sarah rainsford has more. it looked at first like a launch, a burst- of fire and a noise as the soyuz rocket lifted its crew into orbit. then came this. less than three minutes into the flight, the commander reported an emergency. cbehind the translator, y quippingcalm voice that there was a quick flight. moments later, the astronauts are hurtling bacto earth. rescue teams were poised to return to the landing sites. the crews did train for this nightmare scenario. the grueling gorce the bodies would have to endure. but russia's soyurockets haven't failed on launch in decades. this is a major blow to its space program. for american nick hague, it was an abrupt end to his firstmi ion. he has been training for years toon spend six monthhe international space station. currently russian rockets are e only way to reach it. now all flights have been suspended as an investigation launched. >> we are working with our american colleagues, japan, and canada. this mishap today is not a good thing for us because wetaeed tr

the two crew members landed safely, as our correspondent sarah rainsford reports from moscow. the soyuz. it looked at first like a routine launch, a burst of fire and noise as a soyuz rocket lifted its russian and american crew into orbit. then this. less than three minutes into the flight, commander alexey 0vchinin reports an emergency with the booster system. behind the translator, you can hear his calm voice, quipping that it was a quick flight. moments later, though, the astronauts are hurtling back to earth. rescue teams were poised to rush to the landing site. the crew did train for exactly this type of the gruelling g force their bodies have to endure, but russia's soyuz rocket hasn't failed on launch the 35 years. this is a major blow to its space programme. for american nick hague, it's also an abrupt end to his first ever mission. he's been training for years to spend six months on the international space station. currently russian rockets are the only way to reach it. now all flights have been suspended as an investigation is launched. we are working together for th

here's sarah rainsford. and there is lift—off of the soyuz ms—10... a soyuz rocket lifted its crew into orbit. at first, this was a routine launch to the international space station. then came this. less than three minutes into the flight, the commander, alexey ovchinin, reported an emergency. the booster system had failed. the launch had to be aborted. moments later, the two men were plunging back to earth in their tiny capsule. the crew did train for this nightmare scenario, the gruelling g—force their bodies would have to endure. but russia's soyuz rocket hasn't failed on launch in over three decades. for american nick hague, it was an abrupt end to his first ever mission. he was due to spend six months in orbit. ever since yuri gagarin launched into orbit, russia has been immensely proud of its space programme. this accident, then, will be a major blow. but it is notjust a matter of prestige. russian rockets are currently the only way up to the international space station. what happens now, then, is a big question. rescuers were quick to reach the

from moscow, sarah rainsford reports. and there is liftoff of the soyuz ms... burst of fire and noise, as a soyuz rocket lifted its crew into orbit. at first, this was a routine launch to the international space station. then came this. less than three minutes into the flight, the commander, alexey ovchinin, reported an emergency. the booster system had failed. the launch had to be aborted. moments later, the two men were plunging back to earth in their tiny capsule. the crew did train for this nightmare scenario, the gruelling g—force their bodies would have to endure. a russian soyuz rocket hasn't failed on launch in over three decades. for american nick hague, it was an abrupt end to his first ever mission. he was due to spend six months in orbit. ever since yuri gagarin launched into orbit, russia has been immensely proud of its space programme. this accident, then, will be a major blow. but it is notjust a matter of prestige. russian rockets are currently the only way up to the international space station. what happens now, then, is a big question. rescuer

sarah rainsford is in moscow. ld this be the start of a new arms race between the superpowers? well, that is certainly the risk that officials here in moscow are pointing to. of course, that inf treaty some 30 years ago banned and destroyed a whole class of missiles, so the risk is of a return to the arms race of old. now, certainly that is what the kremlin has been pointing to, saying that if donald trump rips up the deal, that means the us will return to developing these missiles, and therefore the kremlin, russia, will have to do the same to maintain parity, as moscow sees it. but the kremlin is arguing this is not necessary , kremlin is arguing this is not necessary, in fact it is denying that russia has been violating the treaty, and it has been accusing the us of doing just that. i'm too by installing missile launches in europe and using attack drones. russia is returning the accusations back to the united states, but it is warning that if this deal does break down, then the world will become a more dangerous

sarah rainsford, bbc news, moscow.ake a look at some of the day's other news: the devastation caused by hurricane michael in northern florida has become clear. the 155 mph winds, that is 250 km/h, smashed thousands of homes. six people are known to have died. weather experts say michael was the third most powerful storm on record to hit the us mainland. gary 0'donoghue reports. two days ago, this was an orderly beachfront community, home to around 1,200 people. but, street after street, michael tore through this town, uprooting and smashing everything in its path. this is what the federal emergency director is calling ground zero, mexico beach, where hurricane michael came ashore yesterday with those winds of 155 mph. it has completely devastated this street, down to the sea, just two houses left standing, and people's things all over the street — microwaves, mattresses, kitchen sinks, you name it. the stuff of everyday life turned into detritus in a matter of hours. around the town, friends and neighbours are doing th

sarah rainsford, bbc news, moscow.ntist with the planetary society, which describes itself as the world's largest and most influential non—profit space organisation. i asked him what went wrong with the soyuz mission. well, we don't know exactly what went wrong, but about two minutes into the rocket flight with the astronaut and cosmonaut on board, around the time the first stage boosters on the side were coming off the spacecraft something went wrong. and that caused them to go into an aborted mode, where the space capsule that the people on board was ejected from the rocket and as part of this emergency mode. and then they had a harsh but safe descent onto the steppes of kazakhstan. harsh but safe, as you say. most of the response would have been automated by the soyuz on—board computers. they must have had a pretty rough time. for a while when they getting seven times their body weight? yes. usually things are done so that you limit the g load, the exhilaration is to 3gs. in these emergency aborts, like this one, in

here's our moscow correspondent sarah rainsford.than three decades since this landmark moment, the soviet and us leaders signing a treaty that's been key to curbing the nuclear arms race, ever since. the intermediate—range nuclear forces treaty, or inf, led to the destruction of a whole class of weapons, capable of a nuclear strike in europe with barely any warning. but the us has long suspected today's russia, undeeradimir putin, of violating the treaty. now, donald trump says he's had enough. the us president declared that america will withdraw from the deal. we're not going to let them violate a nuclear agreement and go out and do weapons and we're not allowed to. we're the ones that have stayed in the agreement and we've honoured the agreement, but russia has not, unfortunately, honoured the agreement. so, we're going to terminate the agreement, we're going to pull out. russia's foreign ministry has condemned that as unacceptable and dangerous. moscow denies it's violated the arms treaty, calling washington's conduct crude and c

sarah rainsford, bbc news, moscow.ity of universal credit, the government's flagship welfare reform. the former conservative prime minister, sirjohn major, warned that it could spell "deep political trouble" for the government. and during the day the work and pensions secretary acknowledged that some people could be worse off under the scheme. universal credit brings together six welfare benefits into one payment. our deputy political editor john pienaar reports from bath. no problem finding milk for a cuppa anyway, fridge always seems to be empty. soon millions on benefit will be getting universal credit, and each has their own tale to tell. the problem... arabella's sounds familiar. so how is this benefit working out for you? it's really tough. it took five weeks for the first payment to come through so i took out a loan, which i haven't really ever caught up from. well, they say this benefit is supposed to encourage you and other people to work. the money that i do earn in any part—time work is pretty much completel

sarah rainsford, bbc news, moscow.ior members of her cabinet this evening, to update them on the state of the latest brexit negotiations. theresa may is under increasing pressure from her parliamentary partners, the democratic unionist party, which is threatening to withdraw its support for the government, if it's not happy with the final brexit deal. this report from our political editor laura kuenssberg does contain some flashing images. emergency or business as usual? the home secretary went in the back, downing street europe advisers beetling about whitehall. ministers called in to talk compromise. foreign secretary, good afternoon, jude think the cabinet will be able to agree a compromise on brexit today? is there an acceptable deal on the table? this might be billed asjust a standard update for ministers about what is going on in brussels but it is anything but. and although it is not decision day, these are vital times in this long, long process and the prime minister is desperate to keep her key ministers on bo

here's sarah rainsford. and there is liftoff of the soyuz ms—io...as a soyuz rocket lifted its crew into orbit. at first, this was a routine launch to the international space station. then came this. less than three minutes into the flight, the commander, alexey 0vchinin, reported an emergency. the booster system had failed. the launch had to be aborted. moments later, the two men were plunging back to earth in their tiny capsule. the crew did train for this nightmare scenario, the gruelling g—force their bodies would have to endure. but russia's soyuz rocket hasn't failed on launch in over three decades. for american nick hague, it was an abrupt end to his first ever mission. he was due to spend six months in orbit. ever since yuri gagarin launched into orbit, russia has been immensely proud of its space programme. this accident, then, will be a major blow. but it is notjust a matter of prestige. russian rockets are currently the only way up to the international space station. what happens now, then, is a big question. rescuers were quick to reach t

sarah rainsford, who was able to get that interview with john bolton. of the cold war. it helped to eliminate thousands of land—based missiles, with ranges of between 500—5,500 kilometres. and it reduced the perceived soviet threat to european nations. but the americans believe that this 30—year—old bilateral treaty is outdated. mr bolton, who's been meeting with the russian president vladimir putin and other senior russian officials in moscow, says there's a new strategic reality now, where nuclear missiles are no longer a bilateral issue but a global one. china, iran, north korea and others, who are not covered by the treaty, who are free to do whatever they want in the intermediate range and have made very substantial strides to have that capability. we estimate, for example, in the case of china, that somewhere between one third and one half of all of their illicit missile capability would violate the imf if they were party to it. -- all —— all of their ballistic missile capability. the bbc‘s barbara plett usher is on the story. i asked her if we we

sarah rainsford, bbc news, moscow.you have all been waiting for. there have been some pretty wild events during the trump presidency, but the one just now in the oval office beats them all. rapper kanye west took over the room with an extended, impassioned riff on superman, guns, planes, china, women, and the wonders of trump. he was in the white house endorsing the president, enjoying some lunch and using language never before heard in the oval office. we can't repeat those words or do the full spieljustice, but here's a snippet. i love hillary, i love everyone, right, but the campaign, i am with her, just didn't feel me, as a guy that didn't get to see my dad all the time as a guy that could play catch with his son. there was something about when i put this hat on, it made me feel like superman, thatis on, it made me feel like superman, that is my favourite superhero, and you made a superman cape also as a guy that looks at tu, american industrial guys. this is a public service announcement, if you have about half an

committee to create a new constitution should meet by the end of the year. 0ur correspondent sarah rainsfordbanks of the bosphorus in istanbul. notjust turkey and russia here, involved, but leaders from france and germany. recep tayyip erdogan, the turkish president, said that was because it was important to expand those involved in the process of bringing a lasting solution for syria as broadly as possible. they talked for a significant time here, several hours, we are told at this 0ttoman mansion here at istanbul. recep tayyip erdogan had emerged to say these were effective talks, constructive talks. there were key issues on the agenda. first of all the situation in idlib, that last rebel—held stronghold in syria, where, just over a month ago, russia and turkey agreed a ceasefire deal. they said it was important for that ceasefire to be consolidated and to be spread. but there was a point of difference there between the french and russian leaders. putin said that russia had the right to step in against what he called provocations by terrorist to support the syrian military if there were vi

our correspondent sarah rainsford has more from istanbul.notjust banks of the bosphorus in istanbul. not just turkey and russia banks of the bosphorus in istanbul. notjust turkey and russia here, but leaders from france and germany. the turkish president said that was because it was important to expand those involved in the process of bringing a lasting solution for syria as broadly as possible. they talked very significant time here, several hours. we are all told at this ottoman mansion here at istanbul that recep tayyip erdogan had emerged to say these were effective talks, constructive talks. there were key issues on the agenda. first of all the situation in idlib, that last rebel—held stronghold in syria, where just a that last rebel—held stronghold in syria, wherejust a reminder go, russia and turkey agreed a ceasefire deal. involved in the store so they said it was important for that ceasefire to be consolidated and to be spread. but there was a point of difference there between different in the russian leaders. but it did and said th

sarah rainsford, bbc news, moscow. that a little later in the programme from a space policy researcher. researchers at the chinese academy of sciences are saying they've created created baby mice with two mums and no dad. the researchers say the bi—maternal animals were healthy and went on to have pups of their own. the team also had a go at mice with double—dads, but they died within days of being born. professor monika ward is from the institute for biogenesis research at the university of hawaii. professor, good to talk to you, what do you make of this? it's quite a feat of genetic engineering, but what's the point? this is a very fascinating and comprehensive study that told us a little bit new about the special imprinted genes. the team, the chinese team, made some progress over what was known before. in 2004, a japanese group also developed offspring from the paternal parents, but the emphasis of this process was much lower and the mice were not normal. the new study shows plenty of the offspring could be obtaine

sarah rainsford in moscow has more.hurch emerge to announce the total rupture relations with constant noble, the spiritual home of orthodoxy —— constantinople. the bishop says there will be no contact with constantinople until the —— as long as the legal decisions, as moscow says, remain in force. after the soviet collapse two churches split from moscow, and now constantinople has granted them official status, inviting the distance to unite in one independent church. —— inviting the dissidents. in kiev people celebrated the ruling, shaking off another tool of russian influence. after yea rs of another tool of russian influence. after years of conflict with moscow the ukrainian president says kiev is regaining its spiritual freedom. the ukrainian president says kiev is regaining its spiritualfreedom. in moscow orthodox believers are starting to worry. the church has increased its power and presence here under vladimir putin and seems like this, during dizzy a relic on our common “— like this, during dizzy a relic on our

live now to moscow and our correspondent sarah rainsford. now we have a second suspect unmasked.reaction been there? the kremlin has moved from a flat denial to no comment today, vladimir putin's spokesman saying if the british government has any evidence on the identity of the salisbury suspect it should admit it through official channels but he said he would not comment further on what he called rumours that these men are military spies. that is a giant sidestep around some awkward questions for the kremlin. the bbc has spoken to multiple people in the village where this man comes from, who have now confirmed what bellingcat uncovered, that the man calling himself alexander petrov it impact alexander mishkin. 0ne calling himself alexander petrov it impact alexander mishkin. one of them was a school friend, he described him as a boy who ran the school disco pulse of awkward for the kremlin but if putin is feeling it he is not showing it and in fact on state tv that he was shown smiling, visiting an apple orchard. crucially, people i speak to hear say that what this will not chan

in a moment we'll hear from our correspondent sarah rainsford in moscow, but first anna holligan is atlands for us. you were at that extraordinary news conference, where this extraordinary plot was revealed. exactly, and the dutch defence minister has released this case file of evidence, and it reads more like a spy novel. i will ta ke reads more like a spy novel. i will take you through some of the highlights in chronological order, so highlights in chronological order, so the taxi receipt that show the journey from outside the gru barracks in moscow to outside the airport on the day these men arrived in the netherlands. a photograph of them at the airport accompanied by a member of the russian embassy here in the hague. they then conducted a reconnaissance mission on the streets around the organisation for the prohibition of chemical weapons, they checked into the marriot hotel next door. jarring this press conference, one of the officers asked, how do we know these men weren't on holiday here in the hague? and not to the claim they we re hague? and not to the claim they were simply

let's speak to our moscow correspondent sarah rainsford.ot fa ns russia about this? they are also not fans of the treaty. the reaction so far has come from the foreign ministry in moscow primarily. the deputy foreign minister has essentially knocked back those accusations saying russia hasn't been violating the treaty, and accusing the us of dangerous unilateral actions. the deputy foreign minister here said that he is condemned the move by president trump and has talked about potential response from moscow. he called it a potential military or technical response. he also said there is still room for dialogue with the us, he pointed to the factjohn bolton is heading to moscow and holding talks on monday and tuesday with both the foreign minister and the president of russia. the hope was according to this official that moscow and washington can discuss the statement from donald trump and understand more clearly exactly what it means. certainly, moscow isn't happy at this and is making its displeasure felt. our concern is more broadly that th

our correspondent sarah rainsford's been following the story. european leaders as well from france and germany. the turkish president said that is because it was important to expand those involved in this process of bringing lasting political solution to syria as lordly as possible. they talk to a significant time here, several hours all told that is ottoman mansion here in istanbul. mr erdogan emerged to say these had been effective talks. they say constructive talks. they're there we re constructive talks. they're there were some key issues on the agenda. first of all, the situation in idlib, that last rebel held stronghold in syria where russia and turkey agreed a ceasefire deal. all sides say it is important for that ceasefire to hold, to be consolidated and to be spread. at there was a point of difference there was a point of difference there between the french and russian leaders. mr putin said russia had reserved the right to step in against what he calls provocations by terrorists to support the theory and if there were violations of tha

for more here's sarah rainsford in moscow. unilaterally withdraws the treaty, that supposes the us will develop those weapons once again, and the kremlin will be forced to respond by doing the same, so forced to respond by doing the same, so effectively it is a return to the arms race of old. the kremlin is try to argue that is not what it once and it says that actually russia has not been violating the treaty and blaming the us has been doing and vladimir putin has warned a year ago, he said if the us did rip up this treaty, russia's response would be immediate and would exactly mirrored the steps taken by the united states, and it appears to be a distain lies in moment. —— to be a destabilising moment. russia says this is not a done deal and they have seen no action from the united states and simply a statement from donald trump, so must go hinting there is room for negotiation, to change the treaty rather than abandoning it, but those key talks withjohn abandoning it, but those key talks with john bolton abandoning it, but

sarah rainsford in russia. russia's soyuz rocket hasn't failed on launch for 35 years. blow to its space programme. for american nick hague, it's also an abrupt end to his first ever mission. he's been training for years to spend six months on the international space station. currently russian rockets are the only way to reach it. now all flights have been suspended as an investigation is launched. it's not so good, but we hope we can immediately find the reason and then we can have another right as soon as possible. because we need it for the international space station. stay with us on outside source. we started the week in italy, and here we are in germany, keep your questions coming on populism, we will go back to those is a go to the hour. iam sure i am sure you have been following the story of what what happened to saudi journalist jamal khashoggi who disappeared on october second after going into his country's consulate in istanbul still remains a mystery. and his disappearance threatens saudi arabia's relationships across the world. here's the saudi ambassador t

the two crew members landed safely, as our correspondent sarah rainsford reports from moscow.. and there is liftoff of the soyuz. it looked at first like a routine launch, a burst of fire and noise as a soyuz rocket lifted its russian and american crew into orbit. then this. less than three minutes into the flight, commander alexey ovchinin reports an emergency with the booster system. behind the translator, you can hear his calm voice, quipping that it was a quick flight. moments later, though, the astronauts are hurtling back to earth. rescue teams were poised to rush to the landing site. the crew did train for exactly this type of scenario, the gruelling g force their bodies have to endure, but russia's soyuz rocket hasn't failed on launch for 35 years. this is a major blow to its space programme. for american nick hague, it's also an abrupt end to his first ever mission. he's been training for years to spend six months on the international space station. currently russian rockets are the only way to reach it. now all flights have been suspended as an investigation is launc

here's sarah rainsford in moscow. this is going to become law as far as we understand.russians do not support its increase in the pension age. we have seen protests. they have not been huge but they have been very significant because russians don't generally come out on the streets in protest a nd generally come out on the streets in protest and in the past week and months we have seen the communist party taking streets in large numbers and they've been talking about this ca balistic numbers and they've been talking about this cabalistic reform. we have also seen supporters taking to the streets again right across the country. there is significant opposition to this reform and in particular the key point that people keep bringing up is 65 doesn't sound like an extremely high age for men to be working to add to compare it to be working to add to compare it to the us and europe, but in fact russia the life expectancy for men is still only 67 and in many regions of russia many men simply do not live to 65. the problem is people are saying this is basically going to be that

thank you, sarah rainsford.ancial irregularities, the company said they were not aware of them before, potentially fraudulent, them before, potentially fraudulent, the chief finance officer at the company has been suspended. since then the company has discovered that hmrc, the taxman, has got a winding—up petition in place against the company. there is a black hole at the company, effectively they thought they had millions and millions of pounds more than they actually do. so what we heard yesterday, this is the big decision for them to find from somewhere today, they need a cash injection otherwise it can continue as it is. 200 not cafes around the country, there are other chains as well, 2500 staff. 0ne there are other chains as well, 2500 staff. one person has said i do not know if i will be paid in three weeks. that encapsulates the feeling they will be waking up to. such a scary situation to be in for any employee? there will be some big decisions to be made today. thank you. carol is that windsor and will

let‘s speak to our moscow correspondent sarah rainsford.ing the session specifically to talk about energy, veered away to talk about the script —— sergei skripal case. he basically lashed out at sergei skripal himself. that was the target of the attack in march. he called him a scumbag, said he was a traitor, he said that all traitors were scumbags. it was very strong language and his facial expressions and tone was extremely strong. he also talked about the fact that russia has asked britain to pass on evidence and documents about what happened in salisbury, so, as he put it, moscow could see what really took place. but he was careful to underline that russia denies any responsibility for this attack. despite the comments on the language that he used about sergei skripal himself, he said there was no reason for anybody to be poisoned. he said sergei skripal had been a traitor, he had been caught, he served in prison in russia and was swapped to the uk. he said, so what, if he went on consulting with intelligent agents elsewhere, who cares,

joining me now is our moscow correspondent, sarah rainsford.response from moscow to all of this? ‘s so far a deafening silence. that's what we have been told we will get. the kremlin has been refusing to comment on rumours and speculation in the press. it has said that if there is serious evidence against russian citizens then it is the british government needs to present those to the russian authorities and they will consider them. basically they flat deny at the beginning, and attempt to explain things, from the kremlin at least we've moved to stonewalling. they are saying nothing. it won't speak to the median anymore. that's indicative of the uncomfortable feeling that insulin rationale. investigative teams dig, dig, and find out more about the man believed to be behind the attempted poisoning in salisbury. in fact, are on journalists here have managed to contact someone in the village where the man identified grew up. he has also identified, the two photographs of the eight and real man are the same. and he has given us a bit more detail ab

sarah rainsford is our correspondent in moscow. how is the news going down there?ress. they say unless there is hard evidence sent to the releva nt there is hard evidence sent to the relevant institutions in moscow from the government in the uk or the police, they will not comment. but thatis police, they will not comment. but that is a sign of how an comfortable this is becoming for the russian authorities. they have been denying all along any role in the attempted poisoning of sergei skripal and his daughter. they say it is the work of the british special services. we can expect denial to continue, but there will be no substantial comment on this latest revelation. if it is true, why would this man have been put on russian state television? ayr thatis put on russian state television? ayr that is the huge question. at the time, before it happened, when president putin basically called on them to appear on state television, i spoke to a former spy, not gru, and he said he did not believe they would appear because it seemed too risky and two strange for the kremlin

that was the british ambassador to the netherlands. 0ur correspondent sarah rainsford is in moscow.us sides. in a way it's difficult for the russians to respond to them. what we did today was their weekly briefing of the foreign ministry where they talked about a cocktail, a diabolical cocktail of accusations which she dismissed out of hand with her usual scathing tone. she said that the rich fantasy of russia's collea g u es that the rich fantasy of russia's colleagues in britain knows no bounds. she said who is making this 7 bounds. she said who is making this he bounds. she said who is making this up? she would love to look them in the face, she said. she said the british arejudging the face, she said. she said the british are judging russia the face, she said. she said the british arejudging russia by the face, she said. she said the british are judging russia by the things they do themselves. the traditional scathing tone, mocking town to baritone by russia, and across the board, denial of everything the russians are accused of. that's what you would expect, i guess. russia say

our correspondent sarah rainsford is in moscow for us right now and can tell us more.e, it is 5000 miles from here to the east of moscow and that is where we note that colonel anatoliy chepiga drop. a week ago he was identified by the investigative tea m was identified by the investigative team as the true identity of one of the suspects. we wanted to check that. in the village, we showed the photo of anatoliy chepiga and also the photograph provided by british police as one of the key salisbury suspects to damages. they warned there who want to remain anonymous, she was nervous, she confirmed straightway not knowing anything about the story, she said it was anatoliy chepiga, she described him as asa anatoliy chepiga, she described him as as a military officer, a hero of russia and she was adamant that this was one and the same man. there have been other journalists was one and the same man. there have been otherjournalists that have got to the people in the village to confirm the same thing. other background information we have managed to find out is to confirm that h

our correspondent sarah rainsford is in moscow.hearing that the launch at the beginning was going smoothly, it was only two minutes, 45 seconds into that blastoff from the cosmodrome in kaza khsta n that blastoff from the cosmodrome in kazakhstan at the accident happened. what you heard there was the nasa feed from the road. the russian fleet, the commentary cut off and norman greene in ely —— immediately after emergency was pronounced. anyone listening to the russian feed would not know what had happened next. we know that the soyuz rocket decoupled from the launcher and it began as dramatic and very, very fast descent. a ballistic dissent is how nasa described it, it comes in is extremely steep angle. anyone coming in one of those capitals, a planned landing is an extremely difficult ride. —— those capitals. it is extremely uncomfortable, very tense until we heard word from the russian space agency that conduct had been made with the two on board, that they had landed safely. some 600 commenters away from the law in the position

our correspondent sarah rainsford joins us now from moscow. what more can you tell us, sarah?elieve he was recruited by russian military intelligence, the gru, and moved to moscow, and around 2010 they say they believe he began conducting missions abroad including the salusbury attack. they are saying as well that he got his alias at that point and they say that's when he began his mission. they have published a photograph, passport photograph, of the man named as alexander mishkin and it certainly does look extremely like the man that we have seen off course on those cctv pictures from saul spree and also on the interview that the man calling himself alexander petrov did with russian state television, so we are did with russian state television, so we are try to stand up the details independently but so far our research has shown up that the man calling himself alexander mishkin was indeed registered at the headquarters of the gru military intelligence in moscow so it would appear that is the identity and it might have been uncovered. so uncomfortable times for the kremlin wh

our moscow correspondent is sarah rainsford.e big question, whether these are incompetent spies or if they are trying to send a message, that russia can penetrate all sorts of systems and carry out all sorts of a cts systems and carry out all sorts of acts around the world but at this point wejust don't acts around the world but at this point we just don't know. as far as russian officialdom is concerned, they are dismissing all the allegations and accusations. we heard from the foreign ministry yesterday, a spokeswoman talking about a cocktail of accusations, a diabolical cocktail. they then made a statement talking about a state managed propaganda campaign against russia led by the uk. the state media here has been talking about a total lack of evidence and that is despite the fact that we saw all sorts of evidence laid out by the netherlands for an extraordinary trail that led back to moscow and we have managed to confirm that two of the suspects identified in the netherlands, we know they are linked to military sites here in

our moscow correspondent is sarah rainsford. she explained the reaction in russia.he foreign ministry saying this is western spy—mania picking up pace and they have promised a more detailed statement on that to come. we have heard that foreign ministries vokes person earlier today in her usual scathing form referring to the previous allegations made by british authorities about the whole wave of cyber attacks they are now blaming on russia. she was calling that a diabolical cocktail of accusation. she said that british officials fantasy new no round and she wanted to look the person in the face he was making all of this up. traditional dismissal by russia when faced with accusations that, as anna was detailing, the evidence particularly from the hague has been mounting. we can confirm, particularly from the names that have been released, to what are linked in public documents to addresses which belonged to the defence ministry here in moscow. that is independent confirmation of the allegations coming out from the hague. uncomfortable evidence mounting for russia whi

joining me now is our moscow correspondent, sarah rainsford.as reported. we have a team heading to try to find things out first hand, but certainly even by contacting people on social media and by phone, the russian service here in moscow has managed to speak to three people who grew up with alexander mishkin in that very remote village in the north of russia, who has seen his photograph and have seen him paraded here as theyis and have seen him paraded here as they is supposed civilian on russian television. they believe he is alexander mishkin, a man who bellingcat is an intelligent agent for russian military intelligence, the gru. 0ne for russian military intelligence, the gru. one person described a young man who he says was not aggressive at all, very friendly, very easy—going, a good student who a lwa ys very easy—going, a good student who always had ambitions of going to medical school, according to this friend. he also described him as being really into computer games come in music and running the school disco. he founded to believe tha