With relations between the United States and Russia deteriorating over the civil war in Syria, it’s, uh, fun and not worrying at all to see a state-owned television station in Moscow predicting the weather in Nebraska following a nuclear attack.
The Moscow Times reports that the footage, which aired on Rossiya 24 on October 5, has since been deleted from the station’s website and replaced by an edited version, though a clip of the unedited broadcast is still available on Facebook.
According to the Times, the clip was part of a report examining Russia’s early warning radar systems. From the Times:
The country’s RTI radar station in Siberia’s Krasnoyarsk region had announced earlier that day that it had successfully identified a ballistic missile’s precise trajectory on a practice range.
As part of the unedited report, the host discussed the potential impact of a nuclear explosion in the U.S. state of Nebraska, explaining that it would knock out electronic devices as far away as southern Canada.
The station apparently excels at this sort of trolling/exploitation of awful world events: In 2015, it came under fire for dedicating a special segment to the weather in Syria and how it would affect Russian pilots dropping bombs on the country.
Just another exciting thing to think about this election season!
Russian weather reporters discuss what a nuclear strike on Nebraska would mean for the week https://t.co/PX2lHMmvDI pic.twitter.com/CTpe2HhIGO
— The Moscow Times (@MoscowTimes) October 6, 2016
