And the 360 days since Russia's invasion
has become the front line
in the global battle for democracy.
It's a fight
that is being fought on the airwaves
as well as on the battlefield.
Putin's minions are working over
to control the message overseas
and at home.
Under a law passed last year.
Journalists in
Russia can be jailed for up to 1
for reporting
what the Kremlin considers
fake news about what
its military is doing.
And to wit, calling the war
in Ukraine
a war could land one in prison.
And because of this crackdown,
many in the industry
have fled,
including my guest today,
who run the Russian independent
news station TV rain.
In 2022
the network
famously ended its last newscast
with an antiwar message
before cutting to an old perform
of Tchaikovsky's Ballet Swan Lak
Today, tbe rain operates in exil
Broadcast ing its content on You
Transit Girl is the network's ed
in chief and Ekaterina regards
an anchor and news director.
Welcome both of you.
It's good to see you.
Katya, let me let me start with
You are at the Munich Security C
for the first time
in the conference's history.
No Russian officials have been i
and said the chairman of the con
tweeted this.
We want to discuss Russia's
future with Russian opposition
leaders and exiled people.
Their voices need to be heard
and amplified.
Katya UN TV
rain are among those exiled Russ
What is the mood there
one year into the war now?
Well, Brianna, it's very complic
US to talk about Russia here
in Munich security conference.
It has just been closed.
During the three days
I was talking to Russian liberal
you know, dissidents, opposition
representatives of the civil soc
and also with European
politicians and experts
and all of them are are saying
that Russia should be relaunched
as a country, as a state, that a
invasion of Ukraine,
everything has changed.
And these people,
these European Western leaders
are looking
for a different approach to Russ
And they're asking themselves
the questions
about whether it is really possi
to see this new country,
to see Russia as a democratic st
which is,
I mean, not obvious
for a lot of people here.
So the representatives
of Russian civil society,
all of them, they they're all in
They fled the country just as we
So they were trying to explain
that there is a chance
for Russia to rebuild a democrac
And I truly believe in this, too
So to you
and I guess the question
is, are you and other exiles out
or does this speak to a larger i
that many Russians are dealing
with right now
who remained in the country?
We saw people flee the country
at the start of the war
and more fled last year
when more military conscripts
were announced. About 300,000.
That having been said.
It has remained quite muted
and one can't depend on on the
how people feel in surveys
among Russian society. What is y
People are speaking
about Russian who left the count
I think the majority of them are
and are waiting about the moment
when the situation changes,
when the regime changes in Russi
and when they
will be able to return back home
just like we did or do, for exam
And our colleagues in Turin, it'
wonderful to have an opportunity
to work from Israel, in Latvia
and in the Netherlands and in Ge
But we have our hope.
We have Russia but different Rus
from what we have after February
And if we are speaking about
Russian society in Russia,
Russian society
is depressed
a lot, a lot,
a lot of people are against this
but they don't have any chance
to speak out because it's too da
Can't you it back to you?
There in Munich.
How significant was it at the ca
there at the conference to hear
President Harris
for the first time say
that the United States
has formally concluded
that Russia has committed crimes
against humanity?
It is really very important, Bia
Definitely.
And everyone was quoting
Kamala Harris and other
other representatives
of the United States.
You know, that delegation
is really big
congressional delegation,
representatives from countries
that, you know,
the people here in in Munich
and especially representatives o
were looking forward to hearing
not just statements, however,
but also the promises
about delivering weaponry,
the fighting jets
and long range
missile systems to Ukraine.
And nothing about that has been
But still,
that accountability
is one of the main questions
here, really.
I mean, what I saw is that
everyone was talking
not only about the reality,
but also trying to plan the futu
and answer the question,
how will the world look like?
And if we want a normal world
after this terrible war,
then we need to make Vladimir
Putin and others
accountable for what they did.
And this is the crime against hu
This is a crime of aggression.
And, you know, all of us,
we think that
there is going to be a tribunal,
something similar to this.
And this is one of
the main questions here.
So to him, that's postwar planni
We have to get the war to end fi
And it doesn't look like Vladimi
Putin is willing
to get to the negotiating table
in earnest. At this point.
What will it take
to finally get him there?
Because the Russian economy has
resilient up to this point.
His hold over society
and his suppression
has worked in terms of
we don't see mass protests on th
What will it take
to get him to say enough's enoug
Well, I think
we have several directions.
The first direction is the situa
on the battlefield, on the groun
And that's
what Kaiser was telling
now about sending weapons to Ukr
And Vladimir
Putin is not doing well
on the on the ground in Ukraine.
Also, I think we will see
and that's what experts say
we will see
the consequences for the Russian
because of the sanctions.
That's too early
to see those consequences
and will happen soon.
And the third thing very importa
is the fact that even even in th
which could not be trusted
with its digits, but we see the
that the support of this war
is becoming a lower and low in R
People are not happy
with the fact that Russia is
isolated now
and that they cannot see any fut
So I think that
the world should work
in these three directions.
And the first supporting Ukraine
of course,
then sanctions
and then supporting Russia's
who are
not supportive of this terrible
Could you.
Yeah.
Qatar, quickly,
let me just talk about
what TV rain is doing right now,
because the Russian propaganda
remains firm inside the country.
I know you're trying to change t
in broadcast objective journalis
It's very difficult to do that
while you're in exile,
while viewers
can only find you on YouTube,
and that's with a VPN.
You've had your own challenges
as well with some mistakes
that you have made on air
and you've owned those.
That having been said,
how are you convinced that
there is an audience large enoug
that wants to watch
what you have to offer?
Well, it is important to underli
that YouTube is still available
without VPN in Russia.
It is eventually,
you know,
undeniable that this ban will be
Of course,
I mean, we know that they will ban
YouTube some day,
but still on this stage,
we are
we can be openly
working on YouTube for Russians.
And we have 14 million
unique viewers
monthly only on YouTube,
which is a huge thing.
And we can do more.
We can do twice more.
This is a big potential that we
And, you know, as long as they g
an opportunity, the whole the wh
just has an opportunity to walk.
We will walk.
And we can convince people,
we see the messages,
we hear the people
talking to us, the audience
talking to us.
We know that they are against
this terrible war
and they are supporting democrac
So we are yeah.
We are optimistic.
Well, it is important to
it is important to break through
to those Russian viewers.
That is what's going to put
the pressure point on Vladimir P
That is for sure.
Ekaterina Court Records and you
Thank you so much.
For joining us
and thank you for what you're do