FLEEING THE COUNTRY.
TRAINS FROM ST. PETERSBURG TO
HELSINKI IN FINLAND HAVE BEEN
PACKED TO THE GILLS FOR DAYS.
AMONG THOSE FLEEING ARE
JOURNALISTS, AFTER RUSSIA
BLOCKED ITS LAST INDEPENDENT TV
CHANNEL, AND THE NETWORK MADE
THE DECISION TO SHUT DOWN.
SEVERAL OF HIS LEADERS FLED THE
COUNTRY, FEARING FOR THEIR
SAFETY.
THE STATIONS FINALLY BROADCAST
TODAY, THOUGH STAFFERS REMAIN
IN THE STUDIO, GATHERED FOR A
FAREWELL AT THE ANCHOR THUS.
WHILE OTHERS WAVE GOODBYE OVER
ZOOM, THE BROADCAST INCLUDED AN
EMOTIONAL FAREWELL FROM TV
RAINS EDITOR AND CHIEF WHO TOLD
THEIR COLLEAGUES, QUOTE, WE ARE
ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF HISTORY.
THIS IS TV RAINS
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF JUST A WEEK AGO
INTERVIEWING VICTORIA NEWMAN ON
HIS NETWORK.
NOW THAT NETWORK, BRINGING
INFORMATION TO PEOPLE INSIDE OF
RUSSIA, IS SHUT DOWN.
AND HE HAS BEEN FORCED TO FLEE
RUSSIA FOR HIS SAFETY.
JOINING US NOW IS THE CONFIDANT
GO, EDITOR AND CHIEF OF TV RAIN,
RUSSIA'S LAST INDEPENDENT EVS
TO ACTION.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR JOINING
US, ESPECIALLY UNDER THESE
DIFFICULT CIRCUMSTANCES AND
CONDITIONS.
I KNOW THAT YOU AND YOUR
COLLEAGUES AT TV RAIN HAVE LEFT
RUSSIA BECAUSE YOU FELT THAT
STAYING THERE POST A PERSONAL
SAFETY RISK FOR YOU, YOUR TEAM,
YOUR FAMILY.
WE KNOW THAT THE KREMLIN HAS
SEVERELY RESTRICTED MEDIA
FREEDOM IN RUSSIA THIS WEEK,
BUT HAD THERE BEEN SPECIFIC
THREATS MADE AGAINST YOU AND
YOUR COLLEAGUES AT TV RAIN THAT
YOU CAN TELL US ABOUT?
>> WELL, YES, THAT'S CORRECT.
A FEW DAYS AGO ME AND TO MY
COLLEAGUES, WE STARTED TO
RECEIVE THREATS IN TEXTS ON OUR
PHONES, AND THE MESSAGES ON
SOCIAL MEDIA.
THIS IS SOMETHING WHICH HAS
BEEN HAPPENING THROUGH THE
YEARS WHEN YOUR PHONE NUMBER IS
PUBLISHED SOMEWHERE.
AND USUALLY, YOU DON'T GET A
LOT OF ATTENTION, BECAUSE IT'S
SOME PART OF INFORMATION WAR, I
WOULD SAY.
BUT NOW, IN THESE CIRCUMSTANCES,
IT IS COMPLETELY DIFFERENT.
IN THIS ATMOSPHERE, YOU START
TO THINK DIFFERENTLY ABOUT IT.
SO, YEAH, I CONSIDER THIS TEXTS
PRETTY SERIOUS.
>> CAN YOU DESCRIBE, YOU
DESCRIBE THE TEXTS AND ALREADY
TAKING THEM SERIOUS, BUT CAN
YOU TELL US ABOUT THE LAST WEEK
IN TERMS OF WORKING AS A
JOURNALIST IN RUSSIA?
CAN YOU DESCRIBE FOR US THE
KIND OF ENVIRONMENT THAN YOU
AND YOUR TEAM WERE WORKING AND
SPECIFICALLY AFTER PUTIN
LAUNCHED THIS WAR AGAINST
UKRAINE?
>> LAST THURSDAY, THE WORLD
CHANGED.
I WAS HEADING TO THE OFFICE
BECAUSE I HAD A SHOW IN THE
MORNING.
BUT ON MY WAY TO THE TV STATION,
MY PRODUCER CALLED ME AND TOLD
ME THAT VLADIMIR PUTIN
ANNOUNCED THAT HE STARTED A
WAR.
SO, EVERYTHING CHANGED AFTER
THAT.
WE CHANGED OUR NORMAL
PROGRAMMING SO WE BECAME ALMOST
NONSTOP ON AIR SHOWS, AND WE
HAVE BEEN WORKING 24 TO 7 AS
NORMAL JOURNALISTS.
WE HAD JOURNALISTS IN UKRAINE.
WE WERE TALKING TO THEM.
WE WERE TALKING TO POLITICIANS
IN RUSSIA, IN UKRAINE, IN THE
WEST, ETC.
BUT THEN, THE SITUATIONS
STARTED TO CHANGE.
FIRST, THERE WAS THIS HUGE
PROBLEM WITH THE MILITARY
CENSORSHIP IN RUSSIA.
IT IS A VERY INTERESTING
SITUATION.
THE RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT DOES NOT
ADMIT THAT THERE IS A WAR.
THE RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT EVEN FOR
BIDS TO USE THE WORD WAR.
IT'S A SHOCK TO USE WORDS,
SPECIAL MILITARY OPERATION.
BUT AT THE SAME TIME, THERE IS
NO WAR, BUT THERE IS MILITARY
CENSORSHIP.
SO, FIRST, WE, TV RAIN, AND
OTHER MEDIAS, WE GOT A WARNING
FROM THE RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT
THAT WE HAVE TO USE ONLY
OFFICIAL INFORMATION PROTOCOL,
AND OF COURSE IT'S IMPOSSIBLE
IF YOU USE ONLY THIS
INFORMATION.
YOU BECOME PART OF THE STATE
PROPAGANDA.
AND, AND SEVERAL DAYS AFTER,
OUR WEBSITE WAS BLOCKED.
OUR SIGHT, AS YOU MENTIONED,
FOUR OTHER MEETINGS AS WELL,
JUST TWO HOURS AGO, THE WEBSITE
OF MEDULLA, A VERY POPULAR
INDEPENDENT WEBSITE WAS BLOCKED
AS WELL.
AND I SAW THAT FACEBOOK'S
BLOCKED AS WELL IN MOSCOW.
SO, AS YOU MENTIONED, IT IS ONE
OF THE STRONGEST CRACKDOWN ON
INDEPENDENT MEDIA AND
INDEPENDENT BLIND IN RUSSIA,
IT'S TERRIBLE.
>> IT IS TERRIBLE, IT IS
FRIGHTENING, THE BLACKOUT IS
BEING IMPOSED.
TO ASK YOU, QUICKLY, YOUR
THOUGHTS, WITH YOUR MAESTRO
STAFF, HE SAID THAT NO MATTER
HOW BAD THINGS GET, AND HOW
MANY PEOPLE MIGHT BE PLEASED TO
SEE RECITATION STOP
BROADCASTING, YOUR CHANNEL WILL
STILL WIN.
HOW, HOW WILL YOU WIN, WHAT
DOES VICTORY LOOK LIKE FOR YOU?
>> WELL, MAYBE YOU SAW THAT IN
RUSSIA, WE SAW THE NUMBERS THAT
62% OF RUSSIAN CITIZENS SUPPORT
THE WAR.
I DO NOT TRUST THESE NUMBERS,
AND I KNOW THAT THESE NUMBERS
ARE FALSE, WHICH IS NOT TRUE.
I KNOW THAT NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE
AND RUSSIAN SUPPORT THE WAR,
AND I KNOW THAT EVEN IN THE
GOVERNMENT, NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE
SUPPORT THE WAR.
WHICH TELLS ME THAT SOMEHOW,
ONE DAY, THE SITUATION WILL
AND.
SOMEHOW, ONE DAY, RUSSIA WILL
BECOME A NORMAL COUNTRY,
BECAUSE RUSSIANS WANT TO LIVE A
NEW NORMAL, CIVILIZED COUNTRY.
A CIVILIZED COUNTRY MEANS THAT
IT HAS NORMAL MEDIA SUCH AS TV
RAIN.
SO, I AM COMPLETELY SURE THAT
RUSSIAN PEOPLE, THEY HAVE
REQUESTS TO NORMALIZE, AND THEY
WILL FINALLY, ONE DAY, THEY
WILL GET IT.
>> I'VE MADE THIS POINT TIME
AND TIME AGAIN, THE RUSSIAN
PEOPLE ARE NOT THE RUSSIAN
GOVERNMENT.
THEY ARE NOT VLADIMIR PUTIN.