From Sudanese refugees risking their lives to Poland, to Latvians who worship the fallen Russian soldiers – this is simply a fascinating and depressing look at existence alongside Ukrainian invaders.
Following Putin's invasion of Ukraine, Katya Adler goes on a journey around the countries neighbouring Russia. The reporter visits Poland, then heads to the Baltic countries: Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, and the expedition ends in the north of Europe, Finland and Norway. He sees the work of a group of hackers fighting Russian misinformation, traces Arctic protein – seen in the Baltic whale waters suspected of being a trained Russian spy, and talks to a fighter pilot whose company suffered from the war. Each step of her journey brings viewers closer to knowing the sphere of Putin's war and Russia's relation with her neighbors.
Although a documentary miniseries Neighbouring Putin (item oryg. Living Next Door to Putin) seems to callback after the title the crazy 1990 comedy series Heil, honey, I'm home! (Tyg. Heil Honey I’m Home!) in which a judaic matrimony lives alongside Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun, it is not truly a farce. Neighbouring Putin is simply a thorough, mildly guided image of the concerns of east Europe and the consequences of being on the possible front line of Vladimir Putin's expansion to the west. While Ukraine is immersed in war activities that have not been seen in Europe since the Second planet War, writer Katya Adler spends this two-part journey looking at the applicable and existential influence it has on Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Finland and Norway.
Adler is an extraordinary writer who has been active in major events for over 30 years and has been editor of BBC Europe since 2014. Her cognition and integrity give the program delicate intelligence. With empathy and dignity, he examines contradictions in the reaction of each country, admitting how amazing it is that Poland accepted 1.5 million refugees.
But Adler is not satisfied with simply showing the understandable pride of Poles from beginning their homes to another white, Catholic inhabitants of east Europe. This puts the wider migration crisis in a context where others are little generous.
Belarus, an ally of Russia, fueled the right-wing moods to tighten anti-immigration rhetoric in Poland. While many Ukrainians met with open arms, Russia is moving its games, allowing a series of migrants to enter Poland, making its hard-headed, anti-immigration government increasingly little favoured by Ukraine. Adler shows how political confusion has been caused, directing migrants from the mediate East, Africa and Asia across the border with Belarus to divert attention from the possible creeping expansion from the Kremlin.
In a brutal 2-part series, the most shocking sequences depict the destiny of Sudanese refugees trying to cross the forest connecting Belarus to Poland. Those people who hazard hypothermia in forest plating just want a better life. However, unlike their Ukrainian counterparts, most societies consider them subhuman. Adler and respective activists hazard their safety to supply them with supplies. We see any crammed in the woods, grateful for water, food and medicine, while others are illegally dragged across the border by safety forces and sentenced to a repeated effort to cross the border without the hope of a warm welcome that happened to the Ukrainians.
This does not mean that opinions on Ukraine are unanimous. We only have 2 hours to explain the past of six countries and geopolitical relations on the show, but Adler is taking the challenge. It turns out that the identity of Lithuania is implicated in Ukraine. This country was 1 of the first to search independency from the russian Union, which affects his view of conflict. On the day of Lithuania's independence, they march alongside buildings destroyed by bullets from the conflict in 1991, erstwhile the russian Union tried to suppress its sovereignty – Ukrainian flags are almost the same as Lithuanian flags. As Adler explains, "Solidarity with Ukraine is mixed with national pride, formed at least in part by Lithuania's opposition to Moscow".
Just a fast jump to Latvia to see the Russian identity spill over its borders. This country is in about a 4th ethnically Russian. In the second largest city – Dyneburg, 8 out of 10 people talk Russian at home. In the face of the raging conflict in Ukraine, Adler seems shocked to see Latvian citizens laying flowers under the statues of Russian soldiers. He uses these moments to the maximum, fascinated by the complex contradictions of the region.
The second episode to be aired on BBC Brit on 14 February will be devoted to the reactions of Estonia, Finland and Norway. It's a small lighter than the first. Adler meets bluches suspected of spying, travels with hot air balloons, learns how crucial saunas are on the front line and meets Finnish reservists who have the courage to confess their beliefs, but appear as players unprepared to face much more power.
However, apart from the Norwegians – who, as Adler explains, seem unique in “trying to convey peace to their Russian neighbors”, Putin's neighbors are ready to do whatever is essential to guarantee their desired result.
This paper depicts a crude image of the region in which the paradigm changed, old wounds reopened, and tension increased. Being Putin's "neighbor" is an unenviable situation, but the consequences of its expansionism may have tragic consequences on a global scale.
The first episode of the two-part paper Neighboring Putin will be aired on the BBC Brit channel on Wednesday, February 7, 2024 at 10:00 p.m. The second episode will be available next week at the same time.
Source: BBC | The Guardian
