The incident in which a Georgian opposition TV host used profanities in relation to Russian President Vladimir Putin was a “shameful,” “Russophobic fit,” a Kremlin spokesman has said.

Georgiy Gabuniya, the host of an opinion show on Georgia’s opposition Rustavi 2 TV broadcaster, began his Sunday program by addressing Putin in Russian – using some of the most-obscene Russian vulgarities for over a minute of the show.

Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for the Russian president, told journalists on Monday that insulting the Russian president with obscene words is a shame for Georgians.

“We consider [such stunts] completely unacceptable and condemn them.

“This kind of behavior, whether it is provoked by someone who wants to further complicate the Russia-Georgia relations or is a consequence of absolute madness, is unworthy of the Georgian people… This is a great shame for Georgians,” the spokesman said.

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Peskov also stated that in recent days there have been “more and more flares of Russophobic fits in Georgia.” He said the reason for them may lie within the reluctance of the Georgian authorities to “rein in extremist-minded youngsters.”

However, Peskov also noted that the Georgian leadership has already condemned Gabuniya’s stunt. For instance, Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili wrote on Facebook that she “unequivocally condemns hate speech, verbal aggression, insults and provocative statements,” which have nothing to do with patriotism.

The incident wasn’t received well by Georgian people either, with a crowd of agitated protesters storming the channel’s Tbilisi headquarters demanding that the host be fired. The station was even forced to go off air, resuming broadcasting only on Monday morning.

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