0:00:02 > 0:00:07In 2006, Vladimir Putin launched a campaign against those
0:00:07 > 0:00:09he considered to be Russia's enemies.
0:00:35 > 0:00:38The Russian government released video of a fake rock which
0:00:38 > 0:00:42they said was being used by British spies in Russia.
0:00:42 > 0:00:43I'm afraid you're going to get
0:00:43 > 0:00:45the old stock-in-trade of never
0:00:45 > 0:00:47commenting on security matters.
0:00:49 > 0:00:51Except when we want to, obviously.
0:00:53 > 0:00:56It appeared that the British had been framed.
0:00:56 > 0:01:00But the Prime Minister's Chief of Staff now reveals
0:01:00 > 0:01:02that the footage was genuine.
0:01:02 > 0:01:03There's not much you can say.
0:01:03 > 0:01:06The spy rock was embarrassing. They had us bang to rights.
0:01:06 > 0:01:09Clearly they had known about it for some time
0:01:09 > 0:01:12and had been saving it for a political purpose.
0:01:12 > 0:01:15That purpose was to justify a new law cracking down
0:01:15 > 0:01:18on human rights and pro-democracy groups,
0:01:18 > 0:01:21which Putin said were funded by western secret services.
0:01:57 > 0:02:01Putin had come to power promising to defeat the rebellion in Chechnya.
0:02:01 > 0:02:04He threw everything at it.
0:02:09 > 0:02:12In three years his forces had retaken the territory,
0:02:12 > 0:02:15but they could not bring peace.
0:02:17 > 0:02:21Some Chechen fighters had found a safe haven
0:02:21 > 0:02:25in a small corner of Georgia, the Pankisi Gorge.
0:02:25 > 0:02:28From there they regularly slipped across the border to attack
0:02:28 > 0:02:30Russian troops.
0:02:30 > 0:02:33This conflict over the Pankisi Gorge
0:02:33 > 0:02:38would bring America onto Russia's doorstep.
0:02:38 > 0:02:41It began with a warning by Putin.
0:03:11 > 0:03:12Sergei said,
0:03:12 > 0:03:15they're not doing anything in Pankisi
0:03:15 > 0:03:17and pretty soon the Russian army
0:03:17 > 0:03:19will just take care of it,
0:03:19 > 0:03:21we'll bomb them, we'll go in there.
0:03:21 > 0:03:24They were not only Chechens in the Pankisi Gorge.
0:03:24 > 0:03:28There were Pakistanis, Arabs, you name it.
0:03:28 > 0:03:31It was like an arc of Noah.
0:03:31 > 0:03:33And I said "stop."
0:03:33 > 0:03:36I said, "Russian Generals want no piece of the Pankisi Gorge
0:03:36 > 0:03:40"and they're not going in there and you know that and I know that
0:03:40 > 0:03:43"so stop threatening to do something you're not going to do."
0:03:43 > 0:03:44Well, she didn't like, of course,
0:03:44 > 0:03:47what we hinted what we would do in the future.
0:03:49 > 0:03:51I said, "No way, we have to do it.
0:03:51 > 0:03:55"Otherwise we are not joint partners in fighting terrorism."
0:03:55 > 0:03:58And so we said, "Look, we'll train the Georgian forces
0:03:58 > 0:04:01"to deal with the problem in the Pankisi."
0:04:06 > 0:04:09US Special Forces arrived in Georgia.
0:04:09 > 0:04:12They helped expel the Chechens.
0:04:12 > 0:04:17But then they stayed on and American interests there grew.
0:04:17 > 0:04:19Georgia's president,
0:04:19 > 0:04:22former Soviet foreign minister Eduard Shevardnadze,
0:04:22 > 0:04:24had been highly regarded.
0:04:24 > 0:04:29But as opposition to him grew, the West financed pro-democracy groups.
0:04:31 > 0:04:33The country was not being well run.
0:04:33 > 0:04:35There was corruption,
0:04:35 > 0:04:36there were things going on
0:04:36 > 0:04:39that Shevardnadze could have done
0:04:39 > 0:04:41something about and he didn't.
0:04:41 > 0:04:44So, despite my personal affection for him,
0:04:44 > 0:04:47and my professional admiration of him
0:04:47 > 0:04:53when he was the Russian Foreign Minister, his time had passed.
0:04:56 > 0:05:01In November 2003, Georgia's capital, Tbilisi, was shut down by protests.
0:05:01 > 0:05:06Pro-democracy groups claimed that President Shevardnadze's party
0:05:06 > 0:05:08had fixed parliamentary elections.
0:05:08 > 0:05:12Mikheil Saakashvili, the former mayor, led the opposition.
0:05:40 > 0:05:45Shevardnadze ignored the protests and summoned the new parliament.
0:05:45 > 0:05:50But many members boycotted it.
0:05:51 > 0:05:54Before he finished delivering his opening speech,
0:05:54 > 0:05:56the opposition had to make a decision.
0:05:56 > 0:05:58We had nothing to lose.
0:05:58 > 0:06:02And actually, we came into one room
0:06:02 > 0:06:05and actually I was the most radical one.
0:06:17 > 0:06:20I had a hard time to convince them and ultimately told them,
0:06:20 > 0:06:23"If you are not coming I'm leaving myself, on my own."
0:06:35 > 0:06:39And then I heard the heels of Burjanadze following me,
0:06:39 > 0:06:43the noise, and then I understood that yeah, they're coming as well.
0:06:53 > 0:06:56Somehow there was very little resistance put up to us.
0:06:56 > 0:06:59The crowds were huge, the troops demoralized, I mean,
0:06:59 > 0:07:03with no motivation to resist, they just let us through.
0:07:03 > 0:07:05CHEERING
0:07:15 > 0:07:16And when we went in,
0:07:16 > 0:07:19we saw Shevardnadze was stubbornly continuing to speak
0:07:19 > 0:07:22and at a certain moment I started to scream, you know,
0:07:22 > 0:07:24"Resign! Leave!"
0:07:28 > 0:07:35And that was the moment when he was whisked away by his guards.
0:07:35 > 0:07:38CHEERING
0:07:47 > 0:07:49WHISTLING AND CHEERING
0:08:06 > 0:08:10But her claim to be acting President faced a problem.
0:08:10 > 0:08:13President Shevardnadze had not resigned.
0:08:33 > 0:08:35That night in Moscow,
0:08:35 > 0:08:38President Putin was treating his Security Council to dinner.
0:09:00 > 0:09:04The Russian foreign minister flew immediately to Georgia.
0:09:13 > 0:09:16The demonstration outside parliament was still in full flow,
0:09:16 > 0:09:18so he went to see what was happening.
0:09:21 > 0:09:25He spoke to the crowd and one of the opposition leaders helped him.
0:10:04 > 0:10:06The gesture he made
0:10:06 > 0:10:09when he addressed the protesters
0:10:09 > 0:10:11in front of parliament
0:10:11 > 0:10:13was pretty extraordinary.
0:10:13 > 0:10:18And this underlined that the intentions of the Russian side
0:10:18 > 0:10:22is not to intervene in the domestic affairs of Georgia.
0:10:23 > 0:10:26Next, Ivanov went to meet the opposition leaders.
0:10:47 > 0:10:50Basically his message was, "Don't do anything, guys.
0:10:50 > 0:10:51"We need to negotiate.
0:10:51 > 0:10:55"We need several days now. Everybody should take their time.
0:10:55 > 0:10:59"You know, let me talk to both sides."
0:10:59 > 0:11:02Finally Ivanov went to see the man who had summoned him.
0:11:02 > 0:11:06Sheverdnadze had been his boss years earlier
0:11:06 > 0:11:09when they were both Soviet diplomats.
0:11:35 > 0:11:38Shevardnadze was persuaded to talk to the opposition.
0:11:38 > 0:11:43Later that day, Ivanov went with Saakashvili to meet him.
0:11:43 > 0:11:47The Russian foreign minister presented a compromise.
0:11:47 > 0:11:49The opposition would get their demand,
0:11:49 > 0:11:52a rerun of the parliamentary elections,
0:11:52 > 0:11:54but Shevardnadze would remain president.
0:12:11 > 0:12:14But as soon as Ivanov left,
0:12:14 > 0:12:18Shevardnadze turned his back on the compromise.
0:12:18 > 0:12:22He basically told us, "look," he told to Zurab Zhvania,
0:12:22 > 0:12:27"Look, I have nurtured you, I have helped you to get into politics."
0:12:27 > 0:12:29Then he turned to me and said, you know,
0:12:29 > 0:12:31he never expected anything good from me.
0:12:31 > 0:12:33He thought we always had bad relations,
0:12:33 > 0:12:38or tense relation. And he basically told us, "Thank you, goodbye."
0:12:41 > 0:12:44SHOUTING
0:13:29 > 0:13:33A special presidential election was held to replace Shevardnadze.
0:13:46 > 0:13:48At his inauguration,
0:13:48 > 0:13:53the new president made it clear where he wanted to lead his country.
0:13:55 > 0:13:59The Russian Foreign Minister, Igor Ivanov, was watching.
0:13:59 > 0:14:02So was the US Secretary of State, Colin Powell.
0:14:02 > 0:14:05When the national anthem was over and I was about to sit down,
0:14:05 > 0:14:09another national anthem started and I looked to left
0:14:09 > 0:14:13and the EU flag was being raised and Ode To Joy was being played,
0:14:13 > 0:14:14and I said,
0:14:14 > 0:14:18"Oh boy, I bet Igor isn't enjoying this part of the performance."
0:14:18 > 0:14:24MUSIC: "Ode To Joy" by Beethoven
0:14:34 > 0:14:39We had been training some of the Georgian units in American tactics
0:14:39 > 0:14:44and I was just fascinated to watch some Georgian troops march by
0:14:44 > 0:14:48marching like Soviet troops the way they had been trained
0:14:48 > 0:14:52and then the next contingent go by marching like American soldiers.
0:14:59 > 0:15:00Then, to top it all off,
0:15:00 > 0:15:05President Saakashvili invited me to go back into the City Hall with him
0:15:05 > 0:15:07and around the walls were flags posted.
0:15:07 > 0:15:12Two flags, a Georgian flag and an American flag side by side.
0:15:12 > 0:15:15There must have been 20 of them and I said, "Oh, my heavens."
0:15:18 > 0:15:21Saakashvili said he would make Georgia a member of NATO,
0:15:21 > 0:15:24the alliance that had been created to defend the West
0:15:24 > 0:15:26against Soviet Russia.
0:15:31 > 0:15:36The states freed from Soviet rule had been clamouring to join NATO.
0:15:36 > 0:15:40Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic had done so.
0:15:40 > 0:15:44In November 2002, seven new members were welcomed in.
0:15:49 > 0:15:52Latvia lost its independence
0:15:52 > 0:15:54for a very long time,
0:15:54 > 0:15:56and it knows the meaning
0:15:56 > 0:15:59both of liberty and the loss of it.
0:15:59 > 0:16:02Latvia knows the meaning of security and the loss of it.
0:16:02 > 0:16:06And this is why being invited in an alliance
0:16:06 > 0:16:12that will ensure our security is a momentous moment
0:16:12 > 0:16:16that will be writ large in the history of our nation.
0:16:34 > 0:16:36The day after the celebration,
0:16:36 > 0:16:39the alliance was to meet with other potential partners.
0:16:39 > 0:16:41The most important was Ukraine,
0:16:41 > 0:16:45where the next struggle between Russia and the West would erupt.
0:16:48 > 0:16:51Some members, including America,
0:16:51 > 0:16:54would have liked Ukraine to join NATO,
0:16:54 > 0:16:58but its President, Leonid Kuchma, had been accused of murder
0:16:58 > 0:17:01and corruption at home and sanctions-busting abroad.
0:17:03 > 0:17:05A number of countries did not want
0:17:05 > 0:17:07President Kuchma of Ukraine
0:17:07 > 0:17:09to come to the summit.
0:17:20 > 0:17:22He'd been involved in a pretty dodgy deal,
0:17:22 > 0:17:27apparently selling anti-aircraft equipment to Saddam's Iraq.
0:17:35 > 0:17:37He said it was a disgrace, he was entitled to come,
0:17:37 > 0:17:40they were members of the Partnership For Peace.
0:17:40 > 0:17:43He believed in the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council
0:17:43 > 0:17:46and why should he, you know, be prevented from coming?
0:17:57 > 0:18:01It was quite clear I'd failed in my endeavour to stop him from coming.
0:18:01 > 0:18:03And he came.
0:18:09 > 0:18:11President Kuchma enjoyed hobnobbing with NATO
0:18:11 > 0:18:16but Ukraine had no chance of getting in while he was in charge.
0:18:17 > 0:18:23In 2004, though, the end of Kuchma's term in office was approaching.
0:18:30 > 0:18:34The front runner in the race to succeed him was Viktor Yushchenko.
0:18:34 > 0:18:39He was supported by the West and was a harsh critic of Kuchma.
0:19:01 > 0:19:05Ukraine is almost ten times bigger than Georgia.
0:19:05 > 0:19:08The main pipelines carrying Russia's gas exports to the West
0:19:08 > 0:19:10cross Ukraine.
0:19:10 > 0:19:13Russia's Black Sea Fleet is based in Ukraine.
0:19:13 > 0:19:16Almost 8 million Russians live there.
0:19:19 > 0:19:22Putin went to visit Kuchma to discuss how to get
0:19:22 > 0:19:25an election result that would protect Russia's interests.
0:19:56 > 0:19:59Putin sent his own campaign managers from Moscow
0:19:59 > 0:20:04to help the Ukrainian president make sure that the right candidate won.
0:20:53 > 0:20:57The man the Russians and President Kuchma set out to make the next president
0:20:57 > 0:21:02came from Ukraine's Russian-speaking industrial heartland.
0:21:37 > 0:21:42The Kremlin team supplied the Ukrainians with modern campaign advice.
0:21:48 > 0:21:52And in the months leading up to the elections,
0:21:52 > 0:21:55Putin made seven trips to Ukraine.
0:22:14 > 0:22:17Putin was generally accompanied by a man
0:22:17 > 0:22:19who would later go on to a glittering career.
0:22:55 > 0:22:59The opposition was confronted with endless dirty tricks.
0:23:40 > 0:23:43Despite all the obstacles put in his way,
0:23:43 > 0:23:46Viktor Yushchenko led in the polls.
0:23:48 > 0:23:51So the Kremlin, while continuing to oppose Yushchenko,
0:23:51 > 0:23:53opened a secret back channel to him.
0:24:25 > 0:24:28The opposition campaign manager made weekly visits to Moscow,
0:24:28 > 0:24:31where Kremlin officials quizzed him.
0:25:06 > 0:25:07At the end of that summer,
0:25:07 > 0:25:10Yushchenko was still ahead in the polls.
0:25:10 > 0:25:11He seemed unstoppable.
0:25:13 > 0:25:15In the early hours of the 6th of September
0:25:15 > 0:25:18he was driving home from a dinner.
0:26:25 > 0:26:29It soon became clear that Yushchenko was gravely ill.
0:26:29 > 0:26:32He was flown to a private clinic in Vienna
0:26:32 > 0:26:36where he was found to have been poisoned by a huge dose of dioxin.
0:27:38 > 0:27:41Whoever poisoned Yushchenko had succeeded in removing him
0:27:41 > 0:27:43from the campaign.
0:27:45 > 0:27:47But after only two weeks,
0:27:47 > 0:27:51Yushchenko discharged himself from the hospital.
0:28:05 > 0:28:07Make-up covered the scars,
0:28:07 > 0:28:11and drugs from a portable drip dulled the pain.
0:29:08 > 0:29:12International observers arrived in Ukraine for polling day.
0:29:12 > 0:29:16They reported fraud, including bus-loads of supporters
0:29:16 > 0:29:20of Kuchma's candidate voting again and again.
0:29:40 > 0:29:44Putin decided Yanukovich had won even before the votes
0:29:44 > 0:29:46were counted, and sent a message of congratulations.
0:30:06 > 0:30:10The exit polls, overseen by the election monitors,
0:30:10 > 0:30:13were showing that Yushchenko had won by 11%.
0:30:13 > 0:30:17But the official announcement said Yanukovich had won by 3%.
0:30:17 > 0:30:21CHANTING
0:30:29 > 0:30:31Yushchenko called on his supporters
0:30:31 > 0:30:34to come to Kiev's Independence Square to protest.
0:30:34 > 0:30:38CHANTING
0:30:59 > 0:31:02Thousands of protestors with their orange scarves
0:31:02 > 0:31:05and banners demanded Yushchenko's victory be recognized.
0:31:05 > 0:31:09They occupied Kiev's Independence Square.
0:31:13 > 0:31:17Pro-democracy groups and foundations backed by Western money
0:31:17 > 0:31:20had been preparing for a mass protest.
0:31:20 > 0:31:22They swung into action.
0:31:25 > 0:31:27There was a debate within the Administration
0:31:27 > 0:31:29of how forward-leaning to be.
0:31:29 > 0:31:31and there were some who were very cautious.
0:31:31 > 0:31:33This is not our business,
0:31:33 > 0:31:35let's let the process play out.
0:31:35 > 0:31:36I came into the office
0:31:36 > 0:31:38while this was all unfolding
0:31:38 > 0:31:39and called in my team
0:31:39 > 0:31:42and I said "Look, this is too big.
0:31:42 > 0:31:44"We cannot simply stand by and say nothing."
0:31:44 > 0:31:46We cannot accept
0:31:46 > 0:31:47this result as legitimate
0:31:47 > 0:31:49because it does not meet
0:31:49 > 0:31:51international standards
0:31:51 > 0:31:53and because there has not been an investigation
0:31:53 > 0:31:57of the numerous and credible reports of fraud and abuse.
0:32:10 > 0:32:15Putin pressed Kuchma to restore order.
0:33:00 > 0:33:04Kuchma had turned to the EU member closest to Ukraine.
0:33:35 > 0:33:38The protestors had been camped out for five days
0:33:38 > 0:33:41by the time the Polish president arrived in Ukraine.
0:33:41 > 0:33:44He had assembled a team of EU mediators.
0:33:44 > 0:33:49Their plan was to get the two presidential candidates
0:33:49 > 0:33:50to round table talks.
0:33:50 > 0:33:52First, they saw President Kuchma,
0:33:52 > 0:33:56who interrupted the meeting to take a call from Putin.
0:34:40 > 0:34:45Then Kuchma let slip that thousands of miners were arriving in Kiev.
0:34:46 > 0:34:49They were supporters of his candidate
0:34:49 > 0:34:52and were preparing to attack the Orange demonstrators.
0:35:27 > 0:35:31Kuchma saw he had to stop the miners. He knew who to call.
0:36:00 > 0:36:03Later that day, with the pro-Yushchenko demonstration
0:36:03 > 0:36:07still occupying the city centre, the presidential candidates
0:36:07 > 0:36:11and the EU mission gathered.
0:36:30 > 0:36:33President Kuchma chaired the meeting.
0:36:49 > 0:36:50Instead of Yeltsin,
0:36:50 > 0:36:56Putin had sent the Speaker of the Russian Parliament, Boris Gryzlov.
0:37:34 > 0:37:36Then, Yanukovich made a crucial mistake.
0:37:54 > 0:37:56Once each side had accused the other of fraud,
0:37:56 > 0:37:59they had to agree that the accusations be reviewed
0:37:59 > 0:38:01by Ukraine's Supreme Court.
0:38:05 > 0:38:08The EU mediators insisted that the hearing be televised
0:38:08 > 0:38:12so that the country could judge the court's fairness.
0:38:13 > 0:38:15Kuchma was running out options.
0:38:24 > 0:38:27The demonstrators continued to blockade
0:38:27 > 0:38:29the key government buildings.
0:38:29 > 0:38:33The night before the Supreme Court hearing was to start,
0:38:33 > 0:38:38heavily-armed interior ministry troops prepared for an assault.
0:38:38 > 0:38:40Troops ultimately under Kuchma's command.
0:38:41 > 0:38:46The American Ambassador phoned to tell the Secretary of State
0:38:46 > 0:38:47what was happening in Kiev.
0:38:49 > 0:38:52He said interior ministry troops, the special troops,
0:38:52 > 0:38:55were on the outskirts of the city, massed.
0:38:55 > 0:38:58This is bad and we have to get to Kuchma telling him
0:38:58 > 0:38:59"Do not do this."
0:38:59 > 0:39:01And I called, I tried to call the President,
0:39:01 > 0:39:03but he suddenly wasn't available.
0:39:30 > 0:39:34The fact of the matter is, he may not have been available
0:39:34 > 0:39:36but he knew why he was being called.
0:39:39 > 0:39:41The call achieved its purpose.
0:39:41 > 0:39:45The interior ministry troops were quietly turned around.
0:39:46 > 0:39:49When I reached him the next morning,
0:39:49 > 0:39:51I said "Mr President, we have heard word,
0:39:51 > 0:39:54"we have seen things that are very troubling."
0:40:53 > 0:40:59Three weeks later, Yushchenko won the rerun decisively.
0:41:00 > 0:41:02Time was up for the Russian advisers.
0:41:45 > 0:41:47Russia had failed.
0:41:47 > 0:41:51The Kremlin had spent millions, and invested the personal prestige
0:41:51 > 0:41:55of Putin himself in an attempt to prevent Yushchenko's victory.
0:42:01 > 0:42:03The day after his inauguration,
0:42:03 > 0:42:06the new president called on the man
0:42:06 > 0:42:08who had tried so hard to keep him out.
0:42:37 > 0:42:42The two men tried to appear on good terms.
0:42:42 > 0:42:48In contrast, Washington received Yushchenko like a hero.
0:42:48 > 0:42:51APPLAUSE
0:42:54 > 0:42:57CHANTING: Yushchenko! Yushchenko! Yushchenko!
0:43:30 > 0:43:34The more Washington supported democracy movements
0:43:34 > 0:43:38on Russia's borders, the more dictatorial Putin became.
0:43:40 > 0:43:42He changed the election rules,
0:43:42 > 0:43:46making his party virtually unchallengeable.
0:43:46 > 0:43:49Regional governors, who used to be elected,
0:43:49 > 0:43:51were now appointed by the president.
0:43:51 > 0:43:55His new system came to be known as the Power Vertical,
0:43:55 > 0:43:56with Putin on top.
0:44:03 > 0:44:08Four years earlier, George Bush said he had got a sense of Putin's soul.
0:44:08 > 0:44:09Now he wasn't so sure.
0:44:11 > 0:44:16That meeting was probably the testiest meeting the two leaders had
0:44:16 > 0:44:19and the President anticipated
0:44:19 > 0:44:21that it would be so.
0:44:21 > 0:44:23He anticipated he was going to get
0:44:23 > 0:44:29pushed back from President Putin on the democracy issue.
0:44:56 > 0:45:00In private, Bush accepted none of this.
0:45:00 > 0:45:02The President's case to President Putin
0:45:02 > 0:45:05was that President Putin had a historic opportunity
0:45:05 > 0:45:08to move Russia permanently to the West,
0:45:08 > 0:45:12by building the institutions of a democratic state,
0:45:12 > 0:45:14with checks and balances.
0:45:14 > 0:45:18Build independent political parties. Build an independent media.
0:45:18 > 0:45:21Build an independent judiciary and the rule of law.
0:45:21 > 0:45:24BUSH: 'Democracies have things in common.
0:45:24 > 0:45:26'They have the rule of law...'
0:45:38 > 0:45:40I believe it was Sergei Prihodko
0:45:40 > 0:45:44who started talking about the special character of Russian democracy
0:45:44 > 0:45:48and what I'm mostly reminding him of is there are certain things
0:45:48 > 0:45:50that come with democracy,
0:45:50 > 0:45:53I don't care who you are and where you are, you get to choose
0:45:53 > 0:45:57those who are going to govern you, they don't impose themselves on you.
0:45:57 > 0:46:02You get to be free from the arbitrary power of the secret police,
0:46:02 > 0:46:03and the knock...
0:46:03 > 0:46:07and of the state, and you get to say what you wish you say.
0:46:22 > 0:46:26President Bush continued to preach his freedom agenda.
0:46:26 > 0:46:30He flew to Georgia to give the democratic revolution his blessing.
0:46:35 > 0:46:38Georgia is today both sovereign and free
0:46:38 > 0:46:42and a beacon of liberty for this region and the world.
0:46:45 > 0:46:50You are making many important contributions to freedom's cause,
0:46:50 > 0:46:53but your most important contribution is your example.
0:46:57 > 0:47:01Such triumphs for democracy on Russia's borders scared the Kremlin.
0:47:19 > 0:47:25The Kremlin team that had been sent to Ukraine now had a new project.
0:47:25 > 0:47:29Many young Russians passionately supported Putin,
0:47:29 > 0:47:33and Putin needed shock troops.
0:47:33 > 0:47:36ELECTRONIC DANCE MUSIC
0:47:53 > 0:47:57So the Kremlin created a new youth movement, Nashi.
0:47:57 > 0:48:01They were treated to holiday camps that featured paramilitary training,
0:48:01 > 0:48:04patriotic talks, and guest lecturers.
0:48:50 > 0:48:54Within six months, Nashi grew to a hundred thousand members.
0:48:57 > 0:49:01The Kremlin used Nashi to intimidate anyone it considered its enemy.
0:49:01 > 0:49:03Especially those too keen on democracy.
0:49:05 > 0:49:10In 2006, activists set up a new group, the Other Russia,
0:49:10 > 0:49:12to defend democracy.
0:49:12 > 0:49:15They invited Britain's ambassador to speak at their conference.
0:49:18 > 0:49:20For some reason
0:49:20 > 0:49:23the Russian authorities picked me,
0:49:23 > 0:49:24and my speech out,
0:49:24 > 0:49:27as something particularly worthy
0:49:27 > 0:49:29of counterattack.
0:49:29 > 0:49:32And this youth group, Nashi, demanded an apology
0:49:32 > 0:49:36for Tony Brenton's interference in Russian internal politics.
0:49:36 > 0:49:40Now there was no way I was going to apologise.
0:49:40 > 0:49:43And they then camped outside my house, waving banners
0:49:43 > 0:49:47and so on, followed me round the town, and the country,
0:49:47 > 0:49:50shouted abuse at the back of various public meetings
0:49:50 > 0:49:51that I went to speak at,
0:49:51 > 0:49:55and so on, and generally were always there,
0:49:55 > 0:50:00always loud, always hostile.
0:50:09 > 0:50:14Western governments and foundations financed many of the 2,000
0:50:14 > 0:50:17pro-democracy groups in Russia.
0:50:17 > 0:50:20The Kremlin launched a campaign to discredit them.
0:50:23 > 0:50:27Lyudmila Alexeyeva was the most venerated of all the dissidents.
0:50:27 > 0:50:29Through her Moscow Helsinki Group,
0:50:29 > 0:50:33she had been fighting for human rights in Russia since the 1970s.
0:50:33 > 0:50:35The Kremlin set out to get her.
0:51:41 > 0:51:46The programme implied that the human rights groups
0:51:46 > 0:51:49were receiving foreign funding covertly.
0:51:49 > 0:51:53All of our activities with the NGOs were completely above board,
0:51:53 > 0:51:55on our website, the sums of money, the projects,
0:51:55 > 0:51:58all of that was completely public.
0:51:58 > 0:52:03The boss of the Helsinki group decided to sue Russia's spy agency,
0:52:03 > 0:52:05the FSB, for slander.
0:52:05 > 0:52:08But, in court, the FAB's defence surprised her.
0:52:52 > 0:52:56The film's other target, the British government,
0:52:56 > 0:52:58kept quiet about the spy rock.
0:52:58 > 0:53:00There's not much you can say.
0:53:00 > 0:53:03You can't really call up and say, "Terribly sorry about that.
0:53:03 > 0:53:06"Won't happen again." They had us bang to rights.
0:53:06 > 0:53:09Clearly they had known about it for some time
0:53:09 > 0:53:12and had been saving it up for a political purpose.
0:53:14 > 0:53:17Putin used the spy rock to justify a new law drastically
0:53:17 > 0:53:22restricting the work of non-government organisations, NGOs.
0:53:52 > 0:53:55Putin's new law made it almost impossible for Russian NGOs
0:53:55 > 0:53:57to receive foreign funding.
0:53:58 > 0:54:00Many had to shut down.
0:54:17 > 0:54:21The atmosphere in Russia turned uglier.
0:54:29 > 0:54:31Nationalist gangs beat up migrant workers.
0:54:37 > 0:54:38Anna Politkovskaya,
0:54:38 > 0:54:43the leading reporter of human rights abuses in Chechnya, was murdered.
0:54:46 > 0:54:50On a visit to the West, Putin was asked about her.
0:55:10 > 0:55:13Among those who had warned Politkovskaya
0:55:13 > 0:55:15that she risked assassination
0:55:15 > 0:55:19was Alexander Litvinenko, an ex-FSB officer.
0:55:19 > 0:55:21He had fled to Britain with his family,
0:55:21 > 0:55:24claiming persecution by his old agency.
0:55:24 > 0:55:28He had accused them of ordering political murders.
0:55:49 > 0:55:52Litvinenko became a British citizen.
0:55:52 > 0:55:56Ten days later he was poisoned with radioactive polonium.
0:55:59 > 0:56:04Another former FSB officer, Andrei Lugovoi, was the main suspect.
0:56:07 > 0:56:08This could hardly be more serious.
0:56:08 > 0:56:11A British citizen had been murdered
0:56:11 > 0:56:14on British streets by someone
0:56:14 > 0:56:17who our own independent prosecuting authorities thought
0:56:17 > 0:56:20had deep links into the Russian state.
0:56:20 > 0:56:23It felt like a reversion to the worst of the Cold War.
0:56:24 > 0:56:28Britain requested Lugovoi's extradition.
0:56:28 > 0:56:32When Moscow refused it, Britain expelled four of their diplomats.
0:56:32 > 0:56:35The British Intelligence Service, MI6,
0:56:35 > 0:56:37stopped working with Russia's spy agencies.
0:56:37 > 0:56:42We weren't trying to sort of knee Vladimir Putin in the goolies,
0:56:42 > 0:56:44that was not the purpose of this.
0:56:44 > 0:56:48It was a much more substantive state-to-state response
0:56:48 > 0:56:51that tried to bring home the seriousness of this,
0:56:51 > 0:56:53that recognised that Russia
0:56:53 > 0:56:57wanted an honourable place in the international community of nations
0:56:57 > 0:57:01but if it was going to have that, it couldn't behave in this way.
0:57:02 > 0:57:03Russia countered by stopping
0:57:03 > 0:57:07all counterterrorist cooperation with Britain.
0:57:07 > 0:57:11After three months, David Miliband asked for a meeting
0:57:11 > 0:57:15with the Russian foreign minister at the United Nations.
0:57:28 > 0:57:34My goodness, it was a tough start. I went in on a football analogy.
0:57:34 > 0:57:36I was talking to him about which football team he supported
0:57:36 > 0:57:38but I got very short shrift on that.
0:57:58 > 0:58:02We knew that there was a bar in the Russian constitution on extradition,
0:58:02 > 0:58:06and so, we were clear that while it was a reasonably big ask,
0:58:06 > 0:58:10it was not unreasonable to say that they should change their constitution
0:58:10 > 0:58:13to make possible this sort of judicial cooperation.
0:58:13 > 0:58:16His response was that this was inconceivable.
0:58:16 > 0:58:20Russia was Russia and there was no way they were going change.
0:58:48 > 0:58:50Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:58:50 > 0:58:52E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk