and could coronavirus mean a permanent shift in the way we travel, as pedestrians and cyclists get more space for social distancing? 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. bolton uses one of its outlets. 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.