Attacks by poisoning are possibly even more common in Russia than assassinations by gunfire. Most famously, Alexander Litvinenko, a secret-police whistleblower, was killed by polonium in London, in 2006. Last week, British newspapers reported that a Russian businessman who dropped dead while jogging in a London suburb in 2012 had been killed by a rare plant poison. He had been a key witness in a money-laundering case that had originally been exposed by the Moscow accountant Sergei Magnitsky, who was tortured to death, in 2009, in a Russian jail. Masha Gessen
The Moscow Ties: Russian punk band storms Cathedral. Storyville: Pussy Riot – A Punk Prayer starring Nadia & Masha & Katia, BBC 2013
Performance No. 4 Red Square: ‘The masses rise up and move on the Kremlin. Explosions set off at Security headquarters. Bitches piss themselves behind red walls. Riot is here to abort the system. An attack at dawn? Don’t mind if I do. When we’re whipped for our freedom, the Mother of God will learn how to fight ... Magdalene the feminist will join the demonstration. Uprising in Russia! The Charm of protest. Uprising in Russia! Putin pissed himself. Uprising in Russia! We exist. Uprising in Russia! Riot! Riot! Take to the streets ...’ ibid.
21st February 2012: Punk Prayer. ibid.
‘As artists our goal is to change humanity, to transform consciousness a little bit.’ ibid. Pussy Riot member
Nadia and Masha continue to serve two-year sentences. ibid.
Soon The Beatles had conquered much of the world. But back in the USSR the repressive old men in the Kremlin tried to resist the Fab 4. They were defeated by their children. This is the untold story of how The Beatles helped to destroy communism. Storyville: How the Beatles Rocked the Kremlin, BBC 2019
Across the USSR The Beatles’ virus spawned hundreds of tribute bands. ibid.
Reviled by the Soviet authorities as Western pollution. ibid.
Hello, it’s Navalny. I am here in Germany now but not by choice. I was brought here because I was almost murdered. They are offended because they tried to kill me and I survived. So now they’re threatening to throw me in jail. Storyville: Navalny, BBC 2022
Our offices were raided and they just confiscated everything. Everything. They flashed a toxic liquid into my face. ibid.
We will demand that he is released so we can take him to a European hospital. ibid. wife at Russian hospital
We found a nest of wasps we didn’t know existed: this is a domestic assassination team on an industrial scale. ibid. Investigating journalist
Two days after Navalny returned to Russia, they released ‘Putin’s Palace: History of the World’s Biggest Bribe’. Within a week it was viewed over 100 million times. Navalny’s arrest and the video’s release inspired widespread protests across Russia. ibid.
Mikhail Gorbachev quoted the famous words, ‘If not me, who? And if not now, when?’ Storyville: Gorbachev. Heaven, BBC 2022
He set about reforming his country, and, in doing so, he changed the world. ibid.
‘You can title all this, ‘Conversations with a crank.’ ibid. Gorbachev to interviewer
‘While freedom’s flame within us lives. While we, by honour’s voice, are guided, to Russia, comrade, let us give our spirit whole and undivided.’ ibid. quoting Alexander Pushkin
Two Russian film-makers have been filming the impact of the war inside their country. Storyville: Inside Russia: Traitors & Heroes, introduction, BBC 2023
So many people in Ekaterinburg are against this thing. The authorities are trying hard to make it look like everything is fine. The city is covered in Z signs. ibid.
After the invasion, Russia introduces a new ‘Disinformation Law’. It is now a crime to call the invasion a war or to demonstrate against it. ibid. caption
The Russian parliament bans Facebook and Instagram. ibid.
The opposition has been destroyed. All the parties and the candidates. Everyone’s in prison or in exile. Politics is done. ibid. protester
You know, I never planned to leave. I was not extremely patriotic about Mother Russia. You know, I played their game, pretending, of course. You have to deal with, you know, party people, KGB ... horrifying. Mikhail Baryshnikov, interview Larry King May 2002
Welcome to Russia ... I’m here to find out why so many young people are rallying round the flag. Reggie Yates, Extreme Russia s1e1: Far Right and Proud, BBC 2015
There’s a darker side to Russian nationalism. ibid.
Numerous ultranationalist groups sprang up to protect against what they saw as a foreign invasion. ibid.
In 2013 it became illegal to tell anyone under eighteen that being homosexual was in any way normal. Reggie Yates, Extreme Russia s1e2: Gay and Under Attack
I meet the homophobes who are out to get them. ibid.
I still can’t understand what makes the average Russian so homophobic. ibid.
Relations are the frostiest since the Cold War. But this hasn’t stopped an army of young Siberian models invading the West. And while the catwalk and magazines demand for these girls grow, I’m here where it all starts: at the castings. The dream starts young, very young: with thousands of Russian children starting model training almost as soon as they can walk. But there’s a darker side to the dream. So I’m going to find out just what it takes to make it in the West. Reggie Yates, Extreme Russia s1e3: Teen Model Factory
The journey from Siberia to supermodel is a long one. ibid.
You see, corruption is part of us. All of us. The very heart of us. Gorky Park 1983 starring William Hurt & Lee Marvin & Brian Dennehy & Ian Brennan & Joanna Pacula & Alexie Sayle & Michael Elphick & Richard Griffiths & Rikki Fulton & Alexander Knox & Ian McDiamid et al, director Michael Apted, Marvin
The guilt of Stalin and his immediate entourage before the Party and the people for the mass repressions and lawlessness they committed is enormous and unforgivable. Mikhail Gorbachev, speech 2nd November 1987
Men do these things. Anna Karenina 1985 starring Jaqueline Bisset & Christopher Reeve & Paul Scofield & Ian Ogilvy & Anna Massey & Joanna David & Judi Bowker & Valerie Lush & Judy Campbell et al, director Simon Langton, Anna to sister in law
I know what it was. We both do. ibid. Vronsky
I will leave this room. I will leave this house. I will be his. I will have him. I love him. ibid. Anna to hubby
Why isn’t love enough? ibid. Anna to Vronsky
Paperwork is the soul of Russia; farming is only the stomach. Anna Karenina 2012 starring Keira Knightley & Jude Law & Aaron Taylor-Johnson & Kelly MacDonald & Ruth Wilson & Matthew MacFadyen & Alicia Vikander & Olivia Williams & Emily Watson & Michelle Dockery & Holliday Grainger et al, director Joe Wright, geezer
Oh to be your age again. Surrounded by that blue mist. ibid. Anna
I’m damned anyway. ibid. Anna
I love him. I am his mistress. ibid. Anna to husband
I’m having his child. ibid.
I’m a bad woman. ibid.
Nine climbers found dead – half-naked, disfigured and radioactive. Russia's Mystery Files I, National Geographic 2014
Some other hikers claim to see strange lights over the mountain. ibid.
The other geologists believe they have witnessed an attack by ... the Mongolian death worm. ibid.
A place believed to exist deep in the remote forests of Siberia – it’s called the Devil’s Cemetery ... Many claim it’s the entrance to the underworld. Russia's Mystery Files II
These stories tell of human-like apemen roaming the wilds ... This is the realm of the Russian wildman. ibid.
As suddenly as it arrived, the mysterious ball of fire vanishes. The group are once more plunged into darkness alone on the mountainside. ibid.
Perhaps the best documented (and most intriguing) case of a hominid with both human and ape-like characteristics that was captured in the wild and lived for many years amongst humans is that of Zana. And the most astonishing and significant aspect of her life was that she interbred with humans! ...
After her capture (in the mid-1800s) Zana was presented to the prince of the region D M Achba, who later gave charge of her to one of his vassals, named Chelokua. Ultimately she was passed on to a nobleman named Edgi Genaba, when he visited the area. Genaba brought her back to his home in the village of T’khina.
Zana’s story was confirmed by interviews of over 100 villagers and residents of her homeland. They described her as having dark, greyish-black skin, bare on the face, but elsewhere she was covered in reddish-black hair. The hair on her head was a bit darker and formed a thick, tousled mane that hung down her back. Her face had a sloping forehead, prominent brows and cheekbones and massive jaws. Her nose was broad and flat, her eyes were reddish and she had large, strong white teeth. Her body was robust and muscular with well-developed breasts. She was tremendously strong, and also swift, able to even outrun a horse! Associated Content online, The Zara Chronicles, article David Claerr 10th February 2008 ‘Captured Bigfoot Researched By Russian Scientists’