A propaganda chief for Vladimir Putin nicknamed 'Goebbels in a skirt' has bizarrely compared him to Jesus Christ - despite more than half-a-million deaths in the Ukraine war he started in 2022. RT television chief Margarita Simonyan claimed the Russian president is a "very merciful man". She said: "Vladimir Putin is a man who is incredibly developed in a trait that I consider the most important for a person.

"He has it at a level close to the high standards Jesus Christ bequeathed us. This trait is called mercy. Vladimir [Putin] is a very merciful man. Very much so." The extraordinary bid to compare him to Jesus comes as Russia is smarting from a succession to setbacks in the war as Ukraine’s domestically-developed missiles and drones are causing major damage to his war machine.

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