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From Our Own Correspondent: Putin's Soviet ambitions

Magazines & Reviews

26/02/2022 GMT

Putin's Soviet ambitions

BBC World Service - From Our Own Correspondent, Putin's Soviet ambitions

The battle for Ukraine, plus stories from Georgia, the Philippines and Denmark.

Redrawing the borders in Ukraine, the frozen conflict in Georgia, campaigning for a new president in the Philippines and the largest humanitarian warehouse in the world.

It’s been three decades since the end of the Soviet Union. Ever since then, Russia has been grappling with how to keep its old empire close and how to retain influence.  Andrew Harding lived and worked in Russia during the 1990s, reporting on the aftermath of the Soviet collapse. Now, he reflects on how those years may have influenced recent events.

Events in Ukraine are being followed closely in the small nation of Georgia just across the Black Sea.  Mr Putin sent troops into Georgia in 2008 and occupied two separate regions, recognising both Abkhazia and South Ossetia as "independent republics". Experts call it a frozen conflict, which Russia can stir up at any time, as Andrew North discovered when he visited a village on the boundary between areas under Georgian and Russian control.  

The Philippines is holding elections in May and the son of the late military dictator, Ferdinand Marcos Jr has taken a strong lead in the polls. Sarah Duterte, the daughter of the country’s incumbent authoritarian leader is his running mate.  The pair have embarked on a fervent campaign to rebrand their respective family’s legacies. Howard Johnson reports from a rally. 

The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund was set up in the aftermath of World War II, to help children and young people whose lives and futures were at risk. Today UNICEF works in over 190 countries and territories. Last year, the charity procured and supplied goods and service to the value of $4.468 billion.  Storing and transporting those goods is a big logistical operation and UNICEF has warehouses in Dubai, Brindisi and Panama, the biggest by far is in Denmark.  Sandra Kanthal met the people and the robots keeping it running.  You can find out more by listening to The Documentary on the BBC World Service on Tuesday 1 March.  

Producer:  Diane Richardson
Editor: Emma Close

(Image: A military cargo truck in central Kyiv, 24 February 2022. Credit: Daniel Leal/AFP via Getty Images)

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