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One Russian paper today writes Ukrainian drone strikes “aim to create a sense of crisis among Russians.” In Crimea “the sale of fuel to the public is suspended.” Another paper: Russia’s offensive in Ukraine will go on: “for that we will always have enough fuel.” #ReadingRussia
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Absolutely astonishing. During Russian Channel 1’s evening news broadcast, a woman ran onto the set with a sign: “No war…Don’t believe the propaganda. They’re lying to you here.”
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My first opportunity to ask Vladimir Putin a question since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. It came at the end of the BRICS summit in Kazan. Producer @LizaShuvalova
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In 1990 I was in the queue when McDonald's opened its 1st restaurant in Moscow: when iron curtains were crumbling & Russia was embracing the West. Today McDonald's announced it is temporarily closing its 850 restaurants in Russia. Hugely symbolic.
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Extraordinary exchange on Russian state TV’s top talk show about Ukraine. Military analyst & retired colonel Mikhail Khodarenok tells anchor Olga Skabeyeva “the situation for us will clearly get worse…we’re in total geopolitical isolation…the situation is not normal.”
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Interesting to hear @TuckerCarlson claim that “no western journalist has bothered to interview” Putin since the invasion of Ukraine. We’ve lodged several requests with the Kremlin in the last 18 months. Always a ‘no’ for us.
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* Ukraine is granted EU candidacy status;
* Finland/Sweden on the path to Nato membership;
* Russian GDP forecast to contract by 8-10% in 2022;
Can't imagine the Kremlin expected this when it invaded Ukraine.
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The car in front of us driving through Moscow. Couldn’t have put it better myself.
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A little announcement.
BBC News is pleased to announce that @BBCSteveR has become Russia Editor, effective immediately.
Read more here: bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/2022/s…
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Trying to press Alexander Lukashenko on human rights in Belarus. You can watch a 24-min version of our interview today on @BBCWorld at 0930, 1530 & 1830 GMT. Also here bit.ly/32oRPar Camera/edit @mattgodtv Camera @AntonChicherov Producer @BBCWillVernon @BBCNews
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Vladimir Putin in Tehran: “the Syrian crisis can only be resolved…by strictly adhering to the basic principles of respecting sovereignty, independence, unity & territorial integrity.”
This is the same Vladimir Putin who, 5 months ago, invaded Ukraine. Territorial integrity…?
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The Russian government today had this message for the public regarding sugar and buckwheat: “Don’t panic buy. There’s enough for everyone.” Not in this Moscow supermarket.
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I saw his hearse & his coffin. I saw thousands of Russians paying him their last respects. But it’s still hard to believe that Alexei Navalny is dead. Among his supporters there's disbelief & defiance. Our report from Moscow. Producer @LizaShuvalova Camera @AntonChicherov & team
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Moscow may avoid the word ‘war’. But the UN Sec-General is clear what Russia (a permanent Sec Cl member) has done: “War in Ukraine is one of the greatest challenges ever to the international order…a full-fledged invasion…by the Russian Federation in violation of UN charter.”
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The last Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, tells me the world is in "colossal danger." I ask him about East-West tension...& Brexit. Camera/edit @mattgodtv Producer @LizaShuvalova @BBCNews @BBCWorld
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As Muscovites lay flowers in memory of Alexei Navalny riot police moved in. A woman shouted: "We have the right to stand here & we will!" Another cried: "This street isn't yours. It belongs to everyone!" Our latest report from Moscow. Thanks @AntonChicherov @BenTavener #Navalny
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In effect, Vladimir Putin is saying: I’ll keep the territory I’ve occupied, plus some territory I’m not occupying, plus Ukraine won’t join Nato, plus the West will drop all the sanctions against Russia. This is what he’s calling “a real peace proposal.”
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Many times I’ve thought: “Putin would never do this.” Then he does it.
"He’d never annex Crimea." He did.
"He’d never intervene in the Donbas." He did.
"He’d never launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine." He has.
“Would never do” doesn't apply to Vladimir Putin.
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Russian state TV’s flagship news show explains Russia’s problem in Ukraine: “The West is waging a war in Ukraine…a war against Russia. The general aim is Russia’s collapse.” Totally ignores the fact Russia began this by invading Ukraine (which the West urged Putin not to do).
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In the late 1890s my great grandparents left the Russian empire because of pogroms. What happened yesterday in Makhachkala - a mob storming the airport to hunt for Jews, the mob checking passports as they looked for Israelis - this brought the 1890s into 2023.
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Putin/Lukashenko meetings:
22.02.21 in Russia
22.04.21 Russia
28.05.21 Russia
13.07.21 Russia
29.12.21 Russia
18.02.22 Russia
11.03.22 Russia
12.04.22 Russia
16.05.22 Russia
23.05.22 Russia
25.06.22 Russia
26.09.22 Russia
19.12.22 in Belarus
Pattern broken. Wonder why.
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Our interview with Alexander Lukashenko has won the Royal Television Society Network Interview of the Year award. An honour for us & a real team effort with my superb colleagues @BBCWillVernon @mattgodtv @AntonChicherov. Here’s an excerpt. Full interview bit.ly/3l750mK
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I asked Vladimir Putin: “25 years ago Yeltsin handed you power & told you 'Take care of Russia.’ Do you think you have? In light of significant losses in Ukraine, Ukrainian troops in Kursk region, sanctions, inflation…” Here’s his reply. Producer @LizaShuvalova @BenTavener
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After invading Ukraine on 24 February, Vladimir Putin called on Ukrainian soldiers to “immediately lay down your weapons and go home.” They didn’t. If the Kremlin was expecting a short ‘operation’ and swift victory, it was mistaken. We’re at 100 days and counting.
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“I’m against war. I don’t want body bags coming to Moscow, Yaroslav, Nizhny. I don’t want our mothers, wives, children crying. What will Putin achieve? Ukraine as an enemy, iron curtain, sanctions…” Boris Nemtsov said this in 2014. It's 7 years today since Nemtsov was murdered.
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As the Kremlin pushes ahead with plans to annex more Ukrainian territory via hastily organised 'referendums', a reminder of what President Putin said on 24 February: "It is not our plan to occupy Ukrainian territory."
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Russian Commander Surovikin tells Russian TV: “We & Ukrainians are one people. We want Ukraine to be independent of the West & Nato, a state that is friendly to Russia.” Moscow's aim is clear: to force Ukraine to be 'friends' with Russia (ie force Ukraine into Russia's orbit).
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Russian pop legend Alla Pugacheva has asked to be declared “foreign agent” in solidarity with showbiz husband Maxim Galkin, who she says "wants prosperity for the motherland, peace, free speech & an end to our lads dying for illusory aims that make our country a pariah..." Wow.
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Access to @Twitter in Russia is being severely restricted. This message got through, but took a while.
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The Russian authorities deny:
• striking civilian targets in Ukraine
• invading Ukraine (it's a special operation)
• organising Salisbury poisonings
• organising Navalny poisoning
• involvement in shooting down MH17
• meddling in US elections
• I've run out of space
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Russian state TV on Finland/Sweden wanting to join Nato:“Their official reason is fear. But they’ll have more fear in Nato. When Nato bases appear in Sweden & Finland, Russia will have no choice but to neutralise the imbalance & new threat by deploying tactical nuclear weapons.”
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This morning an electronic billboard on my way to work is displaying this Putin quote: “Russia’s borders do not end anywhere.”
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Boris Bondarev, the Russian diplomat who has quit in protest at Russia’s offensive in Ukraine, tells me this about his resignation: “I don’t think it will change a lot, frankly. But it may be one little brick in the bigger wall which will eventually be built.”
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Mikhail Gorbachev is 91 today. We wish him good health.
Time, I think, to recall what Mikhail Gorbachev told me in 2019: “As long as weapons of mass destruction exist the danger is colossal. All nations should declare that nuclear weapons must be destroyed. To save ourselves and our planet.” Camera @mattgodtv Producer @LizaShuvalova
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Time, I think, to recall what Mikhail Gorbachev told me in 2019: “As long as weapons of mass destruction exist the danger is colossal. All nations should declare that nuclear weapons must be destroyed. To save ourselves and our planet.” Camera @mattgodtv Producer @LizaShuvalova
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In court to witness Sasha Skochilenko sentenced to 7 years in prison. She was arrested last year after replacing supermarket price tags with messages critical of Russia's war in Ukraine. In St Petersburg she was convicted of spreading 'false information' about the Russian army.
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Protestors fill Independence Square in Minsk. #Belarus
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Another example of the Kremlin's alternative reality. On state TV, host Kiselev suggests Russia had to act in Ukraine because the West “refused talks on security” (it didn’t) & because “preparations were being made for the military destruction of Russia” (they weren’t).
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For 7 months Russians were told this isn't a war - it's a 'special military operation.' Now they're being told: it's still a 'special operation', but we need to call up 300,000 reservists for it. How does the Kremlin explain away that one? As usual: by blaming the West.
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“I have no moral right to ask Ukrainians for forgiveness. I can’t forgive myself, so I can’t expect them to forgive me.” A former Russian army officer tells us about crimes he says he saw Russian soldiers committing in Ukraine, including torture & looting. Producer @BBCWillVernon
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“It’s time to say goodbye to the kiosk.” Valentina is leaving Moscow and going home to Kursk. In a world turned upside down, her newspaper kiosk has been an island of sanity for me. I’ll miss her. This is the story of her last day at work. #ValentinasKiosk
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I’ve recorded this tribute to George Alagiah: one of the finest and nicest journalists at the BBC. For the former Africa correspondent, I play Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika (Lord Bless Africa). Thank you to George's close friend Allan Little @alittl for suggesting the music.
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Horrific events in Ukraine are rightly dominating headlines. But important news today in Russia: the Kremlin’s most vocal critic Alexei Navalny (already in prison) has been convicted of fraud in another trial (inside his penal colony). Sentenced to 9 yrs in maximum-security jail.
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From today’s Russian papers you can see that Russia is feeling the impact of sanctions, from the aviation industry to cars and computers. #ReadingRussia
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One Russian paper today: “Assad’s fall confirms the indisputable fact that the percentage of votes won by a dictator/autocrat/usurper at an election before he falls means absolutely nothing. None of that ‘95% support’ came out to defend him.” #ReadingRussia
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Powerful editorial in one Russian paper today criticising “high-ranking Russian officials” for making nuclear threats. “To allow, in thoughts and words, the possibility of a nuclear conflict is a sure step towards allowing it in reality.” #ReadingRussia bbc.in/3RkArqX
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“Why have you come here?"
"Good question. But I can’t answer it.”
I spoke to Russians arriving at a patriotic concert on Red Square. It marked the anniversary of Russia proclaiming the annexation of 4 Ukrainian regions. Camera @AntonChicherov Producer @LizaShuvalova
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Outside Gorky Park, along with festive fir trees, is a red star with the symbol of Russia’s ‘special military operation.’ As Russia prepares for the New Year holidays, I go onto the streets of Moscow to see how the invasion of Ukraine has changed Russia. @BBCNews
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The Russian press has turned on US House Speaker Mike Johnson with insults such as “total scatterbrain”, “brainwashed” & “the look of a traitor.” Which shows that House approval of the $61bn aid package for Ukraine has struck a raw nerve in Moscow. #ReadingRussia
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I asked Alexander Lukashenko: “How can you call this a democratic election when your main rivals are in prison or in exile?” Our report from Minsk. Producer @LizaShuvalova Camera @AntonChicherov
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Today’s Russian newspapers on Prigozhin’s armed uprising:
“Russia displayed its vulnerability, to the whole world & to itself.”
“The events of 24 June will have long term consequences for the country…” #ReadingRussia
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There is so much that is wrong with the world right now. But when Celine Dion performed Hymne à l’amour from the Eiffel Tower at the Olympic Opening Ceremony, for a few glorious minutes everything felt perfect. Such is the power of a great singer and a beautiful song.
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You can tell it’s not going well for Moscow when Russian state TV’s flagship news show opens with: “This was the toughest of weeks on the frontlines of the special operation." No mention, though, of 'retreat' – instead the caption reads ‘Regrouping [of Russian forces]’
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Sergei Lavrov tells Indian TV “We are not up for regime change in Ukraine. We’ve said this repeatedly.” Really? 25 Feb Vladimir Putin told Ukrainian servicemen “Take power into your own hands, it’ll be easier for us to reach agreement.” Sounds to me like a call for regime change.
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This is an extraordinary moment. The serving president of the world’s largest country, a nuclear power, a P5 member, the president who once hosted world leaders at a G8 & G20 in St Petersburg…the ICC has issued an arrest warrant for him over alleged war crimes.
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The Russian press is calling the Singapore summit a "PR success" & "victory" for Kim Jong-un. One paper warns that Trump's "exaggerated self-belief in his powers of negotiation" puts the US president "at risk of manipulation by his negotiating partners."
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“Russia isn’t squeaky clean. Russia is what it is & we're not ashamed of showing who we are.” In an exclusive interview, I question Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Producers @BBCWillVernon @LizaShuvalova Cameras @AntonChicherov @LizaVereykina
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I’ve written a piece of music and called it Isolation. It's how I’m feeling right now. @BBCNews @BBCWorld @BBCRadio3 @BBCSounds @BBCRadio4 #Russia #Ukraine
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“On the surface there is an air of normality. In reality, there is nothing normal about what's happening here.” My personal reflections on what it feels like in Moscow more than 14 months after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. @BBCNews
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It was an honour for me to play the piano at George Alagiah’s memorial service. Such an emotional, uplifting celebration of his life. Here’s the montage of George at work and at home for which I provided a musical accompaniment.
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At Russia's National Grain Centre, I ask Vladimir Putin: "Is Russia behind the poisoning of Sergei Skripal?"
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Today in Minsk I asked Alexander Lukashenko: “A year ago you let Russia use your country as a staging ground for the invasion of Ukraine. Are you prepared to do that again?” Producer @BBCWillVernon Camera @AntonChicherov
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Story so far...There was a mutiny. But it was over in a day. But Russian air force pilots were killed. But no one was arrested. But the Kremlin denounced the mutineers as ‘traitors’. But 5 days later Prigozhin & Wagner commanders were in the Kremlin talking to Putin. All clear?
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Tonight Russian state TV’s flagship news show tells viewers Russian troops are in Ukraine to stop Ukraine joining Nato, getting a nuclear bomb, attacking Crimea & then southern Russia, ie Ukraine was a threat to Russia. Alternative reality. More of what host Kiselev said 👇
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Crowd chanting "Russia without Putin!" & "We are the power here!". Police telling crowd they are disturbing public order & breaking the law.
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“I never thought my own country would treat me this way." We tell the story of a Russian army officer in Ukraine: after refusing to fight, he was beaten & threatened with execution to try to force him back to the front line. Producer @BBCWillVernon bbc.in/3VRgBGW
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“War and peace side by side.” I gauge the mood in a small town sixty miles from Moscow. #2024 @BBCNews
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Mobilisation is worrying many Russians. But not Vera: “I’d be much happier if my son got wounded fighting in Ukraine than die of alcoholism here,” she tells me. Our latest report from Moscow as the draft continues. Producer @BBCWillVernon Cameras @AntonChicherov @LizaVereykina
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“There is a choice: you go & kill innocent people or you go to jail. I’d better lead my life abroad.” We talk to one man who’s decided to leave Russia because of the military call-up. Our latest report for @BBCNews Producer @BBCWillVernon Cameras @AntonChicherov @LizaVereykina
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Muscovites marching now in memory of Boris Nemtsov, the opposition politician murdered on a bridge near the Kremlin 3 years ago. Cries of "Putin is a thief!" & "This is our country!"
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In a Moscow court today we saw Russian human rights campaigner Oleg Orlov sentenced to 2 ½ years in prison. At his trial he’d spoken of a Russia “sinking ever more deeply into darkness.” Our report for @BBCNews Camera @AntonChicherov
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Oh, the glamorous life of a foreign correspondent. In my Siberian hotel room this week, instead of a shower, there was a “bowl for washing feet”. The sign on the wall reads: “The bus to the showers leaves every Thursday at 3pm from Block 6”.
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In Minsk I ask Alexander Lukashenko:
• would he allow Wagner to attack Ukraine from Belarus?
• would he have a say in launching Russian tactical nuclear weapons?
• about human rights in Belarus.
Producer @LizaShuvalova @BBCNews
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Alexei Navalny’s grave in Moscow’s Borisovskoye Cemetery this morning. One year ago today Russia’s most prominent opposition figure & the Kremlin’s most vocal critic died in a remote penal colony.
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“It’s absurd. I can’t get my head around what’s happening,” 68-year-old paediatrician Nadezhda Buyanova tells me. Minutes later she’s sent to prison for 5 1/2 years for alleged comments on the war in Ukraine. Our report for @BBCNews Camera @AntonChicherov Producer @BenTavener
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One change I’ve noticed in Russia: the increasingly aggressive language/tone of officials. Today ex-president Medvedev posted: “I hate them. They are bastards & degenerates. They want us, Russia, dead…I’ll do all I can to make them disappear.” (he didn’t say who ‘they’ were...)
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Two Russias:
Moscow mother: “The lads will run around [in Ukraine], they’ll lose a bit of weight, it’ll be OK.”
Meanwhile: in Siberia a draft officer is shot; N.Caucasus protests; draft offices set on fire.
Our latest report.
Producer @BBCWillVernon Camera @LizaVereykina
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In Russian TV’s 3 hour “News of the Week” show, only 30 seconds were devoted to the big news of the week: the sinking of Russian warship Moskva. No details about casualties, & only mentioned in a report more than an hour into the programme. Anchor Kiselev said nothing about it.
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06:24 this morning, north-west Moscow. I heard an explosion in the distance, windows shook. Just heard another one. This is the first time my morning's started like this.
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Valentina, who used to work in my local newspaper kiosk, has asked me to share some news with you. She has been diagnosed with cancer. Valentina says: “The doctors caught it early. I’m staying positive. I hope that everything will be OK.”
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21 Маrch
Russia & China state: “All nuclear powers must not deploy their nuclear weapons beyond their national territories & must withdraw all nuclear weapons deployed abroad.”
25 March
Putin states: Russia planning to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus.
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After the drone attacks on two Russian airbases, one Russian paper today slams the “failure of the whole [Russian] anti-aircraft defence system.” Another: “So it turns out that enemy drones managed to travel hundreds of kilometres & avoid our defence systems?” #ReadingRussia
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When one top defence official in Russia is arrested, that’s interesting. When four senior defence figures are arrested in less than a month, that’s more than a pattern...begins to look like a purge. Latest arrest: Vadim Shamarin, deputy chief of the general staff, on bribery charges.
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To everyone who's sent such nice messages, thank you so much. I really appreciate your kind words.
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Me to Lavrov: “UK/US wouldn’t be supplying multiple-launch rocket systems to Kyiv if Russia hadn’t invaded Ukraine.”
Lavrov to me: “The longer the range of weapons that [the West] supplies, the further we will push back” the front line.
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Moscow seems pleased. One paper today: “Soviet leaders’ dream of driving a wedge between the European part of Nato & the US has come true.” Another: “Trump is destroying the world created by US liberals…the changes in the global system serve [Russia’s] interests” #ReadingRussia
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A family anniversary: 130 years ago today, my great grandfather left the Russian Empire and sailed to Britain. Here’s his story...and the passport he used to exit the country.
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Even some of the most pro-Kremlin Russian newspapers admit today that Ukraine’s cross-border attack has achieved some success. One paper says Kyiv “made a strong move with unpleasant consequences for our side.” Another: “the enemy is acting skilfully & daringly…” #ReadingRussia
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One of Russia’s most prominent human rights campaigners Oleg Orlov led from court, handcuffed, sent to prison for “repeatedly discrediting” the Russian army.
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Inside the Moscow courtroom where judges have just rejected Vladimir Kara-Murza’s appeal against his 25 year prison sentence. The Kremlin critic was convicted of treason in April.
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He was, quite simply, brilliant…a broadcaster in a class of his own. As a tribute to Steve Wright, I play the Steve Wright in the Afternoon theme. #SteveWright
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Two days.
Friday
“The people of Donetsk…are becoming our citizens forever.” [Vladimir Putin]
Saturday
Ukrainian army recaptures Lyman, Donetsk region.
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Until today the Kremlin has been claiming that its ‘special military operation’ in Ukraine has been going according to plan. Vladimir Putin's "partial mobilisation" dispels that one.
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Russia's war in Ukraine is fuelling a wave of denunciations at home and reviving ghosts of the past. Our report for @BBCNews Producer @BenTavener Camera @AntonChicherov
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“Russia is heading for a big catastrophe.” I keep thinking back to this report we made a year and a half ago, 2,000 miles from Moscow, and what people were saying to us back then. Camera/edit @mattgodtv Producer @BBCWillVernon
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Russia’s government paper: “It’s practically a foregone conclusion the US will pull out of Ukraine talks.” Another paper: “The unity of the West is gone. Geopolitically it’s no longer an alliance. Trumpism has destroyed the Atlantic consensus confidently & quickly” #ReadingRussia
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Steve Witkoff’s interview to Tucker Carlson is making headlines in Russia. One paper today: “US & Russian officials are now speaking the same language…for the first time in years the White House & the Kremlin are openly demonstrating their mutual attraction…” #ReadingRussia
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