Pinned
"Waiting for my Dad - Ukraine's children of the missing"
📻 Listen to the documentary - our exclusive access to the first-ever summer camp for the children of Ukrainians missing in the war - on BBC Sounds! ⚡️👇
bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0…
Will Vernon
8,886 posts
Will Vernon
@BBCWillVernon
BBC journalist. “A nobody” - Andrew Tate. “Slightly blind” - Alexander Lukashenko. “NATO propagandist” - Donetsk People’s Republic
Joined August 2011
- 🧵 This is the picture the Kremlin wants you to see: thousands of people who support President Putin and the "special military operation" in Ukraine, crammed into Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow. We went there today and talked to dozens of people who attended... 🧵
00:00 - Russia’s biggest carmaker AvtoVAZ is sending all its employees on a “20-day leave” amidst a shortage of deliveries of electronic components.
- Russian Ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Antonov, has said Moscow has sent a diplomatic note to Washington demanding the US stop sending military aid to Ukraine.
- Replying to @BBCWillVernonOne man, who works in the Moscow metro, told us that he and other employees had been forced to attend the rally. "I'll be here for a while and then I'll leave… I think most people here don't support the war. I don't," he said.
- Replying to @BBCWillVernonMany said they worked in the public sector (e.g. schoolteachers), and that they had been pressured into attending by their employers. One group of teachers, from a town near Moscow, were being told what to say to us by a woman who appeared to be from the local administration.
- Moscow confirms Russian teachers in Ukr's Kharkiv Region have been arrested by advancing Ukr forces. The teachers had been reportedly sent by Moscow to teach a Rus curriculum in schools in occupied Ukr territory. When Rus forces retreated, it seems the teachers were left behind.
- Replying to @BBCWillVernonIn comparison to opposition rallies, most people didn't want to talk, be filmed or answer any questions. Some would cover their faces or put up their hoods when we said we are journalists. Many seemed embarrassed or ashamed to be there.
- Replying to @BBCWillVernonStudents told us they had been given the option of a day off from lectures if they attended 'a concert.' Some of them didn't even know that the event was dedicated, in part, to support for Russian forces in Ukraine.
- In one video showing Vladimir Putin’s visit to occupied Mariupol, a woman can be heard shouting “It’s all lies, it’s all just for show!” After this, Putin’s security detail can be seen desperately looking around, presumably trying to see where the shouting came from…
00:00 - Replying to @BBCWillVernonThere were doubtless some people in attendance who genuinely support President Putin and the "special military operation in Ukraine", as the Kremlin prefers to call it.
- Russian reporter asks people on the street what they would do for their country. They say, "I'd go to war! I'd die for my country!" He then asks them to write down their personal details on a "patriotic list" to be "first in line" in case of mobilisation. Guess what happens next?почему так смешно
00:00 - Things are moving fast in Russia today: - Parliament passes law introducing concepts of mobilisation & martial law - Rebel 'republics' in east Ukraine (under Kremlin control) announce "referenda" on joining Russia for 23-27 Sept - Putin urges industry to boost weaponry production
- Moldovan Pres Sandu is chairing a Security Council meeting in 30mins, after which she will brief the media. Today, the breakaway Moldovan Transnistria “authorities” announced they will shortly “take a decision to protect the interests of their republic,” which is allied to Russia
