RUSSIA: MOSCOW: COMMUNISM EXHIBITION
Russian/Nat
A huge exhibition and park complex on the outskirts of Moscow, constructed to celebrate communism's achievements turns 60 on Sunday.
Like the rest of Russia, the centre is now suffering a funding crisis.
Its halls, where Soviet citizens once came to marvel at the technology that could put a man into space, are now warehouses for cheap TVs from South-east Asia.
Now the struggle is to preserve what remains of the park's exhibits.
Superficially, this monument to Soviet achievement still looks good.
Its golden statues continue to glisten, while its magnificent fountains are a magnet for Muscovites in the hot summer.
The vast exhibition and park complex, known as the Exhibition of the Achievements of the National Economy or V-D-N-K, was opened 60 years ago.
Soviet propaganda films portrayed the centre in northern Moscow as a showcase for the achievements of the economy.
This, they said, was a place where the hundreds of nationalities of the USSR's sixteen republics could mix in harmony and display the fruits of their labours.
Now, 60 years on, there are some who are trying to revive those traditions.
Former Soviet prime minister Nikolai Ryzhkov would dearly love to resurrect V-D-N-K as a symbol of the old regime's achievements.
But he admits hard cash will be needed if the centre is to regain its former glory.
SOUNDBITE: (Russian)
There are many parts of the centre where activities have been stopped. The Kolos fountain hasn't been working for two years because the pressure system needs to be replaced. The Space pavilion is in a pitiful state. It needs 10 million dollars to restore it.
SUPER CAPTION: Vasily Shupira, Exhibition Centre Director
For, like mush of the rest of the former U-S-S-R the V-D-N-K is suffering a crisis of funding.
Its famous Space pavilion is looking the worse for wear.
Under the photo of Yury Gagarin, the first man to orbit the earth, Soviet citizens once came to share in one of the Soviet Union's greatest achievements - the conquest of space.
The final indignity, before the pavilion closed completely, was to be used as a market place for electrical goods.
Other buildings continue to be used for the pursuit of profit.
The centre's management claims money from the sales will be ploughed back into what's left of the exhibits.
Even if the cash raised is enough to keep the ailing centre going, Muscovites, who have grown up visiting its displays, say its too little, too late.
SOUNDBITE: (Russian)
There are a lot fewer exhibitions now. Basically it's all shopping now. Before you could take a look at the animals, take a horse ride...Now it's just shopping, clothes, not much. Half of it's O.K., half of it's bad.
SUPER CAPTION: Voxpop
Nikolai Ryzhkov will continue his efforts to preserve this symbol of the worker's revolution.
But it seems unlikely Soviet-style tractor exhibitions can do much to conjure up the glory days of the V-D-N-K's past
For the moment it seems the modern, capitalist, Russia, has no money to spend preserving its communist past.
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RUSSIA: MOSCOW: WORLD WAR II EXHIBITION
Russian/Nat
Unique Nazi memorabilia, including Hitler's jacket and boots, are going on public display for the first time in fifty years.
The historic collection can be seen from Friday at Moscow's Army Museum - despite concern that it could help to fuel a neo-Nazi revival.
When the Russian Red Army knew that the Nazi forces were defeated at the end of World War II, special trophy brigades were sent by Moscow to collect items of value.
They travelled to ruined German cities and among other things, brought back some priceless works of art - others returned with clothing that belonged to Hitler.
The War Museum director is aware that some officials are wary about opening the exhibit.
SOUNDBITE: (Russian)
The pro-Fascist forces are increasingly active throughout the world, including Russia. That was the main bone of contention that affected our decision whether to open this exhibition or not.
SUPERCAPTION: Colonel Nikolai Nikonov, Museum Director
But he is confident that the exhibition won't become a shrine to neo-Nazis.
SOUNDBITE: (Translated from Russian)
I think that Hitler's jacket is not an icon. And we aren't expecting fascist pilgrims to come here.
SUPER CAPTION: Colonel Nikolai Nikonov, Museum Director
The exhibit will provide a unique opportunity for Russians to see the preserved items, and the hope is that it will serve as a reminder of the war - not a source of provocation.
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RUSSIA: MOSCOW: EXHIBITION OF CLOSED CITIES
Russian/Nat
Years after the fall of communism, the former Soviet Union is continuing to yield its once most closely guarded secrets.
Cities whose very existence was for years concealed are for the first time openly displaying the results of their work for the former regime's military programme.
They were at the heart of the Soviet Union's defence industry - cities like Chelyabinsk- seventy and Penza-nineteen.
For years out of bounds to outsiders, these former 'closed cities' have had to face up to the harsh reality of the post-Communist world.
Previously hushed-up their very existence has come to depend on people - and businesses - knowing about them.
Now an exhibition in Moscow - opened by Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Sergei Shakhrai - is helping them get the word out.
Key defence industry enterprises from these former secret cities have had an open house in the Russian capital, displaying lines of civilian products ranging from wooden bears to kitchen utensils.
In the past workers in the defence sector enjoyed higher wages and received rations of meat, fresh fruits and vegetables when the rest of the Soviet population went hungry.
But the opening up of Russian society and the disarmament that followed the Cold War put an end to the privileges.
Now, following free market reforms, many of the state owned companies are finding it extremely hard to adapt themselves to new conditions.
SOUNDBITE: (Russian)
The most difficult thing is not conversion of production, but conversion of mentality. The cities lived in exceptional conditions and it is now extremely difficult to grasp that the state can only guarantee a minimum and the rest they should earn by themselves.
SUPER CAPTION: Vladimir Shchukin, Mayor Snezhinsk (formerly Chelyabinsk-70)
These former privileged cities are feeling the pinch following a sharp drop in orders from the military sector.
SOUNDBITE: (Russian)
Only 30 per cent of our orders are military now. The enterprise used to produce securities systems, guarding nearly 70 per cent of the Soviet Union's borders.
SUPER CAPTION: Vladimir Skripkin, Marketing Director, Start plant
Low wages have forced many workers to leave for jobs in the private sector, but judging by the interest in the Moscow exhibition the future of Chelyabinsk-seventy and Penza- nineteen looks safe.
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80th anniversary of Moscow’s famous exhibition
(2 Aug 2019) LEAD IN:
The world largest museum and recreation space opens in Moscow, in celebration of its 80th Anniversary.
The legendry Soviet Exhibition of Achievements of the National Economy, attracts 30 million visitors a year, and celebrates Soviet proganda art.
STORY-LINE:
This week in the centre of Moscow the legendary Soviet exhibition venue Exhibition of Achievements of the National Economy, known by its acronym VDNKH, opened its doors to the public in celebration of its 80th anniversary.
Spanning almost 2.5 Kilometers, it is the world's largest museum and recreational complex in the world.
It remains incredibly popular, attracting 30 million visitors a year.
The venue was first opened on August 1, 1939 initially to showcase the agricultural achievements of the Soviet Union.
The exhibition that was organised then, the exhibition of collective farms, had the goal of showing that the new life has come, says Pavel Nefyodov, Historian and Curator of the VDNKH Museum.
The past is left in the past, and now we have the new happy life, we have the abundance, the wealth, we have the new happiness under the command of the Communist Party,
The need for this propaganda was acute. It was shortly after the peasantry of the Soviet Union was forced to join the collective farms with centralised Soviet management, known as collectivisation.
The process was harsh, so the Soviet government wanted to promote positive ideas about life in the collective farms to reconcile people with the new reality.
Of course, during the Soviet time the exhibition was the propaganda tool, where ideological lines and campaigns were either implemented or tested and given birth. It was absolutely an exclusively ideological project, which was aimed at promoting some topical idea, says Nefyodov.
Archival photographs of the displays of agricultural produce presented at the early exhibition bring to life the atmosphere of that era and its propaganda.
Soon after the World War II the complex grew into the biggest showcase of not only agricultural, but also industrial, and technological accomplishments of the Soviet Union.
Of course, during the Soviet time the exhibition was the propaganda tool where ideological lines and campaigns were either implemented or tested and given birth, of course it was an exclusively ideological project, which was aimed at promoting some topical idea, says Nefyodov.
The monumental Stalinist architecture, grand statues, splendid fountains, including the world renown Fountain of People's Friendship; huge pavilions in the style of 15 Soviet republics, demonstration of Soviet space achievements – all this contributed to the same goal of promoting and maintaining the idea that the Soviet Union is a world leader in all spheres.
This component, this splendour, ostentatiousness in a sense, of this exhibition, has been its characteristic feature throughout its history. Hence this redundant architecture, the excessiveness in the decor, hence the desire to impress, says Nefyodov.
The statue of Worker and Collective Farmer remains the most remarkable and recognisable symbol of VDNKH.
Created for the World Expo in Paris in 1937 where it adorned the Soviet pavilion, the statue was then brought to Moscow and installed on a pedestal at the North (at that time - the main) entrance to the All-Union Agricultural Exhibition.
Quite a few new spaces opened in connection with the anniversary including exposition Cultural Code of VDNKH.
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Soviet avant-garde art from Uzbekistan exhibited in Moscow
(22 Apr 2017) LEADIN
A rare exhibition of Soviet avant-garde art from Uzbekistan has gone on display in Moscow.
The show contains many works collected by 1950s painter Igor Savitsky.
STORYLINE
A group of art fans take in Alexander Volkov's 'Brigade entering the field'.
It's one of 200 paintings from the Savitsky State Art Museum of Karakalpakstan to have gone on display at the Pushkin Museum in Moscow.
This rare travelling exhibit is from a gallery widely regarded as having one of the world's best Soviet avant-garde art.
Vladimir Lysenko's painted bull stares at the viewer with flat, black eyes, one of his horns festooned in a mosaic of bright rectangles, the tip of his tail stretched toward a glowing orange globe that may be the sun.
What he intended with this classic painting of the Soviet avant-garde is unknown; it is from an era when unconventional art was literally arresting. Lysenko was arrested in 1935 and what happened to him afterwards is unclear.
Over the years, the painting has become one of the most renowned images of the artistic ferment that bubbled under the strictures of insipid Soviet social realism.
But until recently, anyone who wanted to see it had to travel to an isolated city in Uzbekistan's desert.
The show also draws attention to the history of the museum, which is as remarkable as the works it holds.
In this museum we have gathered some truly unique collections of things that, first of all, tell the story of Turkistan avant-garde. It is a very special field of study, says Director of The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Marina Loshak.
In the 1950s, painter Igor Savitsky got work in an archaeological expedition in Uzbekistan.
He became fascinated by the intricate weavings and elegant pottery of the local Karakalpak ethnic group and collected extensively. Local officials, flattered by his interest, helped him establish a museum in the city of Nukus.
Savitsky was also concerned about the fate of the works of the Soviet Union's more adventurous artists.
In the early 20th century, Russia had been a hotbed of bold art experimentations: Suprematism, Constructivism and visions too idiosyncratic to fit into any category.
But by the early 1930s, authorities decreed that art must express Soviet ideals and be comprehensible to the average worker.
Bold colours, dancing polygons and strange faces disappeared from the public view, replaced by muscular construction workers and children devotedly presenting bouquets to Josef Stalin.
Savitsky began collecting as much of the unofficial art as he could, reportedly filling train sleeping compartments with paintings to bring them to Nukus, some 2000 kilometres (1200 miles) from Moscow.
Savitsky has been praised as a patron of the Nukus art sanctuary and unknown artists of the region.
Many of the works likely would have been destroyed or become irreparably deteriorated if he had not been able to spirit them to the city far away from the central government's attention.
He collected works without taking into consideration whether this was a well-known name or not well-known. He collected art with an orientation on the art itself, says curator Irina Kim.
Bazarbai Serekeyev is an Uzbek artist whose works was spotted by Savitsky in the 70s:
Savitsky looked at my work and asked Did you paint this yourself?, I said yes. After that he bought three of my paintings and told me that I should paint more. He gave me some recommendations. His words inspired me and I started painting more, he says.
Many of the works in the show had to be lovingly restored before they were displayed.
The exhibition in Moscow runs April 21 until 10 May 2017.
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The State Museum of Russian Diaspora in Moscow
The Alexander Solzhenitsyn House of Russia Abroad is a cultural institution that for over 20 years served as a Russian expatriate community cultural and scientific center, leading an active educational activity. The idea of creating a Museum of Russian Diaspora on its basis has matured for a long time, but was embodied only now. On may 28, 2019, the new museum was opened with the participation of Sergey Lavrov, the Russia's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Alexander Kibovsky, Moscow's Minister of Culture and a number of other high ranked officials. The President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin sent a welcome telegram.
One of the world's leading companies in museum exhibition and planning — Ralph Appelbaum Associates - acted as the Museum architect and its concept creator, focusing on spatial solutions and scenography of the exhibition. We worked closely with the RAA team and the staff of the House of Russia Abroad.
Our work on the project took about a year. Pitch has taken on a wide range of tasks related to the development of comprehensive stylistic and design solutions and the creation of graphic, interactive, video and audio contents for numerous installations. In total, we have created 18 unique interactive installations and applications for the Museum, 6 films for projections and screens, 14 audio pieces, developed more than 30 graphic elements of the interior (from explications to wall prints and collages) and the entire labeling system. Our editors and translators have adapted and reworked a huge amount of text material for localization into other languages. One of the most important aspects of this project was careful and painstaking attitude to the materials received from the curators and the scientific group, as well as work with the archives, funds and extensive collection of the House of Russia Abroad, that served as the basis for multimedia content creation.
In the process of work we often had to adapt the original concepts, make different content and design decisions and work fast. In this way came the idea to shoot 30 interviews with compatriots on the topic of emigration and Russian culture abroad. Within few days we have found participants via open call in social networks, have prepared for shooting in a rented chromakey pavilion and filmed the interviews and then edited the videos.
Audio installations and sound design were also executed with a great care: from creating a medley of classic songs to reconstruction of 1920s' soundscapes of cities - centres of Russian emigration from Paris to Harbin, or making a narrative out of diaries of navy captain Semyon Chetverikov, we immersed the audience in a discussion about the fate of the Motherland's prominent philosophers of the time.
There are far too many people we would like to thank and mention on this project. The result of the joint work of such a large number of people is a unique exhibition space, filled with the most bespoke multimedia solutions, that opened in the heart of Moscow, at Taganka. We are sure that it will become a center of attraction not only for the foreign Russian diaspora, but also for our compatriots: according to the Moscow Department of Culture numbers, the new museum will receive about 100,000 visitors a year.
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Brezhnev''s 1970''s Nissan goes under hammer in Moscow
MOSCOW, 12 APRIL 2006
1. Wide shot of exhibition hall
2. Various shots of photographer taking picture of model
3. Close-up of Jaguar badge on the front
4. Medium shot of cars and visitors.
5. Various shots of cars
6. Medium shot of Nissan car belonging to Leonid Brezhnev, ex Soviet president
7. Close up, Nissan badge
FILE 1981
8. Medium shot of Leonid Brezhnev, Soviet leader
9. Portrait of Leonid Brezhnev
MOSCOW, 12 APRIL 2006
10. Brezhnev''s car, with his current owner
11. Close-up of portrait of Leonid Brezhnev on windshield
12. SOUNDBITE: (Russian) Boris Lakhmetkin, owner of Leonid Brezhnev''s car
The car is good, just wonderful. You know, even now I can smell the aroma of Brezhnev''s tobacco. I do not smoke myself so I can smell it very strongly.
13. Close-up of black car
14. Close-up car headlight
15. Medium shot of girls with drums marching past ZIL limo
16. Medium shot of ZIL limo used by Russian leader Mikhail Gorbachev and first Russian president, Boris Yeltsin
FILE
17. Mikhail Gorbachev with former american president Georges Bush
18. Mikhail Gorbachev entering the car
19. Zoom in from car to George W. Bush saying goodbye
20. Various of Boris Yeltsin dancing on stage
MOSCOW, 12 APRIL 2006
21.SOUNDBITE: (English) Lord Poltimor, Chairman of Sotheby''s in Russia
I think it is the first sale of motorcars of this quality that has been staged in Russia, as far as I know. So art historically is quite interesting and it is an important time, and the market is right. There is lots of money in Moscow and I think the sale should do well.
22. Various of ZIL 110, official car for Soviet official ceremonies
STORYLINE
Former Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev''s motor is due to go under the hammer in Moscow, as a selection of luxury cars were viewed before auction.
Among the cars offered for sale were ones used by the last Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, and the first Russian president Boris Yeltsin - although it''s not known whether Yeltsin, with his notorious fondness for vodka, ever actually got behind the wheel.
These cars were almost always chauffeur driven.
For Boris Lakhmetkin, the owner of Leonid Brezhnev''s custom made Nissan, the limousine was much more than a fine car. It was a part of Soviet history.
The car is good, just wonderful. You know, even now I can smell the aroma of Brezhnev''s tobacco. I do not smoke myself so I can smell it very strongly said Boris.
Surprisingly, the most popular cars among the first visitors were not exclusive vehicles which had already become part of Soviet history, but more expensive models made by famous Western manufacturers.
The starting price for some of the Bentleys on sale is around 600-thousand US dollars and their chances of being sold at auction are higher than those of the exotic Soviet models, according to experts.
Lord Poltimor, who opened the exhibition, said that there is plenty of money in Moscow and plenty of rich people in Russia who like to splash their cash about.
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RUSSIA: ORPHANAGE 26 ONE OF THE BEST HOMES IN RUSSIA
Russian/Nat
The number of abandoned children in Russia is on the rise.
But while the statistics are up, funding is down, meaning most of Russia's parentless children languish in government homes in the most terrible of conditions.
But one orphanage in Moscow has done an amazing job in creating a suitable home for the unwanted.
Orphanage Number 26 is doing its best to change the way Russian homes are run and make a difference in the lives of the little ones they care for.
Abandoned by their parents, these little children don't know how lucky they are to be enjoying the comforts of Moscow's Orphanage Number 26.
Definitely one of the capital's best institution for the parentless, Orphanage Number 26 may even be one of the best homes in all of Russia.
A recent report released by Human Rights Watch put the number of abandoned children in Russia at more than 200,000 - a good percentage of which reside in crumbling and under funded institutions that encourage little learning.
But here at Number 26, teachers and administrators have created a cosy and near ideal environment for their young charges.
With the children living in groups of between 5 and 8 - and an active and varied programme to stimulate both mind and body - orphanage No. 26 is setting the example all across Russia.
Official statistics show that the number of children put in state custody has doubled over the past five years and with the Russian economy in a downward spiral experts expect that number to keep rising.
Unlike orphans in the US or Europe, most of the children in Russia's orphanages do actually have parents still alive - but who are unfit to care for them -- the majority of them victims of alcohol abuse, violence and sheer poverty.
An overwhelming number of children at Orphanage No. 26 spent many unhappy years with abusive parents before they were either seized by the state or abandoned on the street by their parents.
Ten year old Alexei Babkov was finally committed to an orphanage at the age of eight after his parents drank themselves into oblivion.
For Alexei, as for the rest of Russia's orphans, there is almost no chance that his parents will ever reclaim him.
SOUNDBITE: (Russian)
My parents were drunkards and they abandoned me when I was nine, no actually when I was eight, they drank vodka too much and just left me. Eventually a woman came and told them that their son will be taken away.
SUPER CAPTION: Alexei Babkov, 10 year old orphan
While the conditions at this orphanage are commendable, the majority of Russian children's' institutions are infamous for their poverty and inefficiency.
Human Rights Watch found tens of thousands of Russian children confined in brutal conditions, deprived of rights as fundamental and basic as food and free movement.
Many of Russia's abandoned children are wrongly classified as mentally or physically disabled - thus ensuring they enter the virtually inescapable cycle of medication, abuse and confinement.
While lack of finances is definitely at the root of the problem, some child experts in Russia say that many orphanages could be run more effectively -- even on the meagre funds they are allotted.
SOUNDBITE: (Russian)
Our orphanage is perhaps better than others not so much because the economic situation but because of our personnel -- its the correct choice of people working with the kids. I wouldn't say that for instance we get more funding than another orphanage, it is just what we do with them.
SUPER CAPTION: Marina Nikinova, Director of Orphanage, No. 26
Russia's political and economic turmoil have taken a heavy toll on families.
Officials now say that more than 100,000 Russian children are abandoned each year.
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The style of Catherine the Great and imperial Russia
RUSSIA EMPRESSES
SOURCE: AP TELEVISION
RESTRICTIONS: HORIZONS CLIENTS AND AP LIFESTYLE, HEALTH AND TECHNOLOGY CLIENTS ONLY
LENGTH: 5.16
AP Television
3 April 2013 - Moscow, Russia
1. Mid of portraits of Catherine the Great (left) and Maria Federovna (right)
2. Close-up and pan upwards of portrait of Catherine the Great.
3. Wide of dress of Maria Federovna, the wife of Emperor Pavel in the early 19th century.
4. Mid of a statue of Maria Federovna, focus to gold-laced dress.
5. Mid and pan down of gold-laced dress of Empress Alexandra Federovna, the wife of Emperor Nicholas I.
6. Close-up of gold lace, tilt down
7. Wide of gold-laced dress.
8. Wide of the back of the gold-laced dress.
9. Wide of statue of Alexandra Federovna and the gold-laced dress.
10. Mid of Raisa Kirsanova, style critic and professor of art history.
11. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Raisa Kirsanova, style critic and professor of art history:
(Catherine the Great) She always insisted on wearing Russian clothes, because she wanted to show off the national character of her reign. There were some important elements to her reign - not contradictions but a strict kind of balance. Peter (the Great) opened the window to Europe and moved towards it with (the founding of) St. Petersburg, whereas Catherine (the Great) acted in the South (expanding Russia's imperial borders). That's why she assured everyone that she was following the direction taken by Peter, but she had her own ideas.
12. Mid and pan upwards of Catherine the Great's military dress (she was involved in the military as the leader of the state).
13. Close-up of Catherine's shoes.
14. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Marina Sidorova, historian and one of the curators of the exhibit:
Peter (the Great) turned Russia upside down. He issued decrees that women should be public (figures), that they should actively take part in this temporal world, he introduced the idea of the asembley. The asembley is what we would today call a reception, where people can communicate and at the same time have fun. So they can do business, but on the other hand they'll dance and eat and drink.
15. Mid tracking shot of Sidorova walking through the exhibition, approaching some decorative notebooks of the empresses.
16. Close-up of the notebooks.
17. Mid of Sidorova explaining that the notebooks depicted various famous locations in Russia and Europe.
18. Close-up and pan to the right of notebooks.
19. Wide of exhibition hall.
20. Mid and pan of dresses.
21. Close-up of gloves.
22. Mid of various perfume cases.
23. Close-up of hand perfume case
24. Mid of a woman looking at the objects in the exhibit.
25. Wide of part of the exhibition hall.
26. Close-up of a decorative fan.
27. Wide and pan of exhibition and dress designs hanging on wall.
28. Mid of dress designs pictures
29. Mid of a woman taking a photograph of one of the dresses.
30. Close-up of the woman's phone.
31. Mid of women looking through the glass at hair-pins.
32. Close-up of hairpins.
33. Mid and pan upwards of the dress of Empress Elizabeth Alexeevna, the wife of Emperor Alexander I, who had a preference for the high-waist neo-classical style of dress.
34. Mid of a woman writing in a notebook in the exhibit.
35. Close-up of woman writing
36. Wide of various people in the exhibition.
37. Mid of official ceremony to open the exhibit.
38. Wide of ceremony
39. Mid of people attending ceremony including Tom Risdahl Jensen, the ambassador to Denmark in Russia (Empress Maria Federova, wife of Emperor Alexander III, was from Denmark).
40. Mid of crowd.
41. SOUNDBITE (English) Ambassador Tom Risdahl Jensen, Denmark's Ambassador to Russia:
42. Wide of crowd.
43. Wide of exterior and a poster for the exhibit.
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RUSSIA: MOSCOW: COMMUNISM EXHIBITION (V)
Voice and effects
Voice by Louise Bates
A huge exhibition and park complex on the outskirts of Moscow, constructed to celebrate communism's achievements turns 60 on Sunday.
Like the rest of Russia, the centre is now suffering a funding crisis.
Its halls, where Soviet citizens once came to marvel at the technology that could put a man into space, are now warehouses for cheap TVs from South-east Asia.
Now the struggle is to preserve what remains of the park's exhibits.
VOICE-OVER:
(00.02)
Superficially, this monument to Soviet achievement still looks good.
(00.06)
Its golden statues continue to glisten, while its magnificent fountains are a magnet for Muscovites in the hot summer.
(00.14)
The vast exhibition and park complex, known as the Exhibition of the Achievements of the National Economy was opened 60 years ago.
(00.23)
Soviet propaganda films portrayed the centre in northern Moscow as a showcase for the achievements of the economy.
(00.30)
Now, former Soviet prime minister Nikolai Ryzhkov wants to resurrect the centre as a symbol of the old regime's achievements.
(00.40)
But he recognises that it's hard cash that's needed.
(00.43)
SOUNDBITE: (Russian-with English translation)
There are many parts of the centre where activities have been stopped. The Kolos fountain hasn't been working for two years because the pressure system needs to be replaced. The Space pavilion is in a pitiful state. It needs 10 million dollars to restore it.
SUPER CAPTION: Vasily Shupira, Exhibition Centre Director
(01.07)
Like much of the rest of the former U-S-S-R the centre is suffering a funding crisis.
(01.13)
Instead of being closed, it's had to endure a worse indignity.
(01.17)
It's being used as a market place for electrical goods.
(01.20)
For the moment at least, it seems modern, capitalist, Russia, has no money to spend preserving its communist past.
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Russia opens new Stalin museum
(18 Dec 2015) RESTRICTION SUMMARY: AP CLIENTS ONLY
AP TELEVISION - AP CLIENTS ONLY
Khoroshevo, Tver region - 9 December 2015
++16:9++
1. Wide of a group arriving for a tour to the museum commemorating former Soviet leader Joseph Stalin
2. Wide of exhibit of a reconstructed room from a typical Russian house from 1940s
3. Mid of museum director Lidiya Kozlova giving a tour
4. Close of a book on a table with title page reading (Russian) Table Calendar 1941
5. Mid of a radio and a samovar
6. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Lidiya Kozlova, Director of the museum:
For our region it's a big event. According to the documents it was Stalin's only visit to the front. And it happened in this region. Here this museum tells about the events that happened near the city of Rzhev during the days of the Great Patriotic War (Russian term for World War Two) and about the events that happened at the Rzhevsko-Vyazemsky bridgehead where Nazis ruled for almost 14 months. And here everywhere around, as Mikhail Ivanovich Nozhkin (a Soviet actor and writer) said, great, tough and long battles were happening.
7. Wide of exhibit of room
8. Mid of Kozlova giving a tour
9. Mid of a painting of Stalin
10. Tilt down of photos of Stalin
11. Mid of visitors
12. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Lidiya Kozlova, Director of the museum:
Each of us wants our state to be strong. And I always ask the following question: Can a strong state be ruled by a week president, a week head of the state? It can't be that way. So that the government became strong, the head of state has also to be smart, strong and sometimes even tough. Because today the current situation demands that. And in the time when Joseph Stalin ruled the country, the situation demanded this 100 times more.
13. Wide of tour
14. Mid of two posters, with titles reading (Russian) (left) Tehran and (right) First Fireworks
15. Close of poster
16. Mid of visitors
17. Various of exhibit
18. Wide of another tour outside the museum
19. Close of a bust of Stalin in front of the museum
20. Mid of tour group
21. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Sergei Zubarovsky, tour guide:
We had the gulag. We had other mistakes. People were punished. But our soldiers went into the attack. They were rising for the motherland, for Stalin. And that happened in this region. He is a kind of a flag which lead us to the victory. And he may have had mistakes, but we know them, and our pupils know about these mistakes. We tell them about them, we are not hiding them. And we also say about the glory he brought to us.
22. Wide of a street scene
23. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Vasilisa Lishinskaya, 21-year-old mother of two children:
Whatever the person was, anyway somewhere deep in the soul he is good. And if the commander is good, then he will lead out his troops to the right path.
24. Mid of people crossing the road
25. Various of the city
AP TELEVISION - AP CLIENTS ONLY
FILE: Moscow - exact date unknown
++4:3++
26. Wide of military vehicles in Red Square
27. Various of Stalin
28. Wide of soldiers in Red Square
29. Mid of military vehicles on parade
30. Close of Stalin
STORYLINE:
As the 137th anniversary of the birth of Josef Stalin is marked on Friday, the retelling of the former Soviet leader's triumphs have become increasingly fashionable during troubled times in Russia.
A bust of Stalin stands outside a house-turned-museum in the village of Khoroshevo, in the Tver region, where he is said to have stayed the night on his only visit to the front during World War Two.
Groups of students look around the two-room building where Stalin strategised with his generals in August 1943 as the Red Army battled to drive out the Nazi troops.
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BREAKING! Putin:The Birth Rate is Falling Again! We Must Do Everything To Support Russian Families
Russian President Vladimir Putin: I would like to start the main part of my Address with demography, how many children are born in Russian families in one, five or ten years, on these children’s upbringing, on what kind of people they become and what they will do for the country, as well as on the values they choose as their mainstay in life.
The President of Russia delivered the Address to the Federal Assembly. The ceremony took place at the Manezh Central Exhibition Hall.
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RUSSIA: MOSCOW: INTERNATIONAL AEROSPACE SHOW OPENS
Eng/Russ/Nat
With the fate of the crippled Mir space station being played out thousands of miles above Earth, back on the ground Russia has been trying to show its still in the space and aviation business.
The opening of the international aerospace show outside Moscow on Tuesday allowed Russia to display its future potential: from slick fighter planes, to the latest in satellite technology.
The Mir space station may be down and out but the rest of Russia's aerospace industry is doing its best to compete in the high tech aviation market.
An impressive international aerospace show has opened just outside Moscow at the once-closed Zhukovsky airfield. It was a display of both Russia's and the planet's aviation might.
The worlds biggest aircraft makers displayed their latest designs beside their Russian competitors. Some 328 firms are participating from 24 countries.
More than any other nation, Russia was out to show her potential after more than five years of military decline and industrial recession -- and especially after all the troubles aboard the Mir space station.
President Boris Yeltsin himself turned up on the opening day to watch his country's prize fighter plane, the MIG-29, fly overhead.
SOUNDBITE: (Russian)
The Russian aviation industry has not lost any of its quality, it has the best brains in the world, they have not only preserved but improved and created absolutely new types of aircraft. We are absolutely competitive on the world market, and we have the ability to continue.
SUPERCAPTION: Russian President Boris Yeltsin
Boeing and other Western firms are currently giving Russia a run for her money -- swallowing up arms and technology markets that once belonged exclusively to Russia. But Russia is fighting back, designing new planes, helicopters, booster rockets and satellites and aggressively pushing them on the market.
At the aerospace show Russia will demonstrate some 110 military and civilian planes, some of them sporting new technology.
Russia will demonstrate a new-generation combat plane to a select audience -- its design is considered a military secret and few details about the craft are known.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
They have a very excellent technical capability and the aviation aircraft production side. They are looking to take that technology and capability from the military sense into a commercial sense and that is their main thrust today.
SUPERCAPTION: Thomas Basacchi, Boeing Europe/Russia Vice President
Despite its faltering reputation in the space industry Russia is still struggling to remain a player in the space race. In fact on contract from the United States and the European Space Agency, Russia's Krunichev factory is designing the millenium's Alpha International space station.
A scaled down model of the Alpha was on display at the airshow, as were parts of Russian booster rockets and satellites.
With the problems aboard Mir, criticism of Russia's financially strapped space program has been free-flowing. But communist leader Gennady Zyuganov says that Russia still has a few things to show the world when it comes to space.
SOUNDBITE: (Russian)
Let me see another country that will be able to build such a space station, no one would be able to. Russia will always remain in the lead in this area of technology. All that has to be done is to finance them properly, the government I mean, and give them a sense of purpose. In fact we will try to do this with the next budget.
SUPERCAPTION: Gennady Zyuganov, leader of Russian Communist Party
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Russia - Moscow Children's Hospital
T/I: 10:47:47
Former US Presidential candidate Ross Perot and Naina Yeltsin,
wife of Russian President Boris Yeltsin visited the burn centre of
Moscow Children's hospital on Saturday (1/7). As the only facility
in Russia operating with the help of the US project HOPE, it
treats the most serious pediatric cases from all over Russia and
the CIS.
SHOWS:
MOSCOW, 1/7
EXT OF HOSPITAL
CU OF HOSPITAL SIGN HOPE PROJECT USA
BURNT CHILD BEING WHEELED INTO WARD AFTER TREATMENT
NURSE AND MOTHER STANDING OVER CHILD IN SPECIAL AIR BED
CU CHILD CRYING
BANDAGED CHILD LYING ON BED
CHILDREN WALKING IN WARD
MOTHER WITH BURNT CHILD ON HER LAP
ROSS PEROT WALKING THROUGH WARD WITH NAINA YELTSIN
CHILDREN PLAYING
ROSS PEROT AND MRS YELTSIN EXAMINING WARD
VISIT TO PLAYROOM
JO DI CARLO, DIRECTOR OF HOPE PROJECT IN RUSSIA SOT (ENGLISH):
PROJECT HOPE IS A WESTERN MEDICAL EDUCATION AND DEVELOPMENT GROUP
THAT HAS PROJECTS IN 30-40 COUNTRIES OVER THE COURSE OF THE LAST
35 YEARS AND EACH OF THEM HAS SOMETHING TO DO WITH MEDICAL
EDUCATION AND DEVELOPMENT. THEY COME IN A LOT OF FORMS. THIS
PARTICULAR FORM IS A HANDS ON COLLABORATIVE, TEACHING WORKING
PROJECT THAT HAS BEEN GOING ON FOR FIVE YEARS
CA
SOT (RUSSIAN) DOCTOR, LUDMILLA BUDKEVICH, HEAD OF INFANTS WARD:
OUR MAIN DIFFICULTIES ARE NOW NOT WITH SURGICAL TREATMENT OF
CHILDREN, BECAUSE WITH THE HELP OF OUR AMERICAN COLLEAGUES WE HAVE
BEEN ABLE TO LEARN THEIR METHODS. THE MAIN PROBLEM NOW IS THE
REHABILITATION PROGRAMME.
PEROT AND YELTSIN SHAKING HANDS AND LEAVING HOSPITAL
SOT PEROT (ENGLISH):THEY NEED A LOT OF EQUIPMENT, THEY HAVE
OBSOLETE EQUIPMENT NOW AND IF YOU SEE THOSE CHILDREN, SEE THE PAIN
THEY ARE SUFFERING, EVERYONE OF YOU WOULD WANT TO CONTRIBUTE.
PEROT LEAVING.
ENDS 2.35
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RUSSIA: MOSCOW: US PRESIDENT CLINTON ARRIVAL
Natural Sound
U-S President Clinton has arrived in Moscow to meet the new Russian president Vladimir Putin
Clinton's Air Force One aircraft touched down at Moscow's Vnukovo Two government airport just before 1400 G-M-T.
Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov was on hand to meet Clinton who has the Russian speaking U-S Secretary of State Madeleine Albright with him.
Before Clinton arrived, U-S officials said there were signs Putin was softening his opposition to a proposed U-S missile defence system.
Albright says she's encouraged that Putin appears to recognise a potential threat from North Korea and that the U-S and Russia should deal with it together.
Putin has told the U-S network N-B-C that the Kremlin might be willing to compromise and work with the U-S to build a missile defence system.
He earlier expressed concerns that putting up a missile defence shield could trigger a new arms race.
Clinton will have a working dinner with Putin on Saturday before their first summit formally begins on Sunday.
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Russian Air Force show off in the midst of NATO war games
Russian Air Force and Anti-Air Defence aircraft from the Southern Military District repelled a simulated attack above the south of Russia, as shown in footage released by the MoD on Thursday.
Pilots launched missiles against air and ground targets. An Su-30 played the role of the aggressor. Over 300 officers and 30 units of aviation hardware took part.
The drills in the Southern Military District will end on October 31.
Meanwhile NATO military forces forces from 31 countries began their largest war games since the Cold War yesterday, in an exercise branded “insane” and provocative by one critic.
Stretching from the Baltic Sea to Iceland, military manoeuvres were practiced close to Russia, which itself held a huge military drill last month.
The Nato exercises played out a hypothetical scenario that involved restoring the Scandinavian country's sovereignty after an attack by a fictitious aggressor.
Peace activist and author David Swanson, told Radio Sputnik the drills were madness, and argued it was no longer clear what Nato’s true purpose was.
He said these kind of games were great “for building up hostility and maintaining enemies that help sell weapons, but they risk major war.”
“And they risk nuclear war.”
Swanson pointed to a petition at RootsAction.org calling for an end to military exercises that had obtained over 10,000 signatures.
The exercises involved 50,000 troops, 250 aircraft, and 10,000 tanks, trucks and other land-based vehicles, and were headed by US admiral James Foggo.
Foggo said: We're here now, in the north, demonstrating our capability to bring a large force to bear on a problem that is an Article 5 problem” - referring to the Nato treaty's promise of mutual defence among member countries.
Dubbed Trident Juncture, the exercise is by far the biggest in Norway since the early 1980s, a sign that the alliance wants to sharpen its defences after years of cost-cutting and far-flung combat missions.
The exercises will continue over the next two weeks, in which troops will be tested against unforgiving environments.
Increasingly concerned about Russia since it annexed Crimea in 2014, Norway has sought to double the number of U.S. Marines receiving training on its soil every year, a move criticized by Moscow.
In a joint op-ed published Thursday in Dagens Nyheter, one of Sweden's largest newspapers, the Nordic defence and foreign ministers said they saw no military threats against the Nordic countries today, but we live in an unpredictable and uncertain time.
Russia has both shown the will and ability to use military force to achieve strategic goals.
Cyber-attacks and disinformation are actively used to create divisions between people in Europe as well as in the United States, which in turn challenges democratic institutions and our ability to reach common conclusions, they said.
If Nato and Russia are playing at intimidation, they both guilty for raising tensions.
Last month Russia held its biggest manoeuvres since 1981, called Vostok-2018, mobilising 300,000 troops in a show of force close to China's border which included joint drills with the Chinese and Mongolian armies.
Nato's war games were originally meant to involve 35,000 troops, but that number has grown in recent months and included the late addition of an aircraft carrier, the USS Harry S. Truman with some 6,000 personnel.
Nato fears Russia's military build-up in the region could ultimately restrict naval forces' ability to navigate freely, and on October 19 the Truman became the first American aircraft carrier to enter the Arctic Circle since before the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Read more - NATO stages biggest military exercise since end of Cold War:
(Vostok) Russia stages biggest war games EVER with 300,000 troops marching alongside Chinese soldiers for the first time:
Critics are calling the massive show of force “insane,” as it increases the risk of armed conflict:
Petition for both sides to end war games:
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Moscow mosque opens its doors to non-Muslims
(28 Mar 2016) LEAD IN:
An open day at Moscow's Cathedral Mosque has attracted a large crowd.
Both Muslims and non-Muslims had the opportunity to explore the building and its artefacts.
The mosque, which recently reopened after years of restoration and renovation, hopes to become a centre of social and religious life for Muslims in the Russian capital.
STORY-LINE:
The gleaming domes and spires are a recent addition to Moscow's skyline.
Moscow's new Cathedral Mosque was opened to the public late last year.
And today the mosque has opened its doors to non-Muslims.
A long queue gathers at a display case. Inside there's an important artefact - the 'Hair of Mohammed'.
This was a gift from Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov when the mosque opened in October, 2015.
The mosque's leaders believe this building is important for the country's Muslims.
The mosque is a kind of spiritual shelter, where a person either turns into nothing or is revived. The Moscow Mosque is the main mosque in the whole of Russia. It is a central mosque and it attracts many people, and today we wish to have more non-Muslims here, says Eldar Alliutdinov, Imam of Moscow Cathedral Mosque.
He says Russia's 20 million Muslims live alongside the predominantly Christian population in harmony.
Muslims in Russia are not aliens, they are not people who appeared here a hundred years ago. They are natives, and even many historians argue about this - about who was here on this land earlier, says Alliutdinov.
Muslims or non-Muslims, without divisions along the lines of nationality, have been living next to each other from time immemorial, they live as neighbours. It's true, there were different times - you can have a look at history. But this is not the situation we see in Europe or in America (where there are divisions).
Around two million Muslims now live in Moscow, after an influx from the North Caucasus republics of southern Russia, Azerbaijan and the former Soviet states in Central Asia.
The city also has long had a sizeable Tatar minority.
Part of the day's programme is a Quran reading competition, where children under 14 put their skills to the test.
A crowd gathers to hear the children perform and amongst them a regular visitor to the mosque – Mohammed.
In general there is no such thing as persecution (of Muslims) as some people say. I live, I'm a Muslim. Everything is very peaceful, no one bothers me. What's important is to be a good man, a moral man, and there will be no problems whatsoever, he says.
There are extremist movements - but don't go there, don't become a radical. Live as a common man lives. Have common sense. Everything is very good. No one interferes, no one oppresses.
Also on offer is a guided tour around the mosque, a chance for visitors to learn more about the building and its artefacts.
And Moscow businessman Hadji Ilhomidin Kadirov has come here to pray with his family.
The new mosque has transformed the way he worships.
Everybody knows that 10 to 15 years ago - it's impossible to imagine now - a billion Muslims in the world knew that when we prayed, marked Kurban Bayram (Eid al-Adha), or took part in Ramadan, we sat in the street, on the pavement and prayed under rain and in slush and in snow, he says.
But today the almighty has given us an opportunity such as a multi-storied, beautiful mosque where we can pray, both on regular days and on Fridays.
Brightly coloured pictures of mosques are displayed on easels in one room of the building.
The artworks are produced by children who are busy working away on their masterpieces.
Away from the events of the open-day, prayers continue as usual.
Built on the site of a smaller, more than 100-year-old mosque destroyed in 2011, it can accommodate 10,000 worshippers.
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RUSSIA: VALDAI: NUCLEAR MISSILE BASE TURNED INTO A MUSEUM
Russian/Nat
It was once the Soviet Union's largest nuclear missile base, capable of destroying major cities in the West.
Then disarmament stripped rocket base number 6, Valdai division, of its deadly weapons and launch silos.
But one silo was preserved and along with the nuclear control centre has been turned into a museum to the Cold War.
It's the height of the Cold War and at the Soviet Union's biggest nuclear weapons base, 460 kilometres north of Moscow, guards have been alerted by an intruder.
Even if trespassers had managed to scale the complicated network of electric fences without coming to harm, they would have probably been shot on sight.
As the core of the country's first strike capability for decades it was a no-go area for everyone except authorised personnel.
Now following nuclear disarmament even foreigners are welcomed to what is believed to be the first Cold War museum located in a former front line position.
Anyone who can afford the two-hundred U-S dollar entrance fee can descend 40 metres underground to the central control room and press a launch button which would have once prompted the start of Armageddon.
Three officers from the elite Rocket regiment would have sat here, round the clock, ready for the order to launch any or all of the 110 Satan missiles located in the vicinity.
Each missile carried ten nuclear warheads targetted at NATO countries.
Major Alexander Finyunov worked here for 26 years.
Now he conducts tours around the base.
He believes the museum is a monument to human achievement.
SOUNDBITE: (Russian)
We have to preserve it because there's not too many places like this in the world. The whole country was working to create this. The labour of millions of people went into this - the whole of the Soviet Union not only Russia - it was the pinnacle of our industrial achievement.
SUPER CAPTION: Major Alexander Finyov, Retired missile unit officer
The base is located far from civilisation, in the middle of a national park.
As the place was being disarmed and the silos destroyed under the provisions of the START II treaty, the park director Alexander Glazov hit upon the idea of setting up the Cold War museum.
In 1994 the Ministry of Defence handed over to Glazov one of the silos and the command centre.
He believes it will not only be a history lesson for future generations but also a deterrent.
SOUNDBITE: (Russian)
I want it to show how wrong it was to build all this for the high-tech destruction of people. Too much money and effort was spent on destroying each other. Thank God the Cold War has ended and my only wish is that there won't be any more wars - cold or hot.
SUPER CAPTION: Alexander Glazov, Head of Valdai National Park
But the base is rundown - water seeps through its underground tunnels, pipes are rusting and the Ministry of Defence has removed a lot of the top secret equipment.
Although the government gives it financial help it's not enough to restore the base to its former glory.
SOUNDBITE: (Russian)
It's very expensive to maintain, it uses a lot of energy. This museum has to be treated the way you treat the Hermitage, the Tretyakov and the Russian Museum. There they have art but here we have technical art.
SUPER CAPTION: Alexander Glazov, Head of Valdai National Park
Few Russians have visited this hands-on museum and the number of foreign tourists has so far been negligable.
What was once a top military secret in the Soviet Union is now one of Russia's best kept tourist secrets.
Few people outside of the National Park are aware of the base and without the necessary funding to promote it, the museum, like the Cold War, will be relegated to the pages of history.
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WRAP Funeral for slain Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, Merkel, Putin comments
AP Television
Moscow, Russia
1. High shot of mourners by the coffin
2. Mid shot of coffin
3. Mid shot of family
4. High shot of wreaths
5. Wide shot of funeral procession
6. Mid shot of mourners
7. Close-up of portrait of Anna Politkovskaya in black frame
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Anthony Brenton, British Ambassador to Russia:
President Putin himself has said it will be investigated thoroughly. They know the death of journalists of this kind is a sickness in Russia which they need to deal with to turn Russia to the sort of democracy and the society which they and we want to see it become.
9. Wide shot of coffin being carried to the grave
10. Wide shot of burial site
11. Wide shot of priest saying his last words
12. Close-up of hands holding candle, zoom out to mourners holding wreaths
13. Mid shot of people standing by grave, tilt down
14. Wide shot of mourners proceeding to the grave
POOL
Dresden, Germany
15. Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel entering news conference
16. SOUNDBITE: (Russian) Vladimir Putin, Russian President
Whoever did this crime and whatever the motives were, we should state that it was a disgusting crime, abhorent in its cruelty and surely should not be left unpunished. She sharply criticised the existing government of Russia but journalists should know and experts are fully aware that as for the degree of her influence on the political life in Russia, it was very insignificant.
17. Cutaway of media
18. SOUNDBITE: (German) Angela Merkel, German Chancellor:
We spoke about the fact that I'm very disturbed and bothered about the murder of the journalist Anna Politkovskaya. It is, for us (Merkel and Putin) very normal that freedom of press and democracy belong to each other. The Russian president made clear that everything will be done to investigate the murder and bring those responsible to justice. The freedom for people who write and report shows an important degree of democracy in the country.
19. Putin and Merkel shaking hands
STORYLINE:
Hundreds of Russians, journalists and diplomats filed past an open casket on Tuesday, to pay their respects to slain reporter Anna Politkovskaya.
More than 1,000 mourners filed past her body at a funeral hall on the outskirts of Moscow.
Her forehead was covered with a white ribbon according to Russian Orthodox tradition.
Forty-eight-year-old Politkovskaya, was gunned down in her apartment building on Saturday.
The investigative journalist was a prominent Kremlin critic and the contract-style killing triggered international outrage.
Anthony Brenton, British Ambassador to Russia, told AP Television at the funeral that the Kremlin was well aware that the murder of Anna Politkovskaya was not an isolated incident.
They know the death of journalists of this kind is a sickness of Russia which they need to deal with to turn Russia to the sort of democracy and the society which they and we want to see to become, Brenton said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday denounced the killing as a disgustingly cruel crime that cannot go unpunished.
He made the comments at a news conference after meeting Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor for talks in Dresden, Germany.
Merkel said: The Russian president made clear that everything will be done to investigate the murder and bring those responsible to justice.
Politkovskaya's death threw a new spotlight on the risks faced by journalists who criticise Russian authorities and dig deep to expose abuses.
The star reporter made a name for herself by chronicling human rights abuses against civilians in Chechnya.
It says Politkovskaya was at least the 43rd journalist killed for her work in Russia since 1993.
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RUSSIA: MOSCOW: ADOLF HITLER'S SKULL ON SHOW
Russian/Nat
Adolf Hitler's skull has been on show for the first time ever at an exhibition in Moscow.
The exhibition called The Agony of the Third Reich opened on Wednesday and marks the 55th anniversary of the end of World War Two.
The exhibition opened on Wednesday (April 26) at the Exhibition Hall of Federal Archives in Moscow.
Several archive agencies of Russia plus the Russian Federal Security Service (F-S-B), the Defence Ministry and the Foreign Ministry came together to sponsor the exhibition which contains some 150 exhibits.
People visiting The Agony of the Third Reich exhibition are able to view genuine documents and former belongings of Hitler.
Showpieces at the Moscow exhibition include historic materials from the Nazi bunker, the last shelter for the ringleaders of the Third Reich at the end of the Second World War.
Goebbels' diary and other genuine belongings of the leaders of the Third Reich can be viewed together with pictures of the Nuremberg Tribunal with scenes of executions of the main Nazi criminals.
The most graphic exhibit includes a piece of Hitler's skull - complete with bullet hole from where he shot himself.
Nikolai Mikhayko, Director of the Archive of the F-S-B described how the skull became known as that of the former German dictator.
SOUNDBITE: (Russian)
This piece of skull was taken during an investigation when they were trying to see if this was indeed the corpse of Hitler. This was in late 45 early 46. And the skull was investigated and it was found to be authentic - the skull of Hitler.
SUPER CAPTION: Nikolai Mikhayko, Director of the Archive of the FSB
The Director of the archive is aware that more modern methods could be applied to the investigation towards authenticating the origin of the skull.
SOUNDBITE: (Russian)
In order to be (even more) sure that it is Hitler's skull, we need modern methods, for example DNA. But I don't know if we will find any living relatives of Hitler. But we have to compare the (DNA of the ) skull with (the DNA of relatives). Maybe we will find people who are willing.
SUPER CAPTION: Nikolai Mikhayko, Director of the Archive of the FSB
Most of the materials at the exhibit have not been on show previously as they had been stored in secret archives as part of investigation files for decades since the end of World War Two.
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