In July, Uzbekistan-born, Russian-speaking Israeli writer Dina Rubina gave an interview to the Russian opposition channel Rain TV, which caused a stir in the Russophone world. During the hour-and-a-half programme, she declared that there are no “peaceful residents” in Gaza, Israel has the right to “cleanse Gaza and turn it into a parking lot”, and that Palestinians need to be “dissolved in hydrochloric acid”.

Self-exiled journalist and producer Mikhail Kozyrev, who interviewed Rubina, decided to take out these bits, calling them “the most complex part” of the interview. Although he appeared to question Rubina on the claim that there are no “peaceful residents in Gaza” by comparing it to the collective blame Russians face over the war in Ukraine, he did not reject her claims and himself to

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