the kremlin is on it reacts painfully.tellectuals laugh at macron, but the reality here is an extremely new opinion, a new message, which macron conveys to the kremlin in a neat way. finland and sweden join nato. an unprecedented process is taking place on the eastern flank. the ten-year military construction procedure for nato's eastern flank has begun. now, these days, training is taking place there with a contingent of 100,000 in central and eastern europe. and the delay in receiving the american package of military aid, which is now available, is causing a lot of despair, but at the same time the reality is roughly what general austin, the united states secretary of defense, said late last year. military production received orders in 35 states of the united states for 2024-2025. this is the reality after two years of war. and i would say that on the one hand, it is even very encouraging from the point of view that the kremlin is stuck in a state of waiting now. the kremlin is clearly counting on the fact that... someth

the kremlin once insisted that this was russian peace. now it is already clear that putin emphasizes not on russian peace, on concepts unmarked by ethnicity. it clearly sounds that... not just from the point of view of putin, supposedly brotherly people, but simply one and the same people. and within this world, let's say , now, if some actions are started about... the entire post-soviet space, they are simply moldovans - they are the same people who took some wrong path there. this concept is developing. but he does not understand, i.e., that by killing ukrainians, he is doing everything in order to finally and civilizationally moor to the maximum distance. yes, but it is clear that it is impossible. to convey this simple idea to putin, which is obvious to everyone in europe, especially after the second world war, after that the work that europe itself did as a result of the second world war, because after all, it is a huge new, mature political culture, which is based on the fact that state borders and cultural borders are preserved, bu

and if you look at the kremlin's comments, there is triumph. i consider it absolutely serious that russian oppositionists living outside the country must take a fresh look at their situation and their security, because a new stage is openly taking place, and the murder of navalny and the beginning of the qualification of some public... figures as terrorists from the kremlin. the kremlin began to grant not only obscure titles to foreign agents who do not have a strong and of a dangerous projection, namely started extremist terrorists. and navalny was called a terrorist and extremist by the kremlin, one of the first. now they enroll new people there. regarding all of them, these are direct threats from the kremlin. turning these people into terrorists, they say, you mean, something like death will really act against you, since martial law and the like, in this sense, navalny’s murder is read exactly like this, at the exit we see, well, that he is some kind of civilization proposal, this is roman baron-ungern von sternberg, that is, the only thing

putin, the kremlin downloaded the programs.w the kremlin is very actively testing these models in the occupied territories, what kirienko himself and not only him, but a large circle of people from moscow, are doing in the occupied territories, building their bureaucracy and management apparatus there. this is all a long-term process. putin makes us understand that he is not running for one next term, but two. that is, plan until 2036, not until 2030. this is how he sees this situation. we cannot say that he will succeed in all this, because there are many factors that we cannot predict, but the kremlin plans yes. it all works, it all boils down to violence, no doubt about it. and this cannot but continue in the war. i took a rather careful and serious approach to putin's revelations, which he made in an interview with the so-called carlson, and we understand that there is a certain fixation in him, this fixation is ukraine, that is , where i see manifestations of a certain historiosophy, i am extremely strongly on ... bearing

explicit defiance of the kremlin, if the kremlin tried to prevent a public gathering and of all these funeral, they really would have had to bring out the riot police. they would have had to forcefully keep people from paying their tributes. and that really would have resulted in images of the police cracking down and beating people in the streets of the kremlin. i think probably made the calculation that it was better to avoid those images which could further turn, move only into a martyr, as well as those who would have separate police brutality for it. so i think that this was the kremlin making a calculated choice, that this was the best way to, in a way, allow the russian society to let out some steam. mm. i mean with that being said, thousands of people were still arrested. so what kind of obstacles did the kremlin to in the way of the funeral? well, there were a number of things the kremlin didn't advance to try to hamper the efforts to quite literally lay this man to rest. uh, it was difficult for him to of all these families to get a hearse to carry his body for today. uh, di

during the first hour, several pro-kremlin bloggers blamed ukraine. for example, in this publication in telegram, they called for the destruction of the terrorist territory of ukraine. or this post about the kremlin expert serhii markov wrote without any evidence that the attack was probably organized from kyiv. and a few hours after the attack, one of the main russian tv channels, ntv, showed the video. in which oleksiy danilov seems to say that today was fun in moscow and promises new attacks. but this video is fake. we found out that the clip is actually made from these two interviews that were on ukrainian tv, they were published last week, in both videos, the same background and people dressed in the same clothes. the original audio track of danilov's lyrics has also been edited. words he did not speak were added. liverpool john moores university analyzed the audio for bbc verify. track they concluded that the new audio had been altered. these black spots on the audio frequency indicate that the audio has been edited in some way. vladimir putin o

defiance of the kremlin. if the kremlin tried to prevent a public gathering and of all these funeral, they really would have had to bring up the riot police. they would have had to forcefully keep people from paying their tributes. and that really would have resulted in images of the police cramping down and beating people in the streets. the kremlin, i think, probably made the calculation that it was better to avoid those images which could further turn, move only into a martyr, as well as those who would have separate police brutality for it. so i think that this was the kremlin making a calculated choice, that this was the best way to, in a way, allow the russian society to let out some steam. mm. i mean with that being said, thousands of people were still arrested. so what kind of obstacles to it, the criminal into in the way of the funeral? well, there were a number of things the kremlin did in advance to trying to hamper the efforts to quite literally lay this man to rest. uh, it was difficult for and o

because a little earlier when a kremlin spokesman was asked about it, the response from the kremlino say to mr navalny's family on the day of his funeral. are we likely to expect any more statements about mr navalny, or do we think it is likely to be in keeping with the way things were before, where they didn't even really acknowledge his existence quite often? yeah, i think we can be quite often? yeah, i think we can be quite sure that kremlin won't say anything else. if we look at the broader context, in the past several years, putin has never named mr navalny by his name or surname and it is not likely to change at the moment. i think the spokesperson was quite clear about the fact that nothing else from the kremlin would be coming today concerning that topic. and ijust wanted to bring in one more thing for the context briefly. i think it is important to understand that all of those crowds, all of those hundreds and hundreds of people who came to the church and to the cemetery, they came bearing in mind that there are zero guarantee they would have a chance to see alexei navalny'

who are they, deputy deputies from the kremlin. we, personally, were waiting for russia for 30 years but how traitors wash the cities of schoolchildren. only development awaits the kherson region. congratulations. i'm olena kononenko and this is a collaborator program about traitors who went to serve the russian occupiers at the call of their hearts and wallets. last fall , russia held so-called elections in the temporarily occupied territories of ukraine, in particular in the kherson region. as a result, the so-called kherson regional duma was formed, which included 36 deputies. the largest number of fake elected officials came from the united russia party, 28 of them, followed by a few from the ldp. just russia, communist party of the russian federation and just russia for truth. the main task of this racist illegitimate body is to establish life in the region according to the laws of the russian federation. i have already told you about some who decided to fall to the social bottom and received a mandate from the kremlin. today'

of course the kremlin will result any -- rejectl kremlin will result any —— reject any accusations ofee or fair election. any accusations of this not being a free orfair election. we have any accusations of this not being a free or fair election. we have seen today on russian state tv various so—called international election monitors being wheeled out and telling the russian domestic audience that they have witnessed a fully transparent election according to the highest international standards. this is of course the message that the kremlin will be keen to put across to people within the country and have also been keen to stress the high turnout this time, it's around 74% which is higher than ever before. president putin is using this election as a propaganda tool to say he is a popular mandate and he is a legitimate president who is there to listen to the opinion of ordinary russians. ~ . ., ., ., russians. what we have at the moment on the screen. — russians. what we have at the moment on the screen, francis, _ russians. what we have at the moment on the screen, francis, i— russians

i mean, decisions i taken in the kremlin and around the kremlin— taken in the kremlin and around the know— kremlin are always complex so we don't know what level for example the decision not to interfere and were _ the decision not to interfere and were not— the decision not to interfere and were not to make arrests today, what level that _ were not to make arrests today, what level that was taken. of course, the important _ level that was taken. of course, the important decision was taken at the time to— important decision was taken at the time to imprison mr navalny and to have a _ time to imprison mr navalny and to have a murder attempt against him, the poisoning. these things are probably— the poisoning. these things are probably very likely decided on the top level_ probably very likely decided on the top level but what comes after, we don't _ top level but what comes after, we don't know — top level but what comes after, we don't know. so it is also typical to interpret— don't know. so it is also typical to interpret everything that is happening on the ground. it may be that th

putin's return to the kremlin.— return to the kremlin.ill this now mean for _ return to the kremlin. what will this now mean for the _ return to the kremlin. what will this now mean for the war- return to the kremlin. what will this now mean for the war in - this now mean for the war in ukraine? is it more of the same? yes. that's what it boils down to. more of the same. i mean, it's been more than two years now since the full scale invasion. vladimir putin launched it, saying he was protecting russian speakers in eastern ukraine against nazism. that rhetoric hasn't changed, the rhetoric hasn't changed, the rhetoric against the west has not changed, in fact it is only intensified so we can only expect more of the same from russia. and uppishly for ukraine that is a pretty depressing prospect. sarah rainsford, thank _ pretty depressing prospect. sarah rainsford, thank you _ pretty depressing prospect. sarah rainsford, thank you very - pretty depressing prospect. sarah rainsford, thank you very much indeed. let's speak to eleanor bindman —

that seems to suggest that the kremlin is keeping the door open for anything, the kremlin is keepingything, pretty the kremlin is keeping the door open for anything, pretty much. the kremlin is keeping the door open foranything, pretty much. it the kremlin is keeping the door open for anything, pretty much. it will be sorely tempted to blame ukraine. that is the mood music i have been picking up in the russian media. but when it comes to the kremlin, the official spokesman for president putin refused to comment on the version that it was isis. in a way, the kremlin is spinning the story already. dmitry pask of made it clear that there is no cooperation, according to him, between russian secret services and western secret services, despite, as he said, the need to fight terrorism. that is what we are hearing from the kremlin. the foreign ministry in moscow is much more blunt in blame ukraine. a spokeswoman for the foreign ministry, maria xhaka ever, wrote an article in the pravda, russia's biggest and most popular tabloid, in which she dropped dark and heavy hints at ukraine's involve

explicit defiance of the kremlin. if the kremlin tried to prevent a public gathering and of all nice funeral, they really would have had to bring out the riot police. they would have had to forcefully keep people from paying their tributes. and that really would have resulted in images of the police cramping down and beating people in the streets the kremlin, i think probably made the calculation that it was better to avoid those images which could further turn, move only into a martyr, as well as those who would have separate police brutality for it. so i think that this was the kremlin making a calculated choice that this was the best way to in a way allow the russian society to let out some steam. was the clayton from the atlantic cancel that argentine as president has given his 1st policy speech to congress, heavier mulay and as a range of reforms and said he would try to push through policies with or without lawmakers to force the right way and populace to power last november, promising to shake up argentina's an

the very fact that— the kremlin a lot. the very fact that he — the kremlin a lot.allies of chris irritated the kremiin— allies of chris irritated the kremlin a lot so definitely in the past 5-7— kremlin a lot so definitely in the past 5—7 years he was the most recognisable —— putin's allies, that irritated _ recognisable —— putin's allies, that irritated the — recognisable —— putin's allies, that irritated the kremlin a lot. that pepularity _ irritated the kremlin a lot. that pepularity is — irritated the kremlin a lot. that popularity is really _ irritated the kremlin a lot. ii�*ué�*ii popularity is really reflected in the huge numbers of people who have gathered outside the church where his funeral is currently taking place. vitaly, do you have an update? place. vitaly, do you have an u date? . . place. vitaly, do you have an u date? ., , ., ., update? the latest we have from outside the _ update? the latest we have from outside the church _ update? the latest we have from outside the church where - update? the latest we have from outside the church where the - u

the kremlin reacts painfully to this.h intellectuals laugh at macron, but the reality here is extraordinary. an opinion, a new message that macron conveys to the kremlin in a neat form. finland and sweden join nato. an unprecedented process is taking place on the eastern flank. the ten-year military construction procedure for nato's eastern flank has begun. these days there is training there with a hundred thousand contingent in central and eastern europe. and the delay in the american military aid package that is now there is causing a lot of frustration, but the reality is pretty much what general austin, the united states secretary of defense, said late last year. military production received orders in 35 states of the united states for 2024-2025, and they will work. we can clearly see that... european governments, the united states are setting themselves the task of increasing the production of projectiles four or five times. this is the reality after two years of war. and i would say that on the one hand, it is even

explicit defiance of the kremlin. if the kremlin tried to prevent a public gathering and of all these funeral, they really would have had to bring out the riot police. they would have had to forcefully keep people from paying their tributes. and that really would have resulted in images of the police cramping down and beating people in the streets. the kremlin, i think, probably made the calculation that it was better to avoid those images which could further turn, move only into a martyr, as well as those who would have separate police brutality for it. so i think that this was the kremlin making a calculated choice, that this was the best way to, in a way allow the russian society to let out some steam. that was the clayton from the atlantic kind of so he knows president has given his 1st policy speech to congress, hoppey or malay, a nice to range of reforms and said he would try to push through policies with or without lawmakers, supports the right wing populace to power last november, promising to shake up argenti

away from the kremlin.d in a penal colony in the artic circle. the causes of his death are still unclear— circle. the causes of his death are still unclear even though his family has an— still unclear even though his family has an official paper saying the death— has an official paper saying the death was natural, but his team wants— death was natural, but his team wants to — death was natural, but his team wants to investigate what exactly has happened to alexei navalny so for hundreds of people today, hundreds and hundreds of people who gathered _ hundreds and hundreds of people who gathered at that cemetery and church in moscow _ gathered at that cemetery and church in moscow this feels a very special and sombre day. some say they feel the hope _ and sombre day. some say they feel the hope was lost. others say they will keep— the hope was lost. others say they will keep on fighting for a free russia, — will keep on fighting for a free russia, the future of russia as they see it. _ russia, the future of r

and it was very visibly pro-kremlin or pro-russian. but then of course, as it had been mentioned during the first panel, i think the tactics have evolved tremendously. especially the kremlin in central eastern europe has been able to build the network and the proxies. the vice president mentioned it, not that much about the kremlin's interfering directly, but it's true the domestic vertical actors website, social media pages, etc., etc. i come from slovakia and we had elections in september. it was a pew cuyler case because -- a period your leader case because we could see direct and indirect actions from the kremlin. a lot have the political campaigning style, which means from monday to tuesday prior to the election you cannot do any campaigning. during this period, there was a press release by the russian press agency saying the u.s. would interfere in the election by doing everything they can for a pro-democratic progressive party. just as you are aware, two parties ran nationalistic with very strong program and figures and progress

close to the kremlin.we have political prisoners, hundreds of them all over the russia. and if i will stop, it means all these sacrifice are useless and they are not. and i do believe in what i'm doing. and i do believe that my alternative is better for russia. and i absolutely agree, i am absolutely sure that we will succeed and i believe in victory. and we have a tough time right now and this empirical delusion and yes, but trends, political trends, they are changing. people became poor people, people asking questions. and i have the support from family and from people, and i'm not going to let them down. alexei navalny, we have to end there, but thank you for being on hardtalk. thank you very much. hello there. march so far has been quieter but colder, and the wind direction has played its part. we've seen an easterly wind so far, and in the last few days, it's brought a lot of cloud in off the north sea and temperatures struggled along those exposed coasts — only around six degrees. but the story is se

putin and the kremlin pumped up bureaucracy training programs. now the kremlin is testing these modelsn the occupied territories very actively, what kirienko himself and not only him, but a large circle of moscow people are doing in the occupied territories, building their bureaucracy and management apparatus there. this is all a long-term process. putin makes us understand that he is not running for one next term, but two. that is, plan. until 2036 year, and not by 2030. this is how he sees this situation. we cannot say that he will succeed in all this, because there are many factors that we cannot predict, but the kremlin plans this way. it all works, it all boils down to violence, no doubt about it. and this cannot but continue in the war that putin is waging. in the attitude of russian society, where nothing but escalation of violence can be expected. i took a rather careful and serious approach to putin's revelations, which he made in an interview with the so -called carlson, and we understand him as well, there is a certain fixation, this fixation is ukraine, that is , where i se

so the kremlin did everything they could to prevent this from happening. had to have a secret burial. but she stuck to her guns and quoted the law to them. and, you know, there is vladimir putin, who puts himself forward as the saviour of real christianity, so i think in the end they did have to back down. the question is, what's going to be the follow—up? in other words, what's going to happen to all these thousands of people who did show up today? indeed, and in terms of the kremlin trying this from going ahead, what do you think their concern was? they didn't want a big public demonstration of grief and of opposition to putin. that's why they tried to prevent it from happening and they even — until the last moment, the poorfamily of navalny wouldn't even find the company to transport the hearse to the church, and in the end they did. so i think one thing this maybe was a way for the kremlin to see how many people showed up and then to hope that maybe this will now die down and this was a one—off event. it is the biggest protest since before the beginnin

you mentioned — six years in the kremlin. you mentioned some _ six years in the kremlin.in. you mentioned some of those protests, which happened in the last day, are we expecting more? the which happened in the last day, are we expecting more?— which happened in the last day, are we expecting more? the widow of the late russian — we expecting more? the widow of the late russian opposition _ we expecting more? the widow of the late russian opposition leader- late russian opposition leader alexei navalny has called for an event, i wouldn't say it was a protest, an event to be held at police stations across russia at noon local time tomorrow, the third and final day of voting. she has urged opposition activists, or those who support the opposition in russia, just to come to polling stations and be there, they don't have to rally, shout political slogans or even vote. the point of the exercise is that they need to see each other, they need to show to russians and people outside of russians and people outside of russia that opponents of vladimir putin's policies still exist, e

the kremlin is sending little green men to crimea. of the peninsula happens in a matter of days. the ukrainian army was virtually destroyed at that time. the minister of defense and the head of the sbu before the start of the maidan, pavlo lebidev and oleksandr yakymenko are proteges of the kremlin with russian passports. the police are inactive. a few days ago, she was following orders to beat and shoot people. in addition, we know that the plan to separate crimea from ukraine did not exist in the kremlin. depending on whether yanukovych's regime would have survived or not, that is , yanukovych would probably have been offered such conditions of fraternal assistance that he could not refuse, and i think that one way or another russia would seize crimea, with the only difference that the ukrainian government is a potential government. yanukovych, who could have survived, would have admitted that, in my opinion, putin's demonization played a significant role, i will say this, he simply did not imagine that the revolution would win, tha

for now, there'll be no change in the kremlin.his election was never about, would vladimir putin win or wouldn't he? elections here are designed to ensure he wins and wins big. from the outset, for the kremlin, this vote was about creating the impression that mr putin has a mandate from his people, not only for war in ukraine, but also for what he's doing at home. transforming russia into an increasingly militaristic society in confrontation with the west. but across town, muscovites continue to pay tribute to alexei navalny, the man who'd wanted to be russia's president. here, a ballot paper in place of putin's name, navalny�*s, and this message. "he's the candidate we wanted." steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. the british foreign secretary, david cameron, has been tweeting about the russian election, he says the polls have closed in russia, following the illegal holding of elections on ukrainian territory, a lack of choice for voters and no independent osce monitoring. this is not what free and fair elections look like. the whi

what would his biography be and what challenge would he throw to the kremlin? it's not a question of fear, it's a question of how they see the solution to the issue. they see all problems as nails that need to be driven in with a hammer, and a different vision. they were somehow afraid, circling, but now most of all, they are not afraid of the consequences, they previously held elections the way they did, even their candidate nadezhdin, who was nominated, accepted and not admitted to the elections, although he was a completely controlled candidate, they decided to play it safe even in this matter, so why did they not play it safe in the matter of the main opponent of the kremlin, which navalny was. navalny was really an anti-system politician, we all understood with our minds that they would not let him go alive, they were very upset about him. but they released khodorkovsky at one time, and khodorkovsky plus or minus sat quietly. it's not that it's quiet, because after all, khodorkovsky was released from a different time, the regime was different. now we are d

in the kremlin and what that means is very clear for him in in the kremlin and what that means is verymeans more missile strikes, more drones, it means more darkness like this, when the curfew falls at night in times like this, sumy up in the north. in moscow for years, the kremlin has been building up this idea that putin is russia. i think the ukraine, putin is all the names synonymous with suffering. i think this invasion of ukraine has become the defining feature of vladimir putin's presidency and it is still going on. we are up here in sumy in the north of the country and there has been intense shelling on the border in recent days. there are people evacuating their homes, they have no idea when or whether they will be going back there. we have been talking to people who have been fleeing from occupied areas of eastern ukraine. those people who don't want to live in russia, to be part of a country that has invaded their country. nothing here in the ukraine has been normal now but more than two years, since vladimir putin launched that full scale invasion force that now ukraine is

the kremlin uses all the levers.individual statements, i would not pay so much attention to them. because the actions and strategies that the kremlin adheres to are important. and this consists in putting pressure in all possible ways, forcing the west to surrender ukraine. delivery of ukraine can look different ways. first of all, forcing the kyiv leadership to start negotiations with moscow, accepting some specific terms of these negotiations, this is an opportunity to use pressure levers not only in ukraine itself, but also in the west. and in this sense, about the speaker of the house of representatives trumpist johnson, quite strange information about his separate connections with business, personalities, the chair factory, ugh, is already starting to appear. yes, we have to wait and see, in any case, i can't imagine that moscow is not acting. does not use all levers and resources to achieve its goal. they have always acted through their agencies, proxies, businesses and other sources. otherwise, we will never e

but when he started to rail against kremlin corruption, he became an enemy.guilty of financial crimes. he spent a decade in prison and was then exiled. i spoke to him just weeks after russia's all—out invasion of ukraine, and i asked him whether he regretted that early support for putin. do you think he changed or did you get him wrong at the beginning? the soviet empire collapsed 30 years ago. in countries like ukraine, they have begun to build a civil society, democratic institutions, the rule of law. it's very far from perfect, but the process has begun. why, three decades on, has that process not even really begun in russia? and people like you have poured money into 0pen russia foundation and other civil society initiatives have failed. why? do you feel ashamed of your own country today? cos you live outside it, you live in a very different world. and ijust wonder whether you really feel russian any more or whether you just feel shame about your country. vladimir putin insists that his rule commands overwhelming popular support and his poll ratings are c

i your assessment, the kremlin assessed it was fine?ur assessment, the kremlin assessed it was fine? i would argue that the optics _ assessed it was fine? i would argue that the optics of _ assessed it was fine? i would argue that the optics of arresting - assessed it was fine? i would argue that the optics of arresting people i that the optics of arresting people at a church, at a funeral, would be very bad for the kremlin, whose ideology is so deeply rooted in what it calls traditional values such as conservative values designed to appeal, so this is a scenario the kremlin was keen to avoid and also the kremlin as far as we know was desperate to make sure this funeral does not become a rallying point for what is left of the opposition in russia. but, so far, as we speak, no arrests and people at the funeral chanted critical slogans including putin is a murderer and they accused the authorities of killing alexei navalny. that was allowed to happen and no arrests were made as far as we know. ~ ., and no arrests were made as far as we kn

respects to kremlin critic alexei navalny. iranians float in the first election since the country was rocked by nationwide protests. also coming up on the road today. —— world. could this be a eurovision winter? revealing the song that is this years uk entry. welcome to the world today. growing international pressure from a full investigation now more than a hundred palestinians died as they crowded around an aid convoy in northern gaza yesterday. the uk foreign secretary david cameron described yesterday's events is horrific and is called the aids situation in gaza unacceptable. israeli army is that the soldiers opened fire at one point but most of the deaths are caused by a crush of lorries running people over. our special correspondent working with bbc verify has spent the day piecing together more details of what happened and i should warn you, this contains distressing images. shots cracked through the night. people start to move. then run to get away. in this section of the crowd there is panic. as casualties streamed in

but when he started to rail against kremlin corruption, he became an enemy.d guilty of financial crimes. he spent a decade in prison and was then exiled. i spoke to him just weeks after russia's all out i spoke to him just weeks after russia's all—out invasion of ukraine, and i asked him whether he regretted that early support for putin. do you think he changed or did you get him wrong at the beginning? the soviet empire collapsed 30 years ago. in countries like ukraine, they have begun to build a civil society, democratic institutions, the rule of law. it's very far from perfect, but the process has begun. why three decades on, has that process not even why, three decades on, has that process not even really begun in russia? and people like you have poured money into 0pen russia foundation and other civil society initiatives have failed. why? do you feel ashamed of your own country today? because you live outside it, you live in a very different world. and ijust wonder whether you really feel russian anymore and ijust wonder whether you really feel russian a

russia's democracy is the best in the world, the kremlin says.t polling station 38 in moscow, we found a choice of candidates and plenty of voters. democracy in action, right? not quite. realistically, only one man can win this. vladimir putin! the man who's been on russia's political stage for the last quarter of a century. vladimir putin faces no serious challenger. his fiercest rivals are in exile or in prison. not that this woman, whose son is fighting in ukraine, wants any change at the top. "of course i voted for putin," she says. "i trust him." but not everyone who came out today was actually voting. this, one of a string of attacks on polling stations across russia. they are unprecedented. after chaotic scenes here... ..an arsonist is detained. and green ink poured into a ballot box. the authorities called the attackers scum. some voters were greeted with a show. well, it's one way to bang the drum for russian elections. there is voting, too, in parts of ukraine, which are under russian occupation — what russia calls its new territories.

that is what we are hearing from the kremlin.try in moscow is much more plugged in blaming ukraine. a spokeswoman for the foreign ministry wrote an article for russia's biggest, most popular tabloid, wrote an article for russia's biggest, most populartabloid, in which she dropped dark and heavy hints at ukrainian involvement, she spoke about ukrainian terrorism and how it is sponsoring it, and how isis is unlikely to have been involved in all of this. so, this is the line that we are seeing from moscow at the moment. what the line that we are seeing from moscow at the moment. what do you think we can — moscow at the moment. what do you think we can expect _ moscow at the moment. what do you think we can expect in _ moscow at the moment. what do you think we can expect in response - moscow at the moment. what do you think we can expect in response to i think we can expect in response to these claims? figs think we can expect in response to these claims?— think we can expect in response to these claims? ~ , ., ., ., these claims? as

the kremlin uses all the levers.or individual statements, i would not pay so much attention to them. because the actions and strategies that the kremlin adheres to are important. and this consists in putting pressure in all possible ways, forcing the west to surrender ukraine. surrender of ukraine can look different ways. first of all, forcing the kyiv leadership to start negotiations with moscow. acceptance of some separate conditions of these negotiations. this is the possibility of using considered. under pressure not only in ukraine itself, but also in the west. and in this sense, about the speaker of the house, representatives of trumpist johnson, quite strange information about his separate connections with business, personalities, chair factory, ugh, is already starting to appear. yes, we have to wait and see. in any case, i cannot imagine moscow not acting. does not use all levers. otherwise, we will never explain the perversions that are happening with elon musk. because it is impossible to explain it with a

what was his biography and what kind of challenge would he throw to the kremlin?it's not a question of fear, it's a question of how they see the solution to the problem. they see all problems as nails that need to be driven. circled, and now they held the elections the way they did, even their own candidate, nadezhdin, who was nominated, took and were not allowed to participate in the elections, although he was a completely controlled candidate, they decided to play it safe even in this matter, so why did they not play it safe in the matter of the main opponent of the kremlin. which navalny was. navalny really was an anti-system politician. we all understood with our minds that they would not let him go alive, they were upset over him a lot. but they released khodorkovsky at one time, and khodorkovsky plus or minus sat quietly. it's not that it's quiet, because khodorkovsky was released after all from another time, the regime was different. now we are dealing with an almost finished... let me remind you, at the end of 2013, when khodorkovsky was formally amnestied

what level level of obstruction from the kremlin have we been witnessing as it is? i think a characteristic to compare this funeral with the funeral and we're getting the goals. and that took place in all of us last year at the time kremlin was also afraid of for a few supporters because he was a well known and in some circles or the popular figure. and i'm like the liberal social strata. pretty good and people were all armed, so that was definitely a reason to expect some sort of imply it's you and supported mildly perhaps it's appears that it was extremely easy to convince both the family and then near circle that quiet funeral will be more to day advantage what's more, there was this little game that prime lots to play when the amounts one place is as the 73, with somebody will, will be very them found the body is carried to another place, etc. so with only highly militarized image and well the, the, we will not will pre gorge him and he's supporters, he's was the ball quieted down with the extreme is so evidently there was an idea to do the same thing with nobod

but when he started to rail against kremlin corruption, he became an enemy.und guilty of financial crimes. he spent a decade in prison and was then exiled. i spoke to him just weeks after russia's all—out invasion of ukraine, and i asked him whether he regretted that early support for putin. do you think he changed or did you get him wrong at the beginning? the soviet empire collapsed 30 years ago. in countries like ukraine, they have begun to build a civil society, democratic institutions, the rule of law. it's very far from perfect, but the process has begun. why, three decades on, has that process not even really begun in russia? and people like you have poured money into 0pen russia foundation and other civil society initiatives have failed. why? do you feel ashamed of your own country today? cos you live outside it, you live in a very different world. and i just wonder whether you really feel russian any more or whether you just feel shame about your country. vladimir putin insists that his rule commands overwhelming popular support and his poll ratings

well, we know with you about the existence of such a kremlin axis of evil, which includes the russian federation, iran, north korea, and now we can talk about the very slippery and uncertain position of china, including china, well, i do not say already for syria and everything else, so definitely. that regardless of any statements that russia has begun to release such and such aerial bombs there, there are 150 and more, 1500 kg, and 300 kg and so on and so on, there is information that gives reasons to assert that the russian federation has problems with artillery ammunition, there are problems with the corresponding... er category of missiles, which they do have, but those large-scale plans that the kremlin is carrying out regarding the impression of the relevant objects of the critical infrastructure of ukraine , they cannot be realized only at the expense of their own capabilities, i.e. the capabilities of the defense-industrial complex of the russian federation, therefore definitely naryshkin's mission, it consists in that through... first, through the channels of the special ser

so the kremlin did everything they could to prevent this from happening.ve a secret aerial. she stuck to her guns and quoted the law to her guns and quoted the law to them. and, you know, there is vladimir putin who put himself forward as the saviour of bureau —— in the end they had to back down. the question is, what is going to be the follow—up? in other words, what is going to happen to all these thousands of people who did show up today? indeed and in terms of the kremlin trying to stop this from going ahead. what do you think they concern was? , �* ., ., , was? they didn't want a big ublic was? they didn't want a big public demonstration - was? they didn't want a big public demonstration of - was? they didn't want a big | public demonstration of grief and of opposition to vladimir putin. that is why they tried to prevent it from happening and they even — and for the last moment, the poorfamily of navalny wouldn't even find the company to transport the hearse to the church and in the end they did. so i think one thing this may be was away for the kreml

well, if you look at the kremlin's _ death? well, if you look at the kremlin's media _ death? machine, what death? well, if you look at the i kremlin's media machine, what it death? well, if you look at the - kremlin's media machine, what it has been saying about relaxing the valley is very little. that is how —— alexei navalny. that is how they are trying to control the fallout, to your average russian tv viewer, this just isn't happening. to your average russian tv viewer, thisjust isn't happening. in his state of the nation address yesterday, president vladimir putin did not mention alexei navalny either. but it is still possible to access independent media sources from within russia. it's difficult, you have to use various technical tricks. people within russia are still able to see is going on around the late opposition leader.- the late opposition leader. thank ou. our the late opposition leader. thank you. our russia _ the late opposition leader. thank you. our russia editor. _ let's speak to samuel ramani, an associate fellow at the rusi think—tank, and author of the b

meet maksym tarasenko, a slave of the kremlin.before the full-scale invasion, he was the secretary of the kherson diocese of the ukrainian orthodox church of the moscow patriarchate, and often acted as the official position of the church in various conflict situations. in such grief, the church should be with the people, and we try to do so in the ukrainian orthodox diocese of kherson. but when it came to our land russia began to shed ukrainian blood, this priest decided to be close to the invaders. after the occupation of the kherson region, maksym stayed in kherson, quietly fed up for several months, and then began to appear frequently in the stories and headlines of washed-up russian media. today, the russian orthodox church honors the memory of the holy equal-to-the-apostles grand duke volodymyr. with the occupation , maxim... had a new hobby, collecting items of church use, in particular icons and old church books, which the russians steal from other temples, or even from private collections of residents of the kherson region

to serve the interests of vladimir putin and the kremlin. that was his life's work. paul manafort has announced today as coming back to the trump campaign again on the same day that donald trump also announces that he is out of money and he cannot secure a bond to pay the half billion court judgment that is due from him one week from today. that is a court judgment. that's not some bank being please pay us back. that's a court judgment. if he doesn't pay it, the new york attorney general can start padlocking his buildings and taking everything he owns. as of one week from today. donald trump has never been more desperately in need of money than he is right this sec today, the day it is reported that this guy, for all his baggage, for all his ex con sparkle, this guy is coming back, the guy who specializes in extracting money from kremlin-aligned interests to serve vladimir putin's long-term goals. i wonder why today of all days is the day we learn that paul manafort is coming back. that's next. stay with us. meet the jennifers. jen x. jen y.

well, we know. with you about the existence of such a kremlin axis of evil, which includes the russian federation, iran, north korea, and now we can talk in view of the very slippery and uncertain position of china, including china, well, i am not speaking for syria and everything else, so it is certain that, regardless of any statements that russia began to release... there are 150 and more than 1,500 kg and 300 kg and so on and so on of such air bombs there, there is information that gives reasons to claim that the russian federation has problems with artillery ammunition, there are problems with the appropriate category of missiles, which they do have, but the large-scale... plans that the kremlin is hatching regarding the impression of the relevant objects of the critical infrastructure of ukraine, they cannot be implemented only at the expense of their own capabilities, that is, the capabilities of the defense and industrial complex of the russian federation, therefore definitely naryshkin's mission, it consists in first of all through the channels of the special services of both

russian officials and the pro-kremlin media l officials and the pro—kremlin media continue to promoteehow, ukraine was behind this. yes, vladimir putin suggested that in his television address at the weekend. some extraordinary commentary in the programme and newspapers this morning. one of them says that there are plenty of reasons for thinking that kyiv did this, there are basic truths, fire burns, wind blows, the cave resume are murderers and terrorists. there is no evidence were coming out with something like that, and another newspaper quotes a russian mp saying that the best and only response to this will be our victory. we simply must take kyiv, and crush this terrorist beast. you get the feeling that moscow is trying to use this devastating attack on the crocus city hall, the concert hall, as a pretext to escalate this war ukraine. just lookin: escalate this war ukraine. just looking at _ escalate this war ukraine. just looking at pictures of people continuing to lay flowers outside the concert hall. what has the public reaction been? obviously an outpouring of grief but in re

meet maksym tarasenko, the rapper of the kremlin.as the secretary of the kherson diocese. of the ukrainian orthodox church of the moscow patriarchate, often acted as the official position of the church in various conflict situations. in such grief, the church should be with the people, and we try to do so in the ukrainian orthodox diocese of kherson. but when russia came to our land and began to shed ukrainian blood, this priest decided to be close to the invaders. with the occupation of the kherson region, maxim remained in kherson. quietly fed up for several months, and then... started often appear in the stories and headlines of washed-up russian media. today, the russian orthodox church honors the memory of the holy equal-to-the-apostles grand duke volodymyr. with the occupation, maxim developed a new hobby: collecting items of church use, including icons and old church books. russians steal them from other churches or even from private collections of residents of the kherson region, and then take them to tarasenko to the temple.

talks are ongoing in the kremlin said talks are ongoing in the white — kremlin said talks are ongoingon it and vladimir putin has been open— on it and vladimir putin has been open about— on it and vladimir putin has been open about it. as cynical as it sounds. — open about it. as cynical as it sounds. he _ open about it. as cynical as it sounds, he is ready to exchange evan and even _ sounds, he is ready to exchange evan and even though evan is this pawn in the political— and even though evan is this pawn in the political game, there way out for him _ the political game, there way out for him we — the political game, there way out for him we have the white house does everything _ for him we have the white house does everything they can to make sure it happens _ everything they can to make sure it ha ens. . ~' ,, ., ., happens. thank you for coming on the programme- — around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. you're live with bbc news. ukraine. a blunt warning from poland's prime minister donald tusk to the world that war is a real threat and europe is not ready. "war is no

to serve the interests of vladimir putin and the kremlin. that was his life's work. paul manafort has announced today as coming back to the trump campaign again on the same day that donald trump also ai announces that he is out of money and he cannot secure a bond to pay the half billion dollar court judgment that is due from him one week from today. that is a court judgment. that's not some bank being s please pay us back. that's a court judgment. if he doesn't pay it, the new york attorney general can start padlocking his buildings and taking everything he owns. h as of one week from today. donald trump has never been more desperately in need of money than he is right this sec todayr the day it is reported that this guy, for all his baggage, for all his ex con sparkle, this guy is coming back, the guy who specializes in extracting money from kremlin-aligned interests n to serve vladimir putin's long-term goals.al i wonder why today of all days is the day we learn that paul ay manafort is coming back. that's next. stay with us. what is cirk

this is a narrative being pushed by the kremlin. that they are using usefully to try and demonstrate that they can outwait us. i want to be clear that this is false. the truth is that ukraine has the ability to defeat russia. the truth is that our coalition has withstood the test of time and the alliance between europe and the united states is stronger than it's been. and american history shows us that we know what it takes to stop a tyrant who seeks to unleash brutality and also to rewrite borders and to rewrite the global order. in cementing russia's failure requires us to use not only our diplomacy, but also our sanctions and export controls to deny the kremlin access to the goods they need to build the weapons they want. but it also requires us to provide ukraine with the final weapons they need to defend their country. as i mentioned earlier, russia today is more isolated from the global economy than at any point since the cold war. the basic reason for this is that the countries that are part of our coalition represent more th