what’s going on with russia? fi 4 2018 … · russian president vladimir putin ... this first...

WHAT’S GOING ON WITH RUSSIA? Friday 4 May 2018

News Investigation

WHAT’S GOING ON WITH RUSSIA?

DEFINITIONS

Western countries – Most, if not all, the countries of Europe, the Americas, Australia and New Zealand.

Russian president Vladimir Putin

THE DILEMMAYou’ve probably heard a lot about Russia in the news lately. Western countries – especially the UK and USA – are worried that aggressive behaviour by Russia is causing serious problems around the world. Russia stands accused of several things:

• Poisoning civilians in Salisbury, England.

• Invading parts of their neighbours Ukraine and Georgia.

• Supporting the Syrian government as they carry out attacks on their own people – including some with chemical weapons.

• Interfering in important elections worldwide by hacking and spreading fake news.

• Carrying out cyber attacks on countries including the USA and UK.

The Russian government denies most of this, and accuses the West of “Russophobia” – a hatred of Russia. But as the evidence stacks up that Russia is meddling in other countries’ affairs, should we be worried? This First News special investigation looks at the facts behind the headlines and asks what’s really going on with Russia.


News Investigation

Russia is a country with a long and proud history. Dating back to the 9th century, for hundreds of years it dominated the Slavic part of Europe. Slavs are people in central and Eastern Europe who speak Slavic languages, such as Russian, Polish, Serbian, Czech and Bulgarian. Most Slavs, though not all, follow the Orthodox Christian Church, which is a type of Christianity.

Starting in 1547, Russia was ruled by a Tsar, which is a type of emperor. The first was Grand Prince Ivan IV, also known as Ivan the Terrible. In 1613, Michael Romanov became the Tsar, and his family ruled Russia until 1917, when the

Russian Revolution took place. In the 300 years between, Russia acquired the territory of what is today Estonia and Latvia, and conquered Crimea, Ukraine, Georgia, what later became Belarus and Moldova, and parts of Poland. Russia had one of the most powerful empires in the world.

World War 1 broke out in 1914 and Russia sided with Britain and France against Germany and Austria-Hungary. But during the war, in 1917, everything changed. With Russia’s war effort struggling, there were mutinies in the military and protests and riots in major cities across the country.

RUSSIA: A POTTED HISTORY

A portait of Ivan the Terrible

Russian troops in WW1

Russia

Poland

Czech Republic

Serbia

Bulgaria


News Investigation

RUSSIA: A POTTED HISTORY CONTINUEDThe Tsar, Nicholas, was forced to stand down. A group called the Bolsheviks, led by the revolutionary Vladimir Lenin, overthrew the government and established rule under the Communist Party. Religion was banned and Russia quit the war, losing a lot of territory in Eastern Europe in the process.

Between 1917 and 1922, the Bolsheviks and their famous Red Army fought a bloody Civil War against the anti-Communist White Russians. After the Bolsheviks won, in 1922 Russia regained control over several nearby territories, and a new, larger country was born: the Soviet Union, or Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). This giant nation was a Communist super-state that lasted until 1991.

One of the most infamous leaders in Russian history was Joseph Stalin. He led the Soviet Union from 1922 until his death in 1953. Under his rule, the country sided with Britain and America to defeat the Nazis in Europe during World War 2. While Stalin made the Soviet Union a superpower, he was also responsible for the deaths of millions of his own people. Many were killed for simply not supporting his politics, while millions more died during a devastating famine in 1932-33.

The Soviet Union dominated Eastern European countries for much of the 20th century. The period between 1945 and 1991 is known as the Cold War, as Western nations led by the USA opposed the Soviet Union and its allies. There was never an actual war between the two sides, which is why it is referred to as “cold” and not “hot”.A communist propaganda poster featuring Lenin The USSR flag

The US flag


News Investigation

RUSSIA: A POTTED HISTORY CONTINUED

Communism collapsed in Europe in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The Soviet Union dissolved and each state declared its independence. Russia struggled with economic problems, poor public health and a loss of influence on the world stage for many years. However, under current president Vladimir Putin, many commentators say Russia has become a superpower once more. Although the country’s economy is much weaker than America’s, China’s or even Britain’s, the Russian military remains strong, the country has more nuclear weapons than any other and it has been expanding its borders by invading neighbouring states. Russia also now has major influence in the Middle East.

DEFINITIONS

Communist – A communist is a person who believes in the political philosophy of communism, which states that a country’s property should belong to all its citizens, and that workers, not bosses, should be rewarded with all the money made as a result of their hard work. nuclear weapon – A nuclear weapon is the most powerful weapon on Earth. When a nuclear missile strikes, the centre of the explosion reaches a temperature of several thousand degrees centigrade. The flash of heat that follows the explosion vaporises pretty much everything within a radius of two kilometres.A nuclear missile. Nuclear weapons can

cause devastating loss of life

The population of Russia is 142.7 million

Russia is the largest country in the world in terms of surface area – 17 million km2

Life expectancy is 64 years of age for men and 76 for women. This ranks Russia 137th and 100th in the world for these measures

The Russian economy is the 12th biggest in the world, behind much smaller countries like Italy, Canada and South Korea

Russia has the world’s 5th biggest military, behind China, India, the USA and North Korea

It’s believed Russia possesses 7,000 nuclear warheads – more than any other country. The USA has 6,800

FACTS & FIGURES

St. Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow


News Investigation

WHY IS RUSSIA IN THE DOG HOUSE? i) Human rights and freedoms: Russia’s elections have been described as unfair and rigged by observers. At this year’s presidential election, which Mr Putin won, an independent election monitoring group reported hundreds of irregularities. Election inspectors were not allowed to enter some polling stations, and voting papers were found in some ballot boxes before the stations opened. Human rights are not strong in Russia. Journalists, politicians and protestors are frequently arrested and some are even killed. Rights for LGBTQ Russians are few and far between. The media in Russia is mostly controlled by the government, which controls Channel One and Russia One – two of the three main nationwide TV channels. The third is owned by energy company Gazprom, which is itself owned by the Russian state.

ii) Ukraine/Crimea: Ukraine sits between Russia and the central European countries of Romania, Slovakia, and Poland. Since independence after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Ukraine has mostly been quite friendly towards Russia. But some Ukrainians want to be closer to the European Union. When an uprising in early 2014 forced the pro-Russian president of Ukraine to quit, it seemed the country might change direction and become very pro-Western. Putin acted fast, and sent in Russian soldiers to take control of Crimea. This region of southern Ukraine used to be part of Russia. Russia is also thought to have sent its troops to support pro-Russian rebel fighters in their war against Ukrainian government forces in the eastern part of Ukraine. This conflict, which began in 2014, is ongoing. There are many Russian speakers in eastern Ukraine who prefer to be close to Russia, not the West. But Western leaders say that is no excuse for Russia to wade in and support a war.

A pro-Russian solder stands in the rubble of Donetsk airport in eastern Ukraine

RussiaPoland

Ukraine

Romania

Crimea

Moldova


News Investigation

iii) 2016 US presidential election and fake news According to American intelligence agencies, Russian hackers and spies directly influenced the 2016 US presidential election. The main contenders in the poll were Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. The CIA and FBI, America’s two intelligence services, both say Russia was trying to help get Trump elected.Clinton’s party, the Democrats, had email accounts and servers hacked. A bunch of those emails were then leaked to the public.

Russian government operatives also allegedly used online trolls to spread false stories on social media that would benefit Trump and damage Clinton. Russian trolls also stoked up online debate about difficult issues including race relations, LGBT rights and gun control.

According to the US authorities, Russia spent up to £890,000 a month buying political advertising – much of it on Facebook. A lot of the adverts spread lies about subjects like immigration and Hillary Clinton’s personal life.

For the best part of two years, Mr Trump described reports of Russian interference in the election as “fake news”. Earlier this year, he seemed to acknowledge it took place – but denied it had any impact on the result.

Russia has called the allegations that it meddled in the US election “absurd”. Politicians there also say they haven’t been spreading fake news.

But there is currently a major investigation underway in the USA to find out if the Trump campaign knowingly accepted Russian help during the election. Again, Trump and Russia deny this, but meetings did take place between Russians and Trump officials – including the president’s son – in the run-up to the November 2016 election. If it is found that members of Trump’s team were deliberately getting help from the Russians, it’s likely they will face criminal charges.

iv) Syria In September 2015, at the request of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, Russia began actively supporting the Syrian government in the civil war that started in 2011. The conflict continues today. It is the first time Russia has taken part in a war outside of the former Soviet Union since the end of the Cold War. Russia is providing military equipment, troops and intelligence to Syria. It also has a naval base in the port city of Tartus.President Assad’s forces have been accused of using chemical weapons against Syrian civilians, including children. Most recently, there was an alleged chemical attack in the city of Douma that killed dozens. Russia is accused of supporting the Syrian government’s attacks on civilians.

The US, Turkey, Britain, France and other countries have attacked both Islamic State (extremist terrorists) and Syrian government positions in Syria. There is a real danger that, if Russian forces are accidentally struck by the USA or their allies, the Syrian conflict could turn into a major international war.Donald Trump

Mr Putin (third from left) and Mr Assad (third from right) with Russian air force pilots in Syria


News Investigation

Members of the British military at work in Salisbury

v) The Salisbury poisoning: On 4 March 2018, a former Russian spy now living in England, Sergei Skripal, and his daughter, Yulia, were found by police on a bench outside a restaurant in Salisbury in an “extremely serious condition”. They were rushed to hospital, where doctors suspected they had been exposed to a very dangerous poison. A police officer who came to their help was also taken ill. In total, 48 people who were in Salisbury that day were seen in hospital.Sergei and Yulia became very seriously sick. Yulia has now recovered and has been discharged from hospital. Sergei Skripal is now conscious and recovering but remains in hospital.

The British government says Russia is behind the incident, and that tests showed that the poison used was Novichok, a type of chemical weapon invented in the Soviet Union in the 1970s and 80s. The Russians deny any involvement whatsoever.

But Britain has retaliated by expelling 23 diplomats based at the Russian embassy in London. Many, if not all, of these staff are thought to actually be Russian spies. A total of 29 other countries, including the USA, France, Germany, Australia and Sweden, also expelled Russian diplomats. Russia responded by expelling dozens of diplomats from those countries – including 50 from Britain.

The serious response to the Salisbury poisoning has led many commentators and politicians to say we are now living in a “second Cold War”.

How does Russia respond to the criticism and allegations thrown at it by countries like Britain? In a nutshell, they deny they’ve done anything wrong, and they blame the West.

Russian authorities have denied any involvement in any chemical weapons attacks in Syria. They defend the Syrian government, saying Mr Assad is simply fighting terrorism. After the alleged chemical attack in Douma, Russia at first denied it had taken place, then said it had been carried out by the British. The UK government said the accusation was “a blatant lie”.

Russia also says it did not order the poisoning of the Skripals in Salisbury. The Russian foreign ministry has accused Britain and America of being behind the attack, without offering any evidence. They say that the Novichok poison could have been developed in other countries, including the UK, Sweden or America.

As regards the invasion of Crimea, at first Mr Putin denied sending any troops to the region, but he later admitted he did. Russia continues to deny supporting the pro-Russia rebels in eastern Ukraine. The Russian leadership says it has a right to defend “Russian-speaking people” wherever they are in the world. Many Ukrainian citizens in eastern Ukraine and Crimea support Russia’s presence there.

RUSSIAN DEFENCE

President Vladimir Putin


News Investigation

OPINIONS

During the 2016 presidential campaign, Russia launched an all-out assault on our democracy, and it found a willing and active partner in Donald Trump’s campaign.”

Tom Perez, Chairman of the Democratic Party (USA) National Committee

Chemical weapons have once again been used on Syrian men, women and children. Russia could stop this senseless slaughter, if it wanted. But it stands with the Assad regime and supports it without hesitation.”

Nikki Haley, US Ambassador to the United Nations

I think our Western partners, firstly Great Britain and the USA and a few other countries that blindly follow them, have disregarded all the accepted behaviour. We do not want to play children’s games, but so far our partners are doing precisely that.”

Sergei Lavrov, Russian Foreign Minister

There is no alternative conclusion other than that the Russian state was culpable (responsible) for the attempted murder of Mr Skripal and his daughter – and for threatening the lives of other British citizens in Salisbury.”

Theresa May, British Prime Minister


News Investigation

Was Britain right to expel Russian diplomats in response to the Salisbury poisoning?

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Is Russia entitled to “defend” Russians in other countries, such as Ukraine?

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Should Russia host the World Cup this summer?

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What do you think can be done to stop fake news stories spreading online?

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What can be done to reduce tensions between Western countries and Russia?

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Do you worry about what Russia is up to, or does it not really bother you?

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Does Russia have a right to support its ally, Syria, in the civil war?

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Many Western countries, including Britain and the USA, have done things that other countries have criticised in the past. So do we in the West have a right to criticise Russia now?

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QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

The Kremlin in Moscow

what’s going on with russia? fi 4 2018 … · russian president vladimir putin ... this first...

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