I'm Nick Schifrin over the next hour
we'll present a PBS Newshour series
called Inside Putin's Russia with the
help of the Pulitzer Center on Crisis
Reporting producer Zac Fannin and I travel
to more than a dozen cities, conducted 40
interviews and were arrested twice will
report on Russian propaganda Russia's
opposition Russians who join Isis and a
tense relationship with the US our first
story explores a new Russian identity
it's a combination of religion old
Russian traditions and rediscovered
patriotism this new identity helps
explain a lot about how today's Russia
thinks how President Putin acts and why
he remains popular we begin our series
in the southern city of Krassner it is
Sunday morning and Russia's conservative
South more than 70 percent of Russians
or Orthodox Christian and under
President Vladimir Putin the church has
been revitalized arch priest Ivan
garmisch is known as father John
he tells parishioners there's only one
way to be a true Christian and he says
being a true Christian is the only way
to be a true Russian
so ghusl Moscow the state and my faith
are united they can't be separated the
values of the church and the state
coincide in Russia faith is patriotic
the Orthodox Church criticizes liberal
Western values as heresies while
Orthodox priests bless Russian weapons
and endorse Putin politically and
personally the president's faith
increases his popularity well he is a
religious man and he takes part in the
divine worship with the people in
churches what the president is doing
what the government is doing
of course we support it because he acts
conscientiously and truthfully today's
re-energized Orthodox Church helps
create pride in the shared religion
it is an historic Russian symbols like
Cossacks help create pride and shared
traditions 500 years ago Cossacks became
the Russian Czars henchmen they were
famous and feared and helped police the
Russian empires borders the Soviets
persecuted them today's Russia restores
them Cossacks fill crafts in our streets
an annual parade
I believe Russia should be governed by
tradition not the rule of law not of
only the nation that has kept its
traditions and honors them more than the
law deserves respect the strength of the
nation is in its traditions for 17 years
Vladimir Gromov led the regional Cossack
army he revitalized this event and
helped get the Cossack state sponsorship
President Putin awarded him the order of
friendship medal gramado considers putin
the custodian of russian pride and
stability preventing the chaos of the
1990 Linnea he gained putin if it wasn't
for President Putin Russia as a state
would be struggling through the toughest
times now and possibly may have ceased
to exist only Putin has saved the state
from total collapse and in return
cossacks do what they feel saves putin
during the 2014 Olympics the band Pussy
Riot performed a song that disparages
poof Cossacks unleashed their
centuries-old tradition of vigilante
violence last year cossacks dows the
main opposition leader Alexei Navalny
attacked is fact and in Kaliningrad when
a small group of demonstrators demanded
the government change its foreign policy
a Cossack beat up 63 year old protester
Yevgeniy grecian he lost 80% of his
eyesight well our generation if the
regime can't suppress civil protest
through legal means they punish the
people through affiliated associations
like the Cossacks the regime acts
through them why have the authorities
crack down so much what I see in Russia
statehood comes first and human rights
come last they use any means to prove
the state is the most important more
important than a human the idea that the
state is more important than the people
is actually not new Russians have long
had a collective identity for us the men
is collective concept we consider
ourselves to be the part of the whole so
to be Russian means to share the same
the same cultural and historic identity
for years TV fixture and firebrand
Alexandra Dugan inspired the Kremlin
ideology he says Russia's collective
identity comes from patriotism
projection of power and respect for the
rules
Hooten taps into all three connecting
today's Russia to its Imperial grandeur
butter diesel is organic it is not
artificial Empire or state is not
something additional artificial
because it is our breasts our skin our
organic way of life
today's kremlin uses that patriotism to
try and unite the population and
convince them only a powerful state can
protect them from enemies enemy number
one the US America is on the brink of a
revolution Dugan in the Kremlin accused
the u.s. of humiliating Russia by
expanding NATO to Russia's borders and
supporting revolutions in former Soviet
states and satellites Dugan advocates
fighting back by attacking the West with
asymmetric war you talk about
introducing geopolitical disorder
actively supporting dissident movements
extremism racist sectarian groups this
seems much more than just exactly as
usual it's exactly what you are
supporting separatist group we are
supporting any kind of admission with
including Russian nationals that is
against Putin my words are a fear of
what you are doing it is near and you
are right so much because you are doing
the same thing against us
in Ukraine that philosophy was
weaponized did he die in eastern Ukraine
Russia aids local separatists who fight
against the Ukrainian government that's
pro-western and in 2014 in Crimea Russia
helped install separatist leaders who
rushed through a referendum that led to
Crimea's annexation regime regime in
Russia Putin the day of annexation Putin
gave a speech combining religion
patriotism and imperial history
he said the West had been subjugating
Russia and Russia was finally demanding
respect yes or no for assuming if you
compress the spring all the way to its
limit it will snap back hard Russia is
an independent active participant in
international affairs like other
countries it has its own national
interest that need to be taken into
account and respected it is impossible
to overstate how transformative eastern
Ukraine and here Crimea have been in
recent Russian memory after the Crimea
annexation Putin's popularity spiked to
nearly 90 percent Russians told
pollsters that suddenly they felt like a
superpower against the Germans and
Russians all over the country mobilized
she saves brunettes Denis Solomon in
2014 fighting in eastern Ukraine he's a
former soldier who was working a mid
management retail job when he quit and
crossed the border
it's just looseness to work quicker now
we hear that behind us there's an
intense battle mortars and shells are
raining in our direction Solomon went to
war because of that collective Russian
identity he believed the Ukrainian
government was attacking ethnic Russians
death was a those people who were under
fire I identified them as Russian people
who needed protection by those who can
at least hold a weapon what was it about
them that you felt I need to help them
those are the people with the same
culture as mine the same language the
same worldview English shootings he was
convinced of that by propaganda in May
2014
dozens of pro-russian separatists died
in Odessa Ukraine I've never felt
equipped a woman among young it probably
became the pivotal moment there was a
lot of information about how people were
simply getting beaten and killed but as
anyway I must Russian media exaggerated
yes even using an actress to play a
victim we know she was an actress
because she appeared in unrelated
pro-russian stories as three entirely
different people that disinformation
campaign convinces the Kremlin's critics
the new Russian identity is manufactured
a product of deception and repression
sometimes that repression shows up in
masks guns and camouflage those are
special forces surrounding 66 year old
ill me o merav in the jacket and Jean
Loup merabh is a leader of the Tatars
a Muslim minority in Crimea he and other
Tatars fight the Russian annexation in
response many Tatars have been jailed on
questionable charges and Umarov was
thrown into a local insane asylum we're
good the film is together so this all
together we call one big act of
intimidation the purpose is to silence
some and keep others ignorant turn them
into zombies so they think the same
thing these are the necessary conditions
in order for the people to be loyal to
their government but do you acknowledge
that that is the majority of the
population who feels that way
career synchronously of course of course
we can't say that this is a stupid
population or stupid people they're just
living in a constellation of fear and
the propaganda machine rolls over them
like a steamroller Umarov may accuse
Putin of manipulating the population but
under Putin Russia has revitalized
majority religion brought back historic
tradition
and projects power so until there's an
alternative he'd considered the creator
and will remain the caretaker of the new
Russian identity for years the Kremlin
and the media it controls have waged a
multifaceted information and
disinformation campaign inside Russia
and pointed externally and it's
perceived adversaries and last year that
effort crescendoed here during the u.s.
presidential campaign
so our second story is about the
information war the media publishing
Dogu Sudarsan in russia whoever controls
the media controls the country and
Saturday night sir sir Gabriel EOS
sourcing that the 44 year old is an
anchor for Russia one if the country's
most popular channel and its state-owned
do you think that that means that you
have a Russian perspective when you
report the Russian perspective these a
perspective of your country in any
reporting brilli of says he doesn't feel
pressure to push the government's line
during the show we saw he challenged the
government minister about police jailing
a former theater director who's a
government critic I imagined that
tomorrow tonight's the broadcast I may
have in some security agencies in saying
what I think he's saying Russian state
media have long delivered the government
perspective and rallied the public
behind it really of denies that's his
job but he hints at whose job it is a
sandy program which is quite
conservative in western terms
ultra-conservatives I would say
aggressive perhaps Oh Fox News pass car
apart or CMEs Sunday night anchored
Dimitri Kiselyov is part Sean Hannity
part Stephen Colbert
he's crass and entertaining and widely
believed to reflect the Kremlin's
thinking Americans get Priuses again yet
the American press is driving Trump into
a bullfight with no rules the aim is
impeachment no pretext it will be
created invented engineered exaggerated
thought my architect Eero CIA staff
hackers are hiding behind another name
for example behind the so-called Russian
hackers kiss we have started targeting
Russia's opponents in 2012 an inch Nikko
massive protests threaten President
Vladimir Putin says journalist and
author Mikael digger that was very
important to start hating the enemies
that's the the point when the audience
starts bleeding you when I see it Russia
is the only country in the world and is
realistically capable of turning the
United States into radioactive ash so
Putin got all moving until 2015 Ziegler
was the anchor and editor-in-chief of TV
reign in a sea of state media TV rain
was an independent TV island we've had
reputation of the ala TV channel that is
trying to make real investigations in a
Kenyan assignment in 2014 TV reign
accused the Kremlin's cheap political
strategist of corruption that was very
short but very effective campaign
against us I was getting like hundreds
of personal messages with people wishing
me that then all the major networks had
direct phone calls from Kremlin and they
had to switch us off within one month
their audience dropped from 20 million
to 60 thousand protesters fought to keep
them on the air but targeting critical
media is nothing new in the last six
years the Kremlin's targeted 12 critical
newsrooms
say president ronpa so the GAR says
state TV tries to convince russians to
support their government by replacing
reality with a carefully crafted message
democracy does not exist our system is
much more stable because we we have much
more much stronger leadership which in
consumption Putin is universally
accepted as one of the most qualified
heads of state on the planet if not the
most qualified but this isn't only about
shaping Russian opinion guess we all
considers the news a weapon aimed at
Russia's enemies as he put it in an
interview on his own channel well you
see what my by absorbing it if you can
persuade a person you don't need to kill
in let's think about what's better to
kill or to persuade because if you
weren't able to persuade then you'll
have to kill if the politics of
defending your country's interest is
pro-russian then probably a pro-russian
margarita simeon is the editor-in-chief
of our team formerly known as russia
today she says the network reaches 35
million viewers
day in six languages including American
and international channels its stay down
and aimed foreign audiences as an
alternative to channel Simeone calls
pro-western CNN and BBC if you look at
any station you will see that what
people are reporting comes from what
they believe in where they stand their
background what their countries believe
in and let it be one of the voices in
that quiet American and coalition forces
are in the early stages of military
operations because when the choir sings
just one song awful things happen like
the war in Iraq critics say our tea
isn't just another media voice it
highlights conspiracy theories the
article basically accuses the u.s. of
manufacturing the Cibola outbreak it
describes a Holocaust denier as a human
rights activist Russia is a threat to us
is hegemony and a neo-nazi is a German
expert Germany is the country which
supports violent Islamist criticism is
again that you're trying to confuse
rather than inform now that's absolutely
a lie we're never trying to confuse
we're informing if we do have people
appearing on the air life that are later
found out to be Holocaust deniers or
anything like that we in middle
immediately put them onto a list of
people have rapport forbidden from the
air you are telling me that people in
the West are seeing as well believe me
most of the people in Russia I see in
the west of the threat for the West the
biggest threat in terms of information
comes from that building that is the
headquarters of the FSB successor to the
KGB during Soviet times the KGB launched
deliberate disinformation campaign like
planting the idea that President Kennedy
was killed by the CIA
today Western governments accused the
FSB of launching the same kinds of
campaigns except instead of offering
communism as an ideological alternative
they're waging a kind of hybrid war
against their enemies with a new kind of
soldier hackers over the last two years
the Russian military ran online
recruiting ads where soldiers put down
their guns to fight a cyber war
in a January report US intelligence
agencies accused Russia of hacking
Democratic National Committee and
Hillary Clinton campaign emails and
leaking them to WikiLeaks to fuel
Russia's propaganda campaign it was
designed to quote undermine public faith
in the u.s. democratic process denigrate
Secretary Clinton and harm her
electability and potential presidency it
worked
the Clinton campaign has now had to deal
with more than a week of embarrassing
daily revelations thanks to WikiLeaks
now these wiki leak release have rocked
the campaign WikiLeaks has released what
appears to be transcripts of paid
speeches by Hillary Clinton to Goldman
Sachs hacked emails became anti-clinton
talking points and many of those talking
points were spread online by fake
accounts known as trolls believed to
work in the st. Petersburg building 42
year old Marat mindy ARA used to be one
of those trolls suddenly you see a lot
of comments at night and they're always
saying yes and this is actually the
people are doing their job they have
their coffee they have a time to do it
their identities every day Mindi RF
would get a document that instructed him
what to write on christmas eve 2014 he
was told to quote create a negative
attitude about obama's foreign policy so
he posted photos comparing Obama to
Hitler portraying the u.s. as a fish
about to eat the planet and an eagle
sharpening his talons he posted under
the headline can the US take Russia out
on 50 websites in 23 cities and fellow
trolls kirilov Ashkan Gennady Orlov Mike
Brandon expressed the exact same thought
six hundred posts from 70 fake accounts
in 12 hours just one battalion in a sock
puppet army manufactured by a handful of
trolls
how many identities will the workers be
expected to pretend to be 100 hundred
really hundred I myself made to have
2030 I didn't count them US intelligence
says the likely troll financier is
Afghani priests Koshien a businessman
with catering companies he's been dubbed
Putin's personal chef Mindy Aarav left
the factory because he didn't believe in
its product but he says it's effective
because the stories are succinct and
echoed widely
everything is very simple there yeah
Blair my real father the second quiet
Russian propaganda is actually very
predictable and relatively simple and I
think of it as the four DS which are
dismiss distort distract dismay then
Nemo is an Atlantic Council senior
fellow studying how Russian media
hacking and trolling combined you get
your own people to write this but then
you pretend it's not your people is just
some do-gooders in Russian society all
the different parts of your machine then
amplify it and what you're doing is
you're pushing out in dozen different
languages on all the different platforms
there are one story and what that story
is what the Kremlin wants it to be
dellavedova say to yourself in January
2016 it was a fake story that a Russian
German teenager had been abducted and
raped by Muslim migrants Russian state
TV apparatus repeatedly reporting false
claims after the German police had come
out and said there was no abduction and
there was no rape but if the fake story
helps parts real protests against German
Chancellor Merkel a frequent Putin
critic but even though it was fake
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov used it
to criticize one of Russia's taught
adversaries the motivation behind the
campaign as a whole was precisely to
weaken Merkel by amplifying this this
very personalized story about crimes
committed by in a vertical most
mackerels migrants we investigate the
stories misrepresented by the mainstream
media last year the Russian propaganda
machine exploited a research
psychologist who argued Google was
manipulating its results to favor
Clinton so this is a gentleman called
dr. Robert Epstein he came out with a
paper which said that by altering the
results of a search engine you could
potentially alter people's voting
choices and Google support for Clinton
is is really very strong it was quickly
debunked but the different parts of the
Russian propaganda machine echoed the
story from RT to State on website
Sputnik to Russian trolls this was a
classic example in which the different
parts of the machine were amplifying
each other what you then had was the
claim being picked up by a number of
larger conservative media in the US it
like Google is in the tank for Hillary
there's no question about it and there
you've divorced the story from the
source
well you've laundered you literally I
know that says that the source has been
laundered then candidate Trump said was
the effect of Google was ringing its
results in favor of Clinton Google
search agent was suppressing the bad
news about Hillary Clinton now we don't
know where he got that from but we know
that to be an assertion point for that
story were they crammed in this
information at that for any purveyor of
propaganda your dream is to have some
high-value amplifier amplifying you
especially if you can contrive that in
such a way that you were divorced from
it how about oh how about that next we
travel to Russia's southernmost border
the Republic of Dagestan is in the North
Caucasus a kind of bridge between Asia
and Europe over the last two decades
Dagestan each have fought a brutal
separatist insurgency against the
Russian state with violence spilling
over from neighboring Chechnya where
Russia's fought two wars Americans might
know Dagestan because the Boston
Marathon bombers were Dagestan II
immigrants but now there's a new problem
by one estimate as many as 5,000
Dagestan E's or fighting for Isis we
traveled to Dagestan to try and
understand why so many Dagestan E's are
fighting in Syria and Iraq
if any some change it is no accident
that the youth are tempted to go to
serious because today there is a revival
of Islam kazeem nurmagomedov is 62 years
old and his son fought for Isis he was
never tempted to go to Syria but he and
his wife Rashida understand why their
son marat was well there the islam the
islamic color was talking about the one
in every muslim soul is hidden deep down
it's like a light in someone's heart
nurmagomedov lives deep in the caucasus
mountains were nearly dried up rivers
meander through thousand foot high
cliffs and beyond ancient rock
formations isolated dirt roads connect
secluded villages one of those villages
is Kurata official population is 4,000
but residents say it's half that size
this area is nearly a hundred percent
Muslim before Friday prayers men greet
each other in the small town center
there are a few young people in part
because this village sent as many as two
dozen to Isis al-qaeda and the wars in
Syria and Iraq that's her that's another
Amina kondakova is a Muslim convert she
shows me photos from a happier time
that's very cute she says they grew up
traditional and comfortable and then two
years ago her daughter Miriam and her
son Alyoshka told her they were going on
vacation instead they traveled with
Miriam's husband to Mosul Iraq to join
Isis who told mom they lied to me about
going there I was so disappointed and
then I became afraid about what could
happen to them she says this town is
pious but wasn't really just enough for
her daughter did she feel judged by
people in this society the closest
weapon yes they gave her looks they
didn't like how she was dressing they
wanted her to dress like everyone else
she wanted to dress the way it's written
for a Muslim woman to dress kondakova
believes that judgement drove her
daughter away she reluctantly admits
that in Mosul her daughter is happy
raising her first grandson mama Yakult
is his mom I feel like I was reborn here
I regret all those years I spent in
Dagestan don't you want to come here too
I want to live with you I want you to
see my boy growing up
and Herman Chamitoff gets to see his
grandson when his son Murat left for
Syria he abandoned a pregnant wife Oh
Alexei is now three years old they look
at photos of Murad as a boy and a young
Murad clowning around with his older
brother shamil when you look at these
doesn't make you wish that your sons
could all be here with you together yeah
daddy
yes I am a realist I know there's no
return
life isn't a book where you can tear out
the pages if you didn't like what you
wrote and write new ones
the Dagestan youth who fought for Isis
continued a decade's old legacy here of
radicalism and militancy there's been a
local insurgency here in the capital
Dagestan mahadji allah for years
targeting both local authorities and
symbols of the national government their
most prominent attacks targeted
civilians in larger cities in Moscow in
2010 militants allied with al-qaida blew
up the subway in 2013 in Volgograd they
blew up the bus station and then a
commuter bus as seen on Russian media
nimbala so suddenly there was no social
or physical protection every day there
were bombings terror attacks that calls
people's lives a be Magomedov is a
former police lieutenant colonel and
member of Dagestan anti-terrorism
committee
he says conservative Islam combined with
high rates of unemployment and poverty
to radicalize the reunion it's the
living conditions absence of
possibilities absence of social mobility
which creates waves of anger and
distress there has to be some sort of
history that sets the person on a
certain track where you only need to
light a match for the fire to start that
match is often a brutal security
crackdown in January 2013 Russian
Special Forces flooded into Dagestan II
villages local state security services
have practice collective punishment
against entire families torture even
extrajudicial executions mama Mehta
admits they went too far but he tries to
explain their motivation well yes the if
keeping people safe requires limiting
rights and freedoms of certain
individuals it's probably worth it my
brother died in 1990
when someone threw a grenade in his
house you know the freedom of one man
ends where the freedom of another starts
today the violence is diminished but
it's still religious Muslims whose
freedoms are most often restricted this
mosque practices an austere and
aggressive form of Islam
it also rails against government policy
and that makes it a police target after
prayers police set up a checkpoint
officers must meet a monthly quota of
arrests leading to what many call
indiscriminate - tensions including of
journalists trying to tell the mosque
story we were filming that scene from
across the street - standing on the
sidewalk for only about 90 seconds when
police came up and arrested US they
threw us into their car they drove us to
the precinct they refused to tell us why
they were arresting it and when we were
in the station we thought dozens of men
have been in that mock before also
arrested that is simply how police here
act thirty three-year-old manga met
Magomedov is the mosque spokesman Levitt
I drew G as you saw yourself they arrest
people not because they're suspicious
but only because they came to a mosque
do you think that the tactics that the
police used can help radicalize young
people here there is - of course this is
the thing that provokes people since
literally everyone can be arrested not
on the basis of actual cause but
something totally subjective then of
course that irritates and that helped
lead so many to Isis the group exploits
the abuse ahia Russian language
propaganda says Russia oppresses Muslims
and present Syrian Iraq as a pious
paradise fit for family and as Isis
recruited Dagestan ease Russian security
services showed some the door exporting
extremism by facilitating their travel
to Syria this first of Allah brothers
doing it was the right thing to do since
the moment these people left Dagestan
for Syria local terrorism dropped
dramatically if they had stayed there
would have been terror attacks there
would have been human casualties who
helped you leave who facilitated your
departure one of those who was pushed is
this 27 year old Dagestan who now lives
in Turkey we agreed to hide his face and
alter his voice
Rugel river holes of people who were on
the federal wanted list could somehow
get a passport and leave the country
some security officers said to them will
either kill you or you can leave the
country the way I was helped was that
every time I went to my local government
office I was taken by the police and
interrogated but when I went to get a
passport nobody stopped me and after the
dagestan he's left Russia made sure they
never came back we're apostles they
simply said that if I come back they'll
do bad things to me so I won't ever go
back many dagestanis who fought for Isis
have died in Syria and they're
celebrated by Isis propaganda but some
managed to escape often to the port city
of Odessa Ukraine former Isis fighter
Marat agreed to talk to us if we didn't
show his face
well since the majority went to Syria
with the notion of jihad that Assad was
repressing Muslims and we needed to help
them really we've actually already met
marajó
he's the son of Kazim Norma Gannett off
because neem is often in Odessa to visit
is she oh-hoh she says we consider our
family lucky he is back alive and
healthy and realized that where he ended
up wasn't what he thought it was when
his son left for Syria kazeem didn't sit
back and let him die he traveled to the
outskirts of Aleppo and saw the
destruction he helps convince Murad he'd
made a mistake Marat finally left when
he thought about his own son the more
thoughtful I was thinking about him
constantly hoping that I could leave and
see my child I was always thinking about
what a big mistake I made
thank God I was able to leave there
alive because practically everyone I
knew there no one is left alive
they all died there Marat will never
return here to Dagestan and that's
what's inspired Kazim to speak on camera
for the first time the Asian who did
come there are thousands of Isis
fighters in Syria who want to leave I
feel it maybe my story will be a lesson
how to do it what obstacles to expect I
feel some sort of responsibility to use
my experience to help get others out
people like cos Eames neighbor Amina she
fears her daughter is dead she hadn't
heard from her in four months
what would you say to a mother in
America who's listening to this story
well yet subscribe to new Qaddafi don't
let your children go anywhere
look after them
look after there every step but don't
let them leave you ever but their
children have left this place and most
will never return next we look at the
fate of some of the Kremlin's enemies
according to one study in the last three
years 38 prominent Russians have been
the victims of unsolved murders or
suspicious deaths the high mortality
rate has a long history but critics say
it's emblematic of how President
Vladimir Putin runs today's Russia in
today's Russia there are consequences to
criticizing the state
we tell protesters their rally isn't
sanctioned they're asking President
Vladimir Putin not to run for reelection
this demonstration is sponsored by the
opposition group open Russia from
saint-petersburg and across the country
police arrested more than a hundred
protesters it is democratic opposition
activists are being arrested and given
lengthy prison sentences it is members
of the Democratic opposition who are
being forced into exile a harassed or
attack unloaded 35 year old Vladimir
Carr Mirza is open russia's vice
chairman he's an outspoken activist
demonstrating against putin and
organizing protests we first sat down
with him late last year we believe in
the rule of law would be different human
rights we believe that Russia should
enjoy the same democratic institutions
of the rest of Europe enjoys to try and
create those democratic institutions he
teamed up with the man he calls his
mentor or a stem Soph a former Deputy
Prime Minister who became the country's
leading dissident the two travelled to
Washington to highlight the mysterious
death of Sergei Magnitsky a lawyer who
exposed corruption among senior
officials nemstov and cara mirza
convinced the US Congress to freeze the
assets of Russians believed connected to
Magnitsky's death these people in
account Russian regime who rule like to
keep you know the money the asset in the
West they won a vacation in the West's
and the kids to churches schools to the
west and this you know personal
accountability may well be the only
thing that will make them think twice a
little more than two years later Nemtsov
was assassinated a few hundred feet from
the Kremlin walls
his death was brazen and shocking this
is the spot where Boris Nemtsov was
killed and you can see the corner of the
Kremlin right there just
hundred yards away and you can see the
memorial for him that's on this bridge
today in Moscow a court sentenced five
people in themselves murder whether or
not they were the mastermind they
permanently silenced them sobs outspoken
criticism you live in car Mirza believed
someone used poison to silence him too
I started suddenly feeling really really
sick and within the space of 15 to 20
minutes I went from feeling could be
normal like I am now to having a really
rapid heart rate sweating palpitations
started vomiting and then I just lost
consciousness
kidneys I think one first and it was the
heart the lungs the stomach the liver
everything everything just shutdowns I
have no doubt that this was deliberate
attempt to murder based on my political
activities motivated by my activities in
the Russian opposition there are people
working as opposition who are not
targeted what is the line that you
apparently crossed there's a clear line
between just saying things that are
against the regime and it's a totally
different thing to go off to their own
personal interests after their pockets
the history of assassination goes back
decades in 1940 Leon Trotsky was killed
with an ice axe in 2006 crusading
Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya
was murdered and in 2014 Alexander
Litvinenko
a former intelligence agent who accused
Putin of ordering polar Kostas death was
killed by radioactive T Dennis Warren n
Coppedge lawmaker who defected to
Ukraine and became a Putin critic in
March he was walking down the street in
Kiev when a gunman shot him three times
his body bled out on the sidewalk in the
middle of the day Maria mock Zhukova is
his widow I was reading about my first
spring and Keith was beneath I was
screaming so desperately first I thought
it's very nuts to be born at all when
you lose something like
moxa Cova lives in kiev where she's
raising their son in Moscow
she and Lauren in Cabo lawmakers allied
with Putin and they enjoyed the spoils
that come from power but he'd also been
an investigator who uncovered corruption
in the Russian intelligence agency the
FSB who do you think killed your husband
he had certain enemies and these enemies
are in the FSB the anti-corruption
schemes that he would investigate from
here
that is lots of money and lots of
influence lots of of everything
physicians and that is something that
they would not let him do Russia calls
her claim a fabrication but his death
fits a pattern a once loyal family
member becomes an outspoken opponent and
ends up dead my family you can be born
in truth it can be adopted inted can't
believe it voluntarily people who have
tried to leave the Putin family
voluntarily have not fared very well
Masha Gessen is a Russian journalist
author and prolific anti-putin activist
you've been dubbed by some an enemy of
the state are you an enemy of the state
well I'm certainly an enemy of them
office in absolutely yeah I'm not an
enemy of the Russian state gessen was
the first journalist blacklisted by
Putin's Kremlin she's also been targeted
because she's a lesbian who's raising
adopted children
nothing Western woman you want to do a
new health intervention up of
micromanagement condemnable of dog
warden in 2013 she helped lead a video
campaign criticizing an anti-gay
propaganda law
it helped condone homophobia and attacks
on gay Russians and Gessen argues the
law explains how Putin rules the
autocrat needs everybody out in the
street would would Flags aloft they need
that's primaries they need for
mobilization to have mobilization you
need to have it you can have all the
beauty people as enemies today and then
you can have Americans tomorrow and keep
the LGBT people in your back pocket and
then pull them out and you need them
again and Gessen says above it all is a
boss served by loyal lieutenants who
don't need explicit instructions to
launch attacks let a patriarchal family
will fit in you know do I always have to
tell you what to do like don't you know
what the right thing to do is
that the Kremlin kill is political
enemies hundred percent sure not the
Kremlin denied our interview request
but Sergey Markov a member of Putin's
party and Russia's national strategic
Council reflects the Kremlin's defense
counterpunch and embraced conspiracy
theories starting with the assassinated
opposition leader Boris Nemtsov who
organized his killing I strongly believe
that it's terroristic organization as
both intelligence service of Ukraine
Ukraine calibers names you not you
create the Ukraine is country you know
captured by terrorists but terrorists
who captured Ukraine they killed by
eating soup but it's more than observe
right Vladimir karmerz has been poisoned
twice Anna post gaya was was killed
there there are a lot of people who
criticized the Kremlin who end up dead
first of all not too much this
atmosphere which is killing people exist
but this atmosphere had been created not
by Vladimir Putin but by Western
countries against Russia for the people
Putin target that argument is an attempt
to distract Russia surrounded by enemies
we should support even stronger than
before our leader etc etc there's a
standard propaganda for any of territory
and resume mikhail kasyanov was Putin's
first prime minister in the early 2000s
the two worked together to pass
much-needed economic reforms in 2004
Putin fired him in castiana became an
outspoken opposition politician
appearing alongside Boris Nemtsov and
Vladimir car Mirza last year a prominent
Putin Ally posted a video of him and
Kara Mirza in crosshairs but not all of
the Kremlin's enemies end up dead some
end up humiliated how did they target
you on television go there blackmailing
me and just creating your two stories
etc as ever five months before 2015
elections state television broadcast
castiana having sex with his assistant
the video helped fracture is party they
will try to destroy publicly to destroy
morally and reputation of all of us and
they're doing this quite successfully
and they day and they they can book and
here doing this is there anything you
can do to stop them we cannot do
anything because we have no protection
we have no free and fair elections we
have censorship in the media we have
political prayers more than 100
political prisoners now in Russia today
one year after he nearly died from
poisoning car Mirza got better and
restarted his work in February he was a
few hours away from boarding a plane to
Washington where his family lives for
their safety when he says he was
poisoned a second time we sat down with
him and his wife yevgenia in March I
couldn't breathe
and at this stage you know when you're
lying there trying to gasp for air you
know I think I felt just life slowly
going out of the whole body and I
remember that distinct feeling this is
it is it again
now I'm going to die the only thing I
was able to do I called my wife if Kenya
who was here in the United States I
asked them to take him to the hospital
to the same medical team that had
treated him in 2015 had it been on a
plane
had it been alone in his apartment had
it been somewhere with I don't know in
the streets of Moscow oh my god he
didn't talk
Karl Mirza had noticed that almost every
night Moscow city workers removed Boris
nemtsov's memorial so we made a film to
protect his mentor's career and life
buddy screams wolf on Norwegian analogy
what film was the most difficult thing I
ever did in my life
this film is about the portrait of a man
who could it's not for a quirk of fate a
very well become president of Russia do
you miss him Turner was this quite
fortunate
sort the risks they do hit closed home
closer and closer every time have you
ever asked him not to go back it is very
fine I'm not going to lie to you but I
want him to continue to do what he
thinks is important what he thinks is
right and her fate allows car Mirza to
keep his faith that he can change the
system he says after recovering he'll go
back to Russia to finish the work that
he and nemstov
started Vladimir Putin is now serving an
unprecedented third term as russia's
president and he's expected to seek
another six-year term in next year's
presidential election putin's been
widely popular but this spring for the
first time in years there were large
anti-government demonstrations across
the country this is the season of
Russia's discontent under President
Vladimir Putin there's been a tacit
agreement that people enjoy their lives
and stay at a politics now many Russians
are deciding that bargains no longer
worth it the value of him respect until
recently people were thinking politics
were somewhere far away but now people
understand politics hits close to home
38 year-old Alexei kodoroff and his
neighbors had considered themselves a
political but they launched these
protests when the city of Moscow planned
to evict them from their apartments to
knock them down and build high-rises
as always police presence was strong but
some Russians fear of their state seems
to be fading and faith in themselves
rising do you think you can make a
difference that one wasn't with me we
can change things if we stay together we
need to stay active it's very important
right now to recreate civil society for
the last five years civil society has
almost disappeared in the 1960s the
former Soviet Union built coder AUVs
apartment complexes inexpensive housing
your home is home for people like him to
have their own space whatever I'll go
inside it's nice with a view of the
Moscow River quarter of accuses local
officials of wanting to seize valuable
land to
rich Jefferson wozmak busca now is a
very important moment the people are
starting to unite to show the government
their point of view I was gonna but it
has the man most responsible for
creating that unity is Alexei Navalny
the 41 year old lawyer is the country's
most prominent opposition politician on
a crusade against corruption evil I've
never mind look what he did just because
the ruling United Russia party the party
of crooks and thieves in March he posted
an hour-long YouTube expose about
mansions yachts and land that he says
were corruptly acquired by Putin's Prime
Minister Dmitry Medvedev we did Medvedev
can steal so much and so openly because
Putin does the same but on a greater
scale the system is so rotten there's
nothing healthy left the volleys been
fighting Putin for six years in 2011 he
sparked massive protests ahead of a
parliamentary election he called rigged
let's in raw food it's very simple power
to the people
two years later he ran unsuccessfully
for Moscow mayor against the Putin
backed incumbent yes some will Chuck
today by using YouTube
Navalny circumvent state-run media and
maintains a huge following this video
has 23 million views at the mashallah
this is our country and these swindlers
are stealing our money
everyone should fight however he can
tens of thousands of people answered his
call on March 26 and June 12th Russians
launched the most widespread
unsanctioned protests in a quarter
century they were held in 185 cities
nearly all the protesters were young and
motivated to speak out by corruption
Putin's a thief they chanted police
joined the people they say don't serve
the government of monsters police
declined our invitation and arrested
1,700 protesters across the country
including Navalny he was sentenced to 25
days in jail for organizing an
unsanctioned rally he was also arrested
and jailed in March and back in 2014 he
was convicted of a felony defrauding
clients of a shipping company helped his
brother Oleg start
Oleg remains in prison Alexei calls his
brother a hostage and the charges
fabricated his conviction means legally
he can't run for office that hasn't
stopped him from campaigning for next
year's presidential election we want you
won you dog food we do not owe the
government anything it is the government
who owes us they build an authoritarian
regime that doesn't give anything back
his rallies are unusual in a country
where retail campaigning is almost
unheard of the crowds are young and he
talks like them Lorna she says they
think we have no right to ask questions
that we have to shut up and listen they
tell us you and we have to say oh okay
we're very sorry but no we have gathered
here to say we're going to ask these
questions and will obtain the answers
his anti-corruption message resonates
with me and I think that he is a very
charismatic politician 23 year old cyril
Kozlovsky and anyone in the crowd who
wanted one got a photo with Navalny
Kozlowski promptly posted it to his
profile on VK russia's equivalent of
facebook Kozlovsky acknowledges that
Putin has brought relative prosperity to
Russia he's not even old enough to
remember the political and economic
chaos that Putin helped end when he came
to power in 1999 what would you say to
your parents or grandparents who say
look things were a lot worse for us
before President Putin in the 18 years
that have passed he and his team could
have done a lot more to help the
situation a lot more to make it better
and he didn't so did the blame for this
in Cheboksary 375 miles east of Moscow
the local government made sure no one in
the city center would rent space to the
Navalny campaign so as gatherings take
place on the edge of towns like this
apartment complex as a guy father
Semyon coach ken is the local campaign
manager a level coletek see we were
rejected by all the landlord's by all
the hotels even the International hotels
even construction fields rejected us
coach Ken says he's been targeted
personally last year on VK he posted a
clip from comedian John Oliver's HBO
program last week tonight scamming
Aussies is the best thing anyone did on
earth thanks wait
the video shows band Isis symbols and
coach Ken was arrested for extremism he
took a selfie in the back of a police
car he accuses the government of
exploiting anti-terrorism laws to
silence novotny's campaign by ellicott
we are constantly fighting with the
authorities and it's always one-sided
because when it comes to election season
they make it impossible
local police also arrested 35 year old
Andre Yusupov he's the local orchestra's
first violin on March 26th he joined the
Navalny protest and a week later police
interrupted a rehearsal to take him to
jail I asked him if he thought he'd be
arrested for protesting if Navalny were
president yeah absolutely beautiful
couplet I'm absolutely certain this
would not happen because under Alexei
Navalny the country will be more open
Alexia's for transparency and only with
transparency can we overpower corruption
arrests are only one way the Russian
establishment pushes back directed in
the one ample will Sheila's state TV
portrays novela knees protests as an
existential threat to Russia stability
listen to what the country's most
popular anchor said last month see when
the provocative they use people to
provoke the crowd and make the situation
spiral out of control
achieving chaos first in one square in
one city and then they plunge the entire
country into poverty I'm afraid to say
civil war government-run high schools
for students to watch a video comparing
Navalny to Hitler accusing him of being
a fascist trying to undermine the state
but for the first time in a generation
young people are rejecting
the government talking points in a
classroom 2,000 miles from Moscow
students posted a video of themselves
challenging a government funded school
teacher who called Navalny supporters
freaks and defended corruption in the
state home drive a second avocado would
cool yeah
another thing you gotta mine now I am
young but I like impulsive and you must
have been dealing the pressure on Navami
himself is sometimes physical last year
members of the pro-government Cossacks
doused Navalny with milk and beat up its
staff in April a state TV channel showed
an assailant after he sprayed in a
volley with green dye and chemicals
Navalny is right I needed surgery
Navalny accused the Kremlin of
organizing the attack
no does really let's get backwards even
if I look like this does that mean that
we will accept money's been stolen and
used to buy yachts I don't think so
more Navalny x' poll numbers remain low
but he's changing public opinion 2/3 of
Russians now identify corruption as the
country's number one problem
President Putin avoids responding to
Navalny substantively
but the Navalny effect means at a town
hall in moscow where questions are
usually screened in advance this
teenager dared to ask Putin about
corrupt officials undermining the
public's faith in government but for the
Dominions oh how are you planning to
solve this problem
Putin responded and venules digital
applause pathetic you read your question
did you prepare it yourself or did
someone put you up to it little life
prepared me for this question
hey that's vastly while he's inspired
the younger generation some fellow Putin
opponents criticized Navalny for being a
nativist six years ago he released
videos comparing immigrants who work in
Russia to cockroaches
if only stands by the videos instead he
wants to appeal the Nationalists which
is why he rarely criticizes Putin's
muscular and popular foreign policy in
Ukraine and Syria
Navalny turns down interview requests
including ours and tries to keep the
focus on corruption you save your
harshest criticism of the president for
his domestic policy obviously not his
foreign policy in fact you don't talk
very much about its foreign policy is
that because you agree with most
available avenues two-party system I
don't talk a lot about foreign policy
because here everyone is interested in
wages income and bad roads he tries to
feed populism to an audience that's
hungry he highlights government
corruption to people who feel they have
nothing to lose and he's trying to
convince a generation and perhaps the
country that politics requires
participation and finally the us-russia
relationship to say it's been tense is
an understatement
so next we try and understand how
Washington sees Russia and how Russia
sees the United States on Russia's most
patriotic holiday Russians of all ages
remember what they consider their finest
moment they mark the anniversary of
victory in World War two by honoring the
dead Korea nom nom ovitch his
grandfather fought the Nazis
he says Russian the US were once allies
and should be again we can finally read
what you really want to love you and be
friends with you we are waiting for you
to finally meet us halfway for Russians
it's the u.s. who's unwilling to come
halfway many here believe President
Trump wants to improve things but is
being blocked by what Dmitri sheikin
calls the American establishment we'll
go area by Lee to cool Trump wants to do
something but he's forced to follow the
general political line Donald Trump is
the most right-wing candidate of the
Republican Party perhaps nobody
expressed more hope in Trump's and
Alexander Dugan a right-wing TV
firebrand and philosopher who's helped
inspire the Kremlin's ideology really we
supported trumpism
which supported our agenda Dugan says
the Kremlin saw Trump is a kindred
spirit who vowed not to meddle in turn
ash
we supported this choice of
anti-establishment conservative America
revolution that changed when President
Trump ordered a missile strike on Russia
ally Syria and Teddy felt he must
respond to a chemical weapons attack as
long as America stands for justice then
peace and harmony will in the end
prevail we trusted not in trump as
pro-russian figure we trusted in trump
realist and we are disappointed the
disappointment and tensions have been
growing last month over the Baltic Sea a
Russian jet flew within 5 feet of a US
Air Force reconnaissance plane that same
week a NATO Jets shadowed the Russian
defense ministers plane and a Russian
jet came up and rocked its wings
demonstrated was armed last year the
Obama administration accused Russia of
hacking the election and then seized
Russian properties and increased
sanctions all of that has led to Russian
frustration Maria Zakharova is the
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman we were
trying to establish normal relationship
normal didn't know this word normal
relationship what is wrong with food
president and I have been discussing
various things going very well last week
the u.s. took steps toward normalization
presidents Trump and Putin announced a
deal on Syria
both presidents called their meeting the
first step to warming the relationship
asturias if we develop our relations in
the same way there is every reason to
believe that we would be able to at
least partially restore the level of
interaction that we need the president
echoed that hope on sunday he tweeted he
wouldn't dwell on 2016 hacking and wrote
now is the time to move forward and
working constructively with russia
foaming-at-the-mouth this is not the
language other Trump administration
officials use about Russia on Syria how
many more children have to die before
Russia cares now is the my view on
Ukraine
we do call on Russia to exercise
influence over this separatist
in the region whom they do hold complete
control over and on potent personally
this is a man for whom veracity
translated into English the one senior
administration official who's declined
to echo that criticism is Donald Trump
if candidate and president wouldn't it
be a great thing if we could actually
get along with Russia with nothing sir
a respect vote is a strong leader I can
tell you that unlike what we have we
have a pathetic leader Putin C kill'uh
a lot of killers get a lot of killers
while you think our country's so
innocent and last week in Warsaw
President Trump once again questioned
the US intelligence community's
unanimous assessment that Russia hacked
the 2016 election I think it was Russia
but I think it was probably other people
and or countries and I see nothing wrong
with that statement nobody really knows
at the very least giving the president
all the benefit of a doubt this is very
bizarre behavior Democratic Senator Mark
Warner is the vice chairman of the
Senate Intelligence Committee we are
seeking to determine if there is an
actual fire but there is clearly a lot
of smoke Warner's helping lead the
Senate's investigation into Russian
interference in the 2016 election and
whether President Trump or his campaign
colluded with Russia's attempts to sway
the election we first interviewed him
three weeks ago it is very strange that
any presidential candidates and in
particular Republican presidential
candidate would pair it so much of the
Russian line Republican Senator James
Lankford is also on the Intelligence
Committee in some ways as president
Trump aligned himself with the ideals
expressed by Russia yeah he's pushing
out the messages that are consistent
with the Kremlin policies and I would
tell you every opportunity that I have I
try to articulate very clearly there's
no question that the Russians were
trying to hack into her election there's
no question that we should have a strong
NATO and the United States should be a
part of that NATO alliance do you
believe that he's not echoing that
because the Russians have compromising
material on him I don't know I hope not
but the goal of this investigation is
not only reconfirm Russian intervention
and explain that to the American public
but to also see if there was any
contacts between the Trump campaign and
the Russians and just this week we
learned that last June Donald Trump jr.
met with lawyer Natalia Vissel MIT skya
and
lobbyists Rinat Akhmetov both believed
to have ties to the Russian government I
spoke to Senator Warner again last night
this indication that they were willing
to accept this information from Russians
and it was part of an overall Russian
government effort to help Trump and to
hurt Clinton I think this is the first
time the American public has seen that
in black and white much of this town has
been worried about Trump in Russia since
he became president current
administration officials tell Newshour
the White House drafted an executive
order that would have lifted sanctions
imposed on Russia over Ukraine senior
administration officials and the
intelligence community successfully
lobbied against it and this spring
senators passed a bill that would
restrict the president's ability to lift
those sanctions the bill is not yet a
law but it was designed to be a nearly
unanimous message to the President and
to Putin we believe strongly that what
Russia continues to do they will
threaten Ukraine threaten its neighbors
threaten NATO to continue to pry into
not only our elections but other
elections is destabilizing it in a
demands a response what they've yet to
have a consequence for what they did in
the election time and they should in
some ways the president has fallen in
line on Sunday he tweeted he wouldn't
lift sanctions on Russia over Ukraine
until Ukrainian and Syrian problems are
solved and last week he also endorsed
article 5 NATO's collective dissents the
United States has demonstrated not
merely with words but with its actions
that we stand firmly behind article 5
the mutual defense commitment
that convinces many in Moscow that the
u.s. establishment is making sure the US
remains anti-russian Dmitri trenin is a
former Soviet Army colonel who directs
the Carnegie center in Moscow the United
States has been remains and will be the
power that defines a common Western ie
us driven foreign defense and security
policy and given that
treinen says the US remains Russia's
main adversary and Russia is simply
targeting the US with whatever tool it
can I'm sure that the Russians have been
looking at things I've been hacking
things have been using the material that
they've hacked my are you surprised that
that you are being packed this is a
method of espionage this is what you do
if you can do it do it if you can't
protect against that protect against it
but don't whine but it goes one step
further many in Russia look at
Washington's turbulence and see a US
state considered strong and unified
suddenly weakened and they're exploiting
that weakness in the US foundation it is
not so coherent it is not so stable it
and it is vulnerable I would say and we
have seen that we have seen what we
needed to see to see vulnerability of
American society and with that
vulnerability with that lack of unity
both American and Russian officials
acknowledged that Russian interference
in the United States is going to
continue for all of us at the PBS news
hour
I'm Nick Schifrin thanks for watching
you
