Hannity calls on Russian Army to stop taking orders from Putin
With children becoming casualties of war, Hannity said it is time for Putin to go
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Sean Hannity blasted Joe Biden's leadership and the Russian military's indiscriminate attacks against Ukraine, including one that left a six-year-old girl dead Monday on "Hannity."
Hannity called on the Russian Army – the participation in which is compulsory under Kremlin law – to turn its weapons on its authoritarian commander-in-chief, Vladimir Putin.
Putin, recently saber-rattled a potential nuclear threat when he announced the elevation of a warning level among the country's nuclear defense contingent.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (Photo by SERGEI SUPINSKY/AFP via Getty Images)
"All eyes are on Ukraine as a bloody new chapter of war appears to be unfolding right before our very eyes now," Hannity said. "Civilians are directly in Russia's crosshairs now."
Citing a video of a young Ukrainian girl laying lifeless on an O.R. table, Hannity issued a message to the troops under 69-year-old authoritarian's command:
"Her blood is on Vladimir Putin's hands. So my question to the Russian soldiers tonight, following Putin's orders and waging this war on civilians and even children -- is this the legacy you want for your life? Is this worth it?"
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Putin, in the wake of Biden's comments, says Russia knows "how to defend our own interests." (Reuters)
"Do you have the courage to stand up against this naked aggression against innocent men, women and children?"
"Vladimir Putin killed that six-year-old girl. Vladimir Putin started this war. Vladimir Putin is a murdering thug who is willing to kill even children to satisfy his maniacal territorial ambitions," Hannity said.
Hannity called the Russian president a "murdering tyrant" and said Russian soldiers should be absolved from taking orders from him for that reason.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Hannity urged the Russian military to remove Putin from power, by force if necessary:
"The Russian military will hear about shows like this. They need to stop taking orders from this murderer. They need to take him out," he said.
"The world needs to agree that Putin should no longer be running Russia. He's a murdering, authoritarian thug -- Killing innocent civilians and civilized countries need to agree that he must be removed sooner than later and by whatever means necessary."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Pivoting to former President Donald Trump's condemnation of the Russian invasion as a "travesty" and "assault on humanity," Hannity said the real estate mogul struck the right chord when he characterized Biden as weak and not respected by other world leaders.
U.S. President Joe Biden (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
"I have no doubt that President Putin made his decision to ruthlessly attack Ukraine only after watching the pathetic withdrawal from Afghanistan," Trump said during a speech Saturday at the Rosen Shingle Creek Resort in Orlando. "The problem is not that Putin is smart, which of course, he's smart. But the real problem is that our leaders are dumb, and they so far allowed him to get away with this travesty."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Now, of course, President Trump is right. The Western world is being stupid. We need to understand this thug for who he is. We need to understand that the only thing that works is strength," he said.
"Putin probably feared Donald Trump. Putin knew that with Trump, if he said it, he meant it [and] he'd do it. Weakness invites chaos. It invites carnage."