.

During his program on state-run TV watched by millions of Russians, Russia's Solovyov posed daring questions: “Why be afraid of what is inevitable?" he asked."We’ll go to heaven. Death is the end of one earthly path and the beginning of another," he noted, encouraging the Russian men to fight in the war. His commentary on Tuesday sparked mixed reactions online, as many criticised his remarks, while others labelled him a true patriot.

'Don't let fear of death influence decisions': Solovyov

Russia's President Vladimir Putin's mouthpiece urged that the Russians must not let their fear of death “influence their decisions.” “It’s only worth living for something you can die for, that’s the way it should be,” Solovyov told viewers from his TV studio, according to the transcription of his speech in English. 

His encouragement came as the Russian forces suffered one of their most devastating setbacks during the war as the newly drafted troops suffered major losses in a Ukrainian strike on the defence base in Moscow-occupied Makiivka on New Year's eve.

Russia's Defense Ministry admitted that a Ukrainian air strike on the army barracks killed 63 soldiers. It added that Ukraine's forces launched four high-explosive missiles from HIMARS at a school building which was the temporary deployment base of Russian soldiers. The ministry, further informed, that two missiles were shot down by its air defense systems. 

In a Telegram post, Ukraine's military stated that the casualties suffered on the Russian side were greater than officially listed. The strike on Russian-occupied Makiivka killed 400 Russian soldiers and injured 300, the Ukrainian military claimed. A military analyst at the US-based Foreign Policy Research Institute took to Twitter to describe the situation as critical. “One of the problems with relying on mobilized soldiers is that it is more difficult to disperse them because of a lack of small unit leadership . . . But housing them next to ammunition storage is simply a leadership failure,' he noted.

Ukrainian soldiers, in December, had similarly carried out a deadly strike deep inside the Russian territory, targetting Engels-2 and Dyagilevo defense base. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned in a recorded message that Russia plans to avenge the death of the soldiers by launching a barrage of Iranian-supplied 'Shahed 136' drones. "We have information that Russia is planning a prolonged attack by [exploding drones]" Zelenskyy said, adding that Russia's goal was "exhausting our people, our air defense, our energy sector."