Putin vs Navalny
The Briefing Room
BBC
4.8 • 731 Ratings
🗓️ 21 January 2021
⏱️ 29 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Millions of people have been watching a film in the past two days that was released by Alexei Navalny, Russia's leading opposition figure, even as he languished in a Moscow jail. The film, presented by Navalny, accuses the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, of embezzlement on the grandest of scales. Mr. Putin is said to be furious. Last year there was an attempt on Mr. Navalny’s life using the nerve agent, novichok. Fingers were pointed at the Kremlin, which has denied any involvement. Navalny went to Germany for hospital treatment and convalescence. He returned to Russia on Sunday and was arrested on arrival in Moscow. Navalny seems likely to find himself behind bars for several years, but he’s called on his supporters to take to the streets. The Kremlin’s reaction to his return indicates its nervousness. There are parliamentary elections later this year. So what has Vladimir Putin to fear from Alexei Navalny? With: Arkady Ostrovsky, Russia Editor at The Economist; Steve Rosenberg, BBC Moscow Correspondent; Catherine Belton, author of the book, Putin’s People; and Nikolai Petrov, Senior Research Fellow at Chatham House.
Producers: Tim Mansel, Sally Abrahams, Kirsteen Knight Editor: Jasper Corbett
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, radio, podcasts. |
| 0:06.6 | Welcome to the briefing room with me, David Aronovich. |
| 0:09.5 | We're in a room where you, me, the top experts, and 28 minutes come together to understand one of the big issues of the day. |
| 0:17.3 | Today, we're going to talk about Russia. |
| 0:19.9 | You probably saw the pictures from Moscow at the weekend, |
| 0:22.8 | thousands waiting at the airport to welcome Alexei Navalny home. |
| 0:27.1 | Navalny, Russia's best-known opposition figure, is now under lock and key. |
| 0:32.2 | Why is Vladimir Putin so afraid of him? |
| 0:35.8 | Putin, the Navalny. |
| 0:40.2 | On the Black Sea coast of Russia is a seaside resort called Gelenjik. |
| 0:45.4 | Just a few miles outside town is a peninsula, |
| 0:48.5 | and on that peninsula is a palace, a new palace, |
| 0:52.1 | a palace which someone secretly filmed. |
| 0:55.0 | This is the new Versailles or the Winter Palace, a truly royal palace, says the narrator, and it all belongs to Vladimir Putin. |
| 1:07.0 | A camera on a drone films vast grounds. A purloined floor plan shows an arcade, a spa, a theatre and an ice hockey rink. |
| 1:17.8 | The two-hour video was released online by the Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny to coincide with his surprise arrival back in Moscow on Sunday. |
| 1:26.8 | The arrival was a surprise because in August, Mr. Navalny survived an assassination |
| 1:31.1 | attempt in Russia and was treated in Germany for Novichok poisoning. |
| 1:36.1 | Mr. Navalny was arrested on arrival. |
| 1:38.9 | The film has been seen by 40 million people. |
| 1:42.2 | He's inside. |
| 1:43.5 | The film is out. So what I want to know today is, |
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