Channel Dozhd, aka TV Rain, bids farewell to viewers on March 1 with a clear message: “No to war.” Earlier I had already sent another one, not so obvious for those who do not know the Soviet history, when sending The swanlake. At the time of the death of the last Soviet leaders, as well as in the August 1991 coup, the Tchaikovsky ballet was broadcast on television. On the day the European Parliament passed a resolution condemning the forced deportations of Ukrainian citizens to Russia and a new EUR 5 billion aid package for Ukraine was approved, the station’s information director, Ekaterina Kotrikadze, was in Strasbourg, where he met with Commissioner Frans Timmermans and some Members of Parliament and spoke to the DN and other European media.
There was nothing wrong with the closure of the station, which was established in 2010. In the most recent anti-democratic drift, Vladimir Putin’s regime had banned the use of the word “war”, such as “invasion” or “attack”, to talk about the events described in the Kremlin lexicon as a “special military operation” to “denazify” Ukraine.
The question, Ekaterina Kotrikadze said, was whether she and her husband, Tikhon Dzyadko, the station’s director, and the rest of the team should stay in the country or leave. “I never thought I would be in a situation like this, it was like a thriller. They called me in the middle of the night and said I would have to get out of the country with the kids.”In the end they made the decision to leave Moscow. First to Istanbul, then to Georgia and finally to Latvia.
According to the Russian-Georgian journalist, the regime usually issues warnings and, as if to prove what it says, the case of a commentator on TV Rain as an example. “The first sign was that he was a foreign agent. Then he was fined. Then he was arrested for 15 days and as soon as he left he was arrested again for another 15,” he said.
For Kotrikadze, almost all critically minded people who chose not to go into exile are in prison. “Now we know for sure that they wanted to get us out of the country or take other measures.”
TV Rain resumed broadcasts two months ago, now from Riga, the capital of Latvia, via YouTube. In the first month, they had 15 million unique views.
The Information Director, who is also a pivot, said the channel is in a process of growth thanks to the support of European foundations and companies. In two weeks they will start with the morning program again. AND, Contrary to what one might think, every Russian citizen with internet access can access the broadcastwhich still amounts to a maximum of four hours a day.
“Putin has two choices: stay where he is and lead the country into disaster, or continue with a general mobilization and openly recognize that it is all-out war, which would be just as bad.”
The inhabitants of Russia make up the majority of the audience (55%), followed by spectators from Ukraine, other former Soviet countries, Germany and the United States. “We are not trying to be aggressive, because among our spectators I am not saying that there are supporters of Putin, but there are people who have doubts, even if they are not supporters of the war,” said Ekaterina Kotrikadze.
With 45 people working in the Latvian studio and another 15 in Tbilisi and Amsterdam, the station also relies on the cooperation of image reporters and journalists in Russia. The complicated thing, he said, is the gymnastics of paying for these partnerships, bearing in mind that Russian banks are disconnected from the international payment system.
“At the moment most of the soldiers come from very distant regions, so you can’t speak of a movement against the war. I wouldn’t be too optimistic. I’m even afraid to say, to put into words, what Putin could do. “
Asked about the effect of economic sanctions in Russia, she said that what caused a stir in Moscow was the suspension of the visa deal by the European Union. “Sanctions work, but it’s a very long process. People still haven’t felt it on their skin, the ruble is fine, and in a normal life you don’t feel anything in Moscow.” In the near future, he predicts that the effects will reach Russian citizens. “Russian officials are hiding the numbers and in six months or a year people will feel it.”
For now, “visas are the only thing that made people curious.” However, he acknowledged that it is a limitation that affects a minority: he estimated the population with a passport at less than 10%. “That’s the big problem for the Russians. The vast majority of people have never left the country and don’t even know what other values exist. People think that if it wasn’t for Putin, NATO would invade Russia.”
The journalist traveled at the invitation of the European Parliament.
Source: DN
