A Russian talk show came to an abrupt halt when one of its guests collapsed live on air.
A clip circulating online shows guests on Evening with Vladimir Solovyov rushing to the man’s aid. The incident happened during a panel discussion on a range of political issues in Russia.
The man who collapsed has been identified as Andrey Karneev, head of the School of Asian Studies at the Higher School of Economics University in Moscow. He is said to have made a full recovery after the incident and has been quoted as giving an explanation as to what happened to him.
the show in question Evening with Vladimir Solovyovhas been running for 11 years and is named after its host, Russian TV presenter and propagandist Vladimir Solovyov.
The clip of Karneev fainting was shared across multiple social media sites online, including Twitter, YouTube, Telegram, and TikTok, getting hundreds of thousands of views. Jokes were made about the incident on Twitter and TikTok by Russian-language accounts that appeared to be anti-propagandist.
The TikTok user @antuan.ekzuperi shared the footage and included the caption, “someone could not stand the flow of delirium propaganda.” They shared the same clip again and edited it to show someone spitting on Karneev, causing him to faint. This altered video got 466,000 views.
Over on Twitter, user @GLoOouD shared the same clip and mocked the moment. “The Russian propagandist could no longer listen to [Solovyov] and therefore decided to die.” They added, “+1 good Russian.”
Karneev, in fact, didn’t die, and in an extended version of the clip available to view online, he can be seen being helped to his feet and walked offstage by the other guests and Solovyov.
Russian news site Lenta.ru heard from Karneev after the show. He offered an explanation as to what happened to him in the studio. According to Karneev, he was “just dizzy,” “didn’t get enough sleep the night before” and he was also “nervous.” He decided not to leave the studio and, instead, wait until the next break. “Just in case, they called a doctor, [and] he said that it was okay,” Karneev said.
“I even remember this moment that I somehow began to crawl, but my colleagues literally picked me up, everyone came up to me, called the doctor, so I am grateful to the program staff and at the same time I apologize to them for the troubles,” Karneev said, suggesting he was only unconscious for three seconds.
Karneev confirmed that his condition was unrelated to the discussions taking place within the studio at the time.
Moments before he collapsed, per Lenta.ruhost Solovyov had just said, “America has never considered colored people to be people.”
The host of Evening with Vladimir Solovyov is known for being pro-Russia in his home country, which has earned him the nickname the “voice of Putin.”
A Russian talk show came to an abrupt halt when one of its guests collapsed live on air.
