hello this is bbc news with rebecca jones. the headlines. the children's commissioner for england calls for teaching unions and the government to stop squabbling over plans

for primary school pupils to return to the classroom. despite looser travel restrictions in england — a warning to day—trippers not to visit rural and coastal areas this weekend amid fears the number of infections could rise. people in italy will be able to travel in and out of the country and internally from the beginning ofjune — as the government moves to ease one of the world's strictest lockdowns. and germany's top football teams are about to restart their season in empty stadiums. the bundesliga is the first major european league to resume play during the pandemic. 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. but in 1989 the iron curtain was swept away and i saw a superpower crumble. the soviet empire falling apart piece by piece. today's russia wants to forget about 1989. 30 years on russia is reasserting itself. through military muscle and disinformation. adolf hitler is more popular than harry potter? absolute fake. you are pushing the kremlin‘s narrative.

it has begun to feel like a new cold war. but will global pandemic curb the kremlin‘s global ambitions? he is frozen. he has stalled. he cannot react, he cannot say anything. i'm on a journey to find out how russia has been pushing to regain influence and rebuild its power. throughout its history russia has swung from wanting to be part of europe and competing with the west. right now it is set on rivalry. and that risks confrontation, especially with the kind of methods moscow has been employing close to home. they call it the jewel

of the black sea. crimea, once part of the roman empire, it fell to the ottomans, then to the tsars, and the soviets. most recently it has been part of ukraine. the beauty belies geopolitical tension, for crimea has become a flashpoint between east and west. this is why. in 2014 masked soldiers in unmarked uniforms seized control of a ukrainian peninsula, crimea. they acquired the nickname the little green men. but they were russian special forces sent in by president putin after the

ukrainians‘ pro—western revolution. at a hastily organised referendum, voters backed joining russia, but the poll widely condemned wasn't internationally recognised. it had taken moscow less than a month to occupy and annex a piece of its neighbour. for many russians this was cause for celebration. i first met irina in moscow back in the early 19905. she has a second home now in crimea. emotionally it means very much because if we look back into the history, i mean two or three centuries back, since that time the crimean history has always been connected with russia. in the west as you know there's a lot of criticism of vladimir putin for what happened here, for russia taking crimea. i am very grateful to mr putin and i take my hat

off and bow my head to mr putin because he saved generations of the crimean people from rivers of blood here. there would be a war. because of those extremists who might have come from the ukraine to settle their own rules here. that is what i think. in sevastopol they are marking russian navy day. and centre stage is the black sea fleet. it's an opportunity to showcase russian power at sea.

since it annexed crimea, russia has become the dominant force in the black sea. it's upgraded its fleet. more ships. more weapons. and new missions. some of these ships have taken part in russia's military operation in syria. after its annexation of crimea russia has consolidated its control here. and increased its presence in the black sea. it is using that as a springboard to project power far beyond this region into the mediterranean and the middle east. and the balkans. at nato headquarters russia's actions are causing alarm and disappointment.

at the end of the cold war a partnership with the kremlin seemed achievable. there was even talk russia might one dayjoin nato. that idea seems pie in the sky now. what we see is a pattern of behaviour where russia is responsible for aggressive actions against neighbours. that reflects that the main problems in russia is that they still believe in the idea of spheres of influence. of the 30 nato countries nine of them used to be in moscow's zone of influence. it's a change in the balance of power that unnerves russia. 0ne complaint i often hear from russian officials is that 30 years ago a promise was made by the west to moscow that nato would not enlarge and move closer

to russia's borders. and russia says the west deceived moscow. first of all no such promise was made. but second, just the idea that washington or a big western ally should promise that to moscow is an idea based on a total wrong assumption that big countries can promise something on behalf of small countries. since russia took crimea, nato has bolstered its forces near russia's borders. in the baltic it has strengthened its air policing mission. from estonia's amari airbase nato jets are regularly scrambled. their main task is to intercept

russian planes who are approaching estonian airspace which fail to identify themselves. over the baltic sea typhoon jets intercept two russian military aircraft and escort them from the area. this land is ours and nobody else‘s. russia wants to assert their dominance over the baltic area on land and on sea. so the subtle message of theirs is this is our territory, keep out. and our response to them is, no, you are wrong, this is western territory, nato‘s territory, and we are here. do you really believe that russia is a threat to estonia? as long as russia as such has not changed its stance towards the west it can be a threat to smaller neighbours.

moscow dismisses the idea that it is a threat to the baltic. nato is taking no chances. after what happened in crimea, for the nato alliance the security of the three baltic states is a priority. the baltic has become one of the front lines of what feels like a new cold war between russia and the west. to moscow the presence of nato troops here is a direct threat to russia's national security but nato insists that all of this is purely defensive and the reaction to an increasingly assertive and aggressive russia.

russia's new assertiveness goes beyond its military. vladimir putin's kremlin has a whole range of instruments for exerting influence. and one of these tools russia employs against many european countries including latvia.

in 1989 latvia was part of the soviet union. it is in the eu now and in nato. but moscow still casts a shadow. today latvia is a target of russian disinformation. there is an attempt to distort reality here by spreading fake news to sow doubt, confusion. russia's objective, to discredit a new european democracy on its border. and here is one example of what appears to be russian disinformation. this website is called baltnews. it is in russian, it is aimed at ethnic russians

across the baltic but it is part of a news organisation which is bankrolled by the kremlin. what kind of stories does it put out? here is one. listen to this. among latvians, it says, adolf hitler is more popular than harry potter. hitler's mein kampf tops readers‘ book choice in latvia. astonishing. so the impression you get when you read this is that in latvia in an eu country nazi ideology is thriving. and this story was picked up and republished by a whole string of other news sites. but is it really true? i'm off to investigate. my first stop is latvia's largest book—seller. harry is here. but i can't find hitler. perhaps the company director can help me.

how many copies of mein kampf have you sold in your shop in 2018? none. not a single copy? not a single copy. is it not available in the book shops? no, it isn't available. what do you think of this claim then that in latvia adolf hitler is more popular than harry potter? it is nonsense. it is absolute fake. i head across to the national library of riga. if latvians aren't buying mein kampf then perhaps they are borrowing it? now, the national library tells me that in the last three years they've

only received 39 requests for mein kampf. if you look at the statistics for across the country the grand total for all the libraries in latvia for mein kampf has only been requested 139 times in three years. compare that to 25,000 requests for harry potter books. i tracked down a key link to the baltnews story. it's rita. she runs a second—hand book website in latvia. baltnews had based its report on data from her site. in its article baltnews claims that on your site mein kampf has been one of the most clicked on titles. there is a section on your site which shows the books that are gaining the most interest. until recently mein kampf was right at the top. how do you explain that? they are page views. they are not the real deals. it is interesting that for this

mein kampf about 70% of all clicks are anonymous clicks. if we compare with other most popular books like harry potter, 70% are registered users. so if most of the clicks for mein kampf are anonymous, unregistered users. what does that mean? they can be fake users or whatever how we call them. fake views to create fake news? yes, definitely. the fundamental aim of the russian operation is to undermine the other countries and russia cannot tolerate the success of the baltics that have embraced freedoms and values of the west and can be successful. a good example is very dangerous so you should taint it. everything i've been told here proves i think this hitler story is 100% fake news.

there isjust one more conversation i would like to have though and that is with the people who published the story, baltnews. the thing is baltnews doesn't have an office in latvia. so to speak to them i'm going to have to go back to moscow. in moscow i have come to the headquarters of the state run media giant. it transmits the kremlins view to the world.

your editorial policy is the kremlin‘s editorial policy. you are pushing the kremlin‘s narrative. why don't you publish a piece that says harry porter is much more popular in latvia than mein kampf? but it's the true situation, it's the truth. can a country be simultaneously the grand spoiler and a great power? does modern russia even want the title superpower? this is my chance

to ask the president. vladimir putin has just finished an event near the kremlin. it's a rare opportunity to get up close to the kremlin leader. bbc news.

vladimir putin set out to restore russia's status as a global player. and everything seems to have been going according to plan. until now. suddenly the whole world has changed. covid—19 has put russia and most of the planet into lockdown. for now cold war has been superseded by a battle with a virus. for russians the priority isn't

being a superpower, it is survival. this is eerie. it feels as if someone has pressed a giant pause button and the world's largest country has come to a standstill. the pandemic threatens to decimate russia's economy. a crash in global oil prices is making things even worse. there are forecasts of a long deep recession. we are now facing a totally different russia. vladimir putin wants to be seen as being in control, leading from the front. he has come to visit a hospital for coronavirus patients.

but this is not the kind of battle the kremlin is used to. for years he has been telling russians that the threat to the security comes from nato, from america, from the west. it turns out that russia has more to fear from an invisible enemy. the putin on russian tv is a decisive leader at the centre of power. but on coronavirus his critics accuse him of delay, mixed messaging, and of not doing nearly enough to protect

the economy. he's not an adaptive politician who can react. and putin since he is in lockdown, he is frozen, he has stalled, he cannot react. he cannot say anything. every nation is under pressure in this pandemic. but after years of chronic underfunding russia's public health system has been stretched to the limits.

but amid the crisis at home moscow is sending aid abroad. the russian army has been in italy to help tackle the epidemic there. russia is saying, we are still power. we have possibility to help you. no little green men. this time it was the boys in blue. they presented this as a mercy mission. but images of the russian military in an eu nato country are a propaganda coup for moscow. it is good for geopolitics, it is good for another country, but i think it is not perhaps good for us. the priority is your own country.

the pandemic is the biggest challenge for moscow since the fall of its empire 30 years ago —— a0 yea rs of its empire 30 years ago —— a0 years ago, but that hasn't extinguished its determination to regain influence and to be seen as strong. for russia the real lesson of 1989 when the iron curtain is lifted is that weakness costs power. the paradox is that today's russia wa nts to the paradox is that today's russia wants to forget about 1989. it was, yes, an amazing period, the period of backtracking, surrender, defeat, so the kremlin wants victory, dominance, and try to forget about this kind of nightmare.

when the berlin wall fell i remember thinking that from now on everything was going to be different, it was going to be better, that east and west were going to join hands and walk off into the sunset together, a happy ending, hollywood style. but that did not work out. i wonder what will happen now? what kind of a world well the pandemic leave behind? kind of a world well the pandemic leave behind ? will this kind of a world well the pandemic leave behind? will this global crisis finally convince east and west and north and south to set aside their differences and work together? 0r aside their differences and work together? or will the fallout from the virus be so immense that it will increase geopolitical tension and the search for scapegoats, and end up the search for scapegoats, and end up building new barriers?

it has been fairly pleasant for most of as. there has been a little bit more cloud across northern areas, scotla nd more cloud across northern areas, scotland and northern ireland, some spots of rain through the course of saturday. to the south and east weather is better and by the end of the afternoon or early evening temperatures will still be around 16 degrees in london and midlands, a little cooler in glasgow. through tonight as south—westerly winds will push in more cloud and there bilby damp weather in belfast and that

western isles of scotland but much of england is particularly the south and east will be dry. a mile tonight. tomorrow the loudest weather in scotland and northern ireland. at times there will be some rain. east and south, temperatures are on the rise.

this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. the children's commissioner for england calls for teaching unions and the government to "stop squabbling" over plans for primary school pupils to return to the classroom. i fear that actually, the best interests of children, which is what we are all meant to be looking out for within this debate, are being overlooked. the number of coronavirus deaths in the uk in all settings has risen by a68 in the past 2a—hour period. as one of the strictest coronavirus lockdowns begins to ease, people in italy will be able to travel both internally and in and out of the country from the beginning ofjune. despite looser travel restrictions in england,