hello, this is bbc news. the headlines at 1430. airlines in the uk say they have been told the government will bring in a 14—day quarantine for passengers arriving in the country. the new restriction is expected to take effect at the end of this month. people who need to travel into a workplace in england, into a workplace in england will be urged to consider to walk and cycle more in a move to protect the public transport network. russia has marked the 75th anniversary of the end of world war ii, known to russians as the great patriotic war, but without the planned parade of soldiers and veterans. in neighbouring belarus, the parade went ahead. some 3,000 troops took part, in front of huge crowds. a close aide to the american vice—president mike pence has tested positive for covid—19. she's the second white house worker

to test positive this week. and roy horn, a member of the long—running magic duo siegfried and roy, has died aged 75 after contracting coronavirus. now on bbc news — steve rosenberg explores how moscow views the tumultuous events of 1989, and looks into whether the coronavirus pandemic thwarts vladimir putin's bid to make russia great again? it stretched from the pacific ocean to the fringes of western europe. the soviet empire seemed invincible. applause and cheering. but in 1989, the iron curtain was swept away, and moscow watched its empire crumble.

30 years on, russia is reasserting itself. there are fears of new flashpoints in europe. the baltic has become one of the front lines of what feels like a new cold war. as russia pushes for greater influence, i ask its leader how he sees his country. but will a global pandemic curb the kremlin‘s global ambitions? we are now facing a totally different russia, totally different putin and a very weakened regime. i'm on a journey that will take me back to 1989, and across europe, to find out what it was like for moscow to lose an empire, and what russia is doing to rebuild its power.

moscow — it's a city that oozes empire. from the skyscrapers ofjoseph stalin to the residence of the czars, the message is unmista keable — this is a country with ambition. throughout its history, russia has had an unswerving belief in its own greatness. you can see that in the kremlin. this is stunning.

look at this. this says power, omnipotent. this says power, omnipotence. this says empire. by the end of the 19th century, the russian empire spanned one sixth of the surface of the world. inside the kremlin, you can really feel the imperial ambition which has driven russia for centuries. for example, all these double—headed eagles, russia's national emblem — that symbol is straight out of the byzantine empire. and over there, you can see the throne of the russian emperor, the russian czar. that word czar, comes from caesar, the roman empire. and till this day, there are russians who will tell you that the natural successor to the great empires of rome and constantinople is moscow.

russia never was a normal country. russians do not know how to live in a normal country. russia was built as an empire, russia has existed as an empire. because the essence is, we're great, we have to have areas of influence, and we have to have buffer states between ourselves and the outside world. so, this is an empire. it was communist russia that would acquire the mother of all buffer zones. in world war ii, as the red army pushed hitler's troops back, central and eastern europe fell under moscow's control. on paper, most of these countries were independent. in reality, the kremlin called the shots, in what was now the soviet empire. as cold war set

m, the soviet empire. as cold war set in, this buffer zone not only gave moscow a sense of security, it made ita moscow a sense of security, it made it a superpower. until 1989. this was the year people power brought down the iron curtain. across europe, communist regimes fell like dominoes. even parts of the soviet union itself were now openly defying the kremlin. viewed from moscow, these events we re viewed from moscow, these events were earthshattering. you could feel a giant empire tearing at the seams. in1989, iwas a giant empire tearing at the seams. in 1989, i was a student in moscow. i was studying russian here. and i can remove that every night i would sit down to watch the television news, and what i saw, what millions

of viewers here saw, was truly remarkable — the soviet empire falling apart piece by piece. could what happened then explain russia now? i've spent nearly 30 yea rs russia now? i've spent nearly 30 years living and working in moscow. and what i see is a country that's still struggling to come to terms with the loss of its empire. people often ask me, why does modern russia do what it does? why does it meddle in other countries' elections and launch cyber attacks against the west? why does moscow seem so keen to play the role of geopolitical spoiler? i think that the key to deciphering vladimir putin's russia lies in 1989. to understand today's

russia, first, you need to understand what moscow lost 30 years ago, what it lost in terms of power and prestige, in terms of empire. there was one place in europe where moscow found its loss of empire especially painful. in what was communist east berlin, there is a soviet war memorial, and asymmetry. —— and a cemetery. 7000 red army soldiers are buried here. in total, the soviet union lost 27 million people in world war ii. that scale of sacrifice, moscow believed, gaveit scale of sacrifice, moscow believed,

gave it the moral right to make part of germany part of the soviet empire. so, what it says here is... eternal glory to the soldiers of the soviet army, who gave their lives in the battle to liberate humanity from the battle to liberate humanity from the slavery of fascism. in other words, it was the red army that saved the world.

moscow turned east germany into a fortress. today, there is something ghostly about the soviet legacy. red army bases lie abandoned, haunted by memories of communism. monuments to a fallen superpower. this is one store, near berlin. it was used by the nazis and then seized by the soviets, it was the red army's largest base outside the ussr. the soldiers called it a little moscow. these germans knew it

as the forbidden city. the scale of the soviet military presence in east germany was staggering. there were 800 garrisons here, and half a million soviet troops. but then again, for moscow, this was its key outpost in europe. and its east german comrades were happy to play host.

the wunsdorf base feels suspended in time. there are places here where the soviet past comes to life. 0h, wow, look at this. this is amazing. this says, berlin operation 19115. this says, berlin operation 19115. this shows the red army's last major offensive at the end of world war ii. so, these arrows, this is the soviet troops advancing on berlin. communist russia thought its ideas, its ideology, would bind east germany to moscow for ever. but it was one. “— germany to moscow for ever. but it was one. —— it was wrong. when the berlin wall fell, everything

changed. within a year, east and west germany reunited. moscow agreed to withdraw its troops. anton was the commander at wunsdorf. now he's back from moscow. for an official event commemorating russia she is withdrawal. the general tells me he was the last russian soldier to leave germany.

the fall of the wall didn't only have consequences for soviet soldiers, but soviet spies as in the first file, there is the pass. of vladimir putin. he could go in the stasi building here in dresden, because he was officer in the kgb

and the stasi. in dresden, this archive keeps the records of east germany's secret police, the stasi, and the documents of kgb officers who operated here, like vladimir putin. in here, we've got a photo where you can find vladimir putin. where is he? 0h, on the end. yes. wow, it's amazing to think that this great figure at the end went on to become president of russia. astonishing. —— grey figure. in december 1989, a crowd stormed the stasi offices in dresden and took control. a small group of protesters moved away from the stasi building and came here. this is where the kgb headquarters were. and inside the building was vladimir putin. so,

what did major putin do? well, he telephoned the local soviet tank commander to ask for urgent backup. but the message which came back was this... i've asked moscow to sign off on that, but moscow is silent. that was the moment that flood may putin realised his motherland had abandoned him. this man says that moscow abandoned him, too. he claims that at this meeting, soviet leader mikhail gorbachev assured him german reunification wouldn't happen. he accuses gorbachev of surrendering to america.

mikhail gorbachev rejects criticism of his leadership. he is fiercely proud of his role in ending the cold war.

it would take moscow four years to bring all its troops home. but to what kind of a country where they coming back? the soviet union had gone, russia was struggling, the returning soldiers were low

priority. this man had commanded a tank battalion in germany, the 16th gades division. its mission, he says, was to defend the motherland and moscow's allies in eastern europe. they were an elite unit, but there was nothing elite about the conditions to which they returned. there were no facilities, there was no accommodation, nowhere for their families to live. it was almost as if they'd been forgotten.

you know i think that in many ways, his story encapsulates what happened to his country after 1989. the soviet union, this giant superpower, suddenly found itself dumped on the sidelines of history. and as a result, russia felt abandoned, it felt lost and it felt humiliated.

perhaps if the end of the cold war had brought instant prosperity to people here, then maybe this loss of status, this loss of empire, would have been easier to swallow. but it didn't. the 19905 brought economic chao5 didn't. the 19905 brought economic chaos and widespread poverty. so, what you had here in effect was a fertile soil what you had here in effect was a fertile 5oilfor any what you had here in effect was a fertile soil for any strongman promising to make russia great again. enter president vladimir putin. he's been trying to erase the memory of russia's humiliation. and to celebrate more glorious chapters of its history. like the victory in world war ii. it's the annual

victory day parade in moscow. you know, there are 13,000 russian troops marching across red square right now, and making a lot of noise. it's an incredible showcase, really, of modern russian military might. this isn't just really, of modern russian military might. this isn'tjust about celebrating a victory in the past. it's very much about the present. it's very much about the present. it's about vladimir putin showing his people, and the world, that russia has bounced back. that it's a country that wants to be respected, to be feared and to be counted. in vladimir putin's russia, 1945 is at the heart of the national idea. sometimes, these symbols of the past

make it feel as if the kremlin dreams of bringing the soviet union back to life. but modern russia isn't simply reinventing the ussr, its methods are different. these people in the kremlin do understand that idea of the restoration of a former superpower is impossible. but they have other ideas, and their idea is, to be a blackmailer, to be a producer of mischief, to be the grand spoiler in the world. to be the nightmare for the neighbours and for the outside countries. so, this is the new idea of superpower and empire. in the next episode... the mischief begins. how russia has been flexing its military muscle. the

main problem in russia is that they still believe in the idea of spheres of influence. and spreading disinformation. adolf hitler is more popular than harry potter? you're pushing the kremlin's narrative. beyond the smiles, a new stand—off with the west. 0ur games in a pandemic. russia playing geopolitics. but now, problems at home. he's frozen, he's stored, he cannot react, he cannot say anything. as covid-19 hits, will a virus rob president putin of his ambition to restore russia's greatness?

hello. for many of us, saturday is bringing another largely dry and fine day, with some sharp showers around across parts of northern england, wales, northern ireland and scotland. further south, most england, wales, northern ireland and scotland. furthersouth, most places staying dry. but over the next few days, we are all going to notice that things are turning a lot colder than they have been. we have had temperatures in the mid—205 yesterday and today. colder for the north of scotland. that colder air will then be filtering further south. heading through tonight and into tomorrow, you can see the blue colours returning. and the cold

northerly wind, so you will notice the wind chill tomorrow. in the evening we will see some of the heavy showers. and then overnight tonight, the band of rain sinks south across northern ireland, southern scotland and into northern england, introducing the colder air. further south, starting off on sunday, we are still holding onto the mild air. but the cloud will increase from the north with some showers. in the colder air across scotla nd showers. in the colder air across scotland we are likely to see some snow showers. temperatures on the cold side but feeling even colder when you add on the strength of the wind. we could see some gusts even up wind. we could see some gusts even up to 50mph in the english channel and down the east coast. the warmest weather probably holding on down towards the south—west. first thing on monday morning, many of us are likely to see a cold, frosty start.

0n likely to see a cold, frosty start. on monday, a lot of dry weather as high pressure hose on but again we have got the biting northerly winds. south—west will see the warmest the weather. so, after that chilly start to the new week, gradually things will turn a bit warmer over the next five days as high pressure builds and holds on. but there is the chance of some frosty nights.

this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. uk—based airlines say they've been told the british government is planning a 14—day quarantine for air passengers arriving in the country. the new restriction is expected to take effect at the end of this month. the health and safety of our passengers is paramount. this will have a significant impact on our sector, and nobody is going to want to travel if they have to go into quarantine for 14 days. a close aide to the american vice—president, mike pence, has tested positive for covid—19 — she's the second white house worker to test positive this week. russia marks the 75th anniversary of the end of world war ii, but without the planned red square

parade of soldiers and veterans.