In yet another surreal turn for the UK, Russian state TV appears to have caught wind of a bizarre ITV segment on Monday which offered to pay a random winner’s energy bills.
ITV’s This Morning made paying off four months of someone’s energy bills a competition prize in a game with presenters Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby.
The segment, which was criticised for being tone-deaf at a time when millions face fuel poverty this winter due to escalating energy bills, was then torn apart by Russia.
At this point it’s worth remembering much of Europe’s energy crisis stems from tensions with Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
An image, shared by BBC journalist Francis Scarr who “watches Russian state TV so you don’t have to”, shows the clip from This Morning next to a less than impressed Russian TV host, Olga Skabeyeva.
Scarr did not reveal any further details about what the Russian host said about the game show, and This Morning since seems to have altered the segment. Now, winners can have the household bills of their choice paid up to the value of £3,000 until the end of the year.
Still only on Monday, Russia mocked the new appointment of Liz Truss, who voted in by the Conservative Party members.
Olesya Loseva, another anchor on Russian state TV, claimed that “stupidity had triumphed” after Truss’ election, as she wants to achieve “the end of the world”.
Russian lawmaker Leonid Slutsky also claimed Truss would probably have to ask the UK to “turn out the lights” due to the energy crisis – seemingly overlooking how Moscow has been steadily restricting its exports of natural gas to Europe.
Slutsky wrote on Telegram: “It is not Russia and its president who are to blame here, but the thoughtless sanctions policy of Downing Street.”
Shortly before Truss’ victory was confirmed, the Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also claimed relations with the UK are likely to continue declining if she were to win – even though “it’s hard to imagine anything worse.”
Scarr has also shared footage in the past showing Russian figures criticising Truss dating back to when she was foreign secretary. One even alleged she would “go to hell” after the UK sanctioned the head of the Russian Orthodox Church in June.
In February, Russian state TV also blamed Truss to justify the decision to put their nuclear forces on special alert.
But, the prime minister has hit back at Moscow too, and vowed to “call out” Russian president Vladimir Putin in August.