POST
PRODUCTION
SCRIPT
Foreign
Correspondent
2020
The
Doctor vs The President
29
mins 24 secs
©2020
ABC
Ultimo Centre
700
Harris Street Ultimo
NSW
2007 Australia
GPO
Box 9994
Sydney
NSW
2001 Australia
Phone:
61 419 231 533
Precis
|
Dr Anastasia Vasilyeva is an unlikely threat to Russia's most
powerful man. |
|
|
A single mother in her 30s, Dr Vasilyeva is an eye doctor
who's set up a doctors' union. |
|
|
But Dr Vasilyeva has been getting under the Kremlin's skin,
provoking vicious attacks by President Putin's supporters. |
|
|
"You are lying all the time. You are a group of
liars...Do you even understand anything in virology?" rants a state TV
presenter. "You are an alliance of crooks, scoundrels, villains and
bastards." |
|
|
"I'm only telling the truth...and all my sentences, all
my words, I can prove with the facts", says the doctor. |
|
|
Dr Vasilyeva's union - the Alliance of Doctors - is raising
money to buy and deliver protective equipment to hospitals around the
country. Her message of a health system under pressure is at odds with the
Kremlin's line that everything is under control. Just two months ago, President
Putin dismissed concerns about an epidemic, calling it 'fake news'. The
pandemic wasn't part of President Putin's plans this year. He'd called a
referendum which he hoped would install him as president until 2036. But as
the number of Russians infected by the virus sharply rises, Putin has had to
cancel the vote. He's struggling to keep control of the narrative. And the
doctor. |
|
|
Reported by former Russia correspondent Eric Campbell, Foreign
Correspondent has gained rare access to film with Dr Vasilyeva and her team,
as they travel around Moscow and beyond to deliver PPE to hospitals. |
|
|
We see her get arrested and imprisoned. And we see her
slandered by State media. |
|
|
Today, Russia has the third highest number of COVID-19 cases
in the world but in Moscow and other cities, the lockdown is starting to
loosen. |
|
|
Dr Vasilyeva warns the danger is far from over, with the virus
taking off in the regions. She and her team continue to make deliveries,
despite the abuse and the threats. |
|
|
This is a compelling and disturbing insight into Russian
politics in the time of Putin. |
|
Putting
at VE parade |
Music
|
00:00 |
|
ERIC
CAMPBELL, Reporter: He's one of the world's most powerful men, and he says he
has coronavirus handled. |
00:05 |
Putin |
VLADIMIR
PUTIN: The situation is under complete control. |
00:13 |
Vasilyeva
delivering medical equipment |
ERIC
CAMPBELL, Reporter: She's a humble doctor and she says he's lying. |
00:15 |
Vasilyeva |
ANASTASIA
VASILYEVA: The situation is not under
control. In some hospitals, patients are dying without any help. |
00:22 |
Vasilyeva
delivering medical equipment |
ERIC
CAMPBELL, Reporter: Anastasia Vasilyeva heads a doctors' trade union that's
challenging the Kremlin's propaganda. She's trying to bring hospitals the
life-saving equipment they lack to fight the virus. The full force of the
State has been used to stop her. Vladimir Solovyov: "Why
do you think you have a right to deliver something there? |
00:28 |
TV
excerpt. Solovyov |
You
don't have any authority. You are an ordinary crook." |
00:50 |
Patients
in hospital/ Vasilyeva |
ERIC
CAMPBELL, Reporter: As Russia reels from infection, we look at the doctor
taking on the might of the Kremlin. |
00:54 |
Vasilyeva
Skype interview |
ANASTASIA
VASILYEVA: They can only kill me, but they really have no chance to shut me
down. |
01:01 |
Split
screen. Vasilyeva/Putin. Title: |
Music
|
01:07 |
Cream
Soda song/Tribute dancing in high rise. Super: |
Music
|
01:15 |
|
ERIC
CAMPBELL, Reporter: If anyone can endure the privations of lockdown, it's
Russians. |
01:25 |
|
Music
|
01:29 |
|
ERIC
CAMPBELL, Reporter: In the capital, Moscow 13 million people have been
stoically staying inside and making the most of it. |
01:38 |
|
Music
|
01:44 |
|
ERIC
CAMPBELL, Reporter: This song, from the band ‘Cream Soda’ has become the
lockdown anthem – thousands posting videos of their balcony dancing. The
band’s lead singer, Anna Romanovskaya is proud to have played a part in
helping people get through. |
01:48 |
Anna
Romanovskaya interview |
ANNA
ROMANOVSKAYA, Cream Soda: It's become
something like a cult for people now, everybody needs to do this challenge,
to take part in it, yes. |
02:08 |
Tik
Tok video |
And
people became very open and they show their artistic beginning. |
02:17 |
Tribute
dancing in high rise |
Music
|
02:22 |
|
ERIC
CAMPBELL, Reporter: But like all Russians she feels the real stars of this
crisis aren't the people staying at home. |
00:26 |
Medics
with patients |
They’re
the health workers going out to treat COVID’s casualties. |
02:33 |
|
ANNA
ROMANOVSKAYA, Cream Soda: I really feel pity for doctors and for medical
workers because I can't believe they're doing this. I want to thank them for
all of those things, because they are |
02:38 |
Anna
Romanovskaya interview |
just
putting their lives to save other lives. |
02:48 |
Hospital
interior. Doctors with patients |
ERIC
CAMPBELL, Reporter: Not since World War Two have so many people across Russia
risked so much to do their duty. Health workers are dealing with more than
400,000 infections. Only the US and Brazil have more. |
02:52 |
Putin
visits hospital. Hazmat suit |
Putin
has long insisted he has their backs, even donning a hazmat suit to inspect a
Moscow COVID facility. |
03:13 |
Putin
with hospital doctor |
Vladimir
Putin: "I saw them work. Everyone
is in their combat posts. I don't really want to use military language, but
everything at your institution operates like clockwork, a well-oiled machine.
I saw that your people know what needs to be done and how to do it. They have
all they need and are using all the available equipment well." |
03:23 |
Alliance
of Doctors union footage. Tour of decrepit hospital |
Music
|
03:51 |
Clip.
Vasilyeva to camera |
Anastasia
Vasilyeva: "Doctors, the Kremlin
doesn't hear us." |
03:57 |
|
ERIC
CAMPBELL, Reporter: But that’s not what this doctor has seen. Anastasia
Vasilyeva is a 36-year-old ophthalmologist. She doesn’t treat |
04:00 |
Clip.
Doctors' Alliance |
COVID
patients but she’s made it her mission to get help to the medical workers who
do. |
04:08 |
Clip.
Vasilyeva to camera/Touring hospital |
Anastasia
Vasilyeva: "If you think I'm in a
war zone, in Syria or Somalia, then you're wrong. I'm in the hospital number
6, at the very centre of Moscow. Six years ago, it was closed as
unprofitable, doctors were cut, patients sent to other facilities." |
04:14 |
|
ERIC
CAMPBELL, Reporter: Her union, the Alliance of Doctors, runs a website
exposing the dire state of Russia’s public health system. |
04:29 |
Clip.
Vasilyeva to camera |
Anastasia
Vasilyeva: "We will travel across
Russia to check medical facilities and provide doctors with protective equipment
at places where the State cannot provide that protection." |
04:38 |
|
ERIC
CAMPBELL, Reporter: It is a direct challenge to President Putin. |
04:47 |
Clip.
Putin in hazmat suit |
Anastasia
Vasilyeva: "Have you seen Putin’s
protective gear when he visited the infection diseases hospital? That’s
right! The State takes care of the President to avoid him getting sick. Why
doesn’t he want the State to take care of doctors to avoid them getting sick?
|
04:51 |
Clip.
Vasilyeva to camera |
I’ve
bought this mask and this protective suit myself and I assure you that 99% of
Russian medics don’t have such protection or the money to buy it
themselves." |
05:07 |
Vasilyeva
into apartment |
ERIC
CAMPBELL, Reporter: Dr. Vasilyeva may seem an unlikely nemesis to the Kremlin
strongman. She lives in a quiet middle-class neighbourhood of Moscow. |
05:31 |
|
Vasilyeva:
"I always take the stairs, it’s the fourth floor. You can use the
lift." |
05:40 |
|
ERIC
CAMPBELL, Reporter: Her small apartment is the lockdown headquarters of the
Alliance of Doctors. |
05:48 |
Vasilyeva
and Campbell Skype |
Eric:
"Anastasia, dobri dien, kak dyela." Vasilyeva:
"Hi, how are you?" |
05:57 |
|
Eric:
"I'm very well, thank you. Thank you very much for talking to us." |
06:06 |
|
ERIC
CAMPBELL, Reporter: I’ve been following her campaign on Skype and through
Moscow crews we’ve hired to film her. I want to find out why such a powerful
State is so desperate for a doctor’s good deeds to be punished. |
06:10 |
|
ANASTASIA
VASILYEVA: That's why government
doesn't want us to show these problems. And of course, they do everything now
to stop us to, interfere our actions. |
06:24 |
Putin.
Meeting |
ERIC
CAMPBELL, Reporter: For Putin, this is not just about a virus. It’s about his
own political survival. For weeks, as the disease spread around the world,
the Kremlin insisted Russia was safe. At this March 4 meeting, the deputy
prime minister Tatyana Golikova described reports of an epidemic as fake
news. |
06:35 |
|
Tatyana
Golikova: "I would like to once again report to you that this is simply
not true." |
06:59 |
|
Vladimir
Putin: "Regarding the provocative ‘fake news’ stories, the Federal
Security Service reports that they were organised from abroad." |
07:05 |
State
media TV. |
ERIC
CAMPBELL, Reporter: State media amplified the message – the government’s
coronavirus spokesman, Dr. Alexander Myasnikov, repeatedly downplaying it. |
07:13 |
State
TV. Alexander Myasnikov |
Alexander
Myasnikov: "I don’t know why we need this hysteria today, because in
reality this coronavirus is not very contagious. It is much less contagious
than measles. Its mortality rate is not very high." |
07:29 |
Trudolyubov
walking street wearing mask. |
ERIC
CAMPBELL, Reporter: Maxim Trudolyubov
is editor at large of the independent Russian business daily Vedomosti. He’s weathering the
lockdown in neighbouring Lithuania. |
07:47 |
Trudolyubov
interview |
MAXIM
TRUDOLYUBOV, Vedomosti: State-run television
in Russia is a tool of political power, so it's just been doing what it was
told to do. They were calling it a Chinese virus, just like President Trump.
They were saying that those were probably some biological weapons that
escaped from a lab or something. So they've been really silly, and that was
clearly a Kremlin policy. In the beginning, they wanted to downplay the
crisis because Putin obviously had his politics on his mind then. |
08:00 |
Putin
inauguration |
ERIC
CAMPBELL, Reporter: The deadly infection intruded into Putin's plan to be
president for life. He's currently serving the last term allowed under the
constitution. On March 10, he called a referendum that would allow him to
rule until 2036. |
08:32 |
Putin
announces referendum in Congress |
Vladimir
Putin: "You will decide on April 22." |
08:53 |
|
ERIC
CAMPBELL, Reporter: Putin wanted a hundred million Russians to come out in
the middle of a pandemic to queue to vote for him. MAXIM
TRUDOLYUBOV, Vedomosti: This whole year, 2020, was supposed to be
about bolstering his political role in Russia |
09:02 |
Trudolyubov
interview |
and
then suddenly there's something that steals the show completely from him. |
09:16 |
Subway/Stores/Red
Square during lockdown |
My
|
09:20 |
|
ERIC
CAMPBELL, Reporter: On March 25, as the virus took hold in Russia, Putin
reluctantly delayed the referendum and retreated to his estate outside
Moscow. It was left to the city mayor to organise the lockdown – ordering
residents to stay indoors except for essential work, shopping or dog walking. |
09-28 |
Vasilyeva
and colleagues load cars with medical supplies |
Music
|
09:53 |
|
Vasilyeva: "Hello! Hello!" |
09:55 |
|
ERIC
CAMPBELL, Reporter: Anastasia Vasilyeva has not stayed locked down. It’s
Monday morning outside her apartment block, and she and her colleagues are
getting ready to do a run. Doctors from three hospitals have contacted them
asking for protective equipment. |
10:00 |
|
ANASTASIA
VASILYEVA: In large boxes there are
respirators, in small boxes, antiseptic. There are also boxes with suits,
masks and gloves. I think they are already in my car. This is our
preparation. |
10:21 |
Vasilyeva
and colleagues deliver supplies |
ERIC
CAMPBELL, Reporter: They have to move fast and stealthily. While the medical
staff are desperate for what they can bring, she says hospital
administrations have been told not to accept it. |
10:41 |
Vasilyeva
puts on protective suit |
ANASTASIA
VASILYEVA: Now we'll put the suit on.
These suits are reusable, they are clean and washed. |
10:54 |
Driving
supplies to Novgorod. Police car with siren |
ERIC
CAMPBELL, Reporter: On April 2 they set out with more than 500 masks, along
with hazmat suits, gloves and protective glasses, to a hospital in the
Novgorod region, 400 kilometres from Moscow. Halfway there, they were stopped
by police. |
11:14 |
Vasilyeva
interview |
ANASTASIA
VASILYEVA: We just wanted to help. We
just wanted to bring this PPE to the hospitals, to the hospitals and to the
medical workers. |
11:33 |
Police
question Vasilyeva on roadside |
But
I think that these policemen, they had an order from the officials. |
11:45 |
|
Vasilyeva:
"We raised money all over the country to buy it and you are detaining
us. You're supposed to protect the country. What are you doing here? What
would your mother, who could die of coronavirus, say?" |
11:51 |
|
ERIC
CAMPBELL, Reporter: Police told them they were being taken in for
questioning. |
12:04 |
Vasilyeva
to camera |
ANASTASIA
VASILYEVA: There are two cars behind
us and there’s one car far away, take a look.
They are taking us to the Department of Internal Affairs, instead of
coming with us to deliver PPE to a hospital, they're hindering us. |
12:08 |
Vasilyeva
and man with police officer. |
ERIC
CAMPBELL, Reporter: To protect themselves, they had brought along a lawyer
and their cameras. |
12:25 |
|
Man:
"I don't see you wearing a badge of a police officer now." Police
officer: "Please follow us one by
one for an explanation." Man:
"To go where? I’m not detained." |
12:31 |
Vasilyeva
to camera on roadside |
ANASTASIA
VASILYEVA: We are appealing to Russian
President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin.
You, Vladimir Vladimirovich, have a very nice imported hazmat suit,
but medics don’t any have any PPE. We
have raised money all over the country, all Russia helps us deliver PPE. But your subordinates, the police, have
stopped us and don’t let us do this.
It seems we have to ask you personally to get a pass, to supply medics
with PPE. |
12:46 |
|
ERIC
CAMPBELL, Reporter: As they waited in town for questioning, the hospital’s
doctors managed to find them to collect the equipment. |
13:16 |
Doctors
collect equipment |
HOSPITAL
DOCTOR: We thank them very much for this help because there’s a shortage at
the hospital. There's nothing
anywhere, it’s impossible to buy masks in pharmacies, so we're very grateful. |
13:25 |
Police
drag Vasilyeva away from colleagues and into van |
|
13:40 |
|
ERIC
CAMPBELL, Reporter: As night fell, police pounced on Dr. Vasilyeva, dragging
her away from her colleagues. She was released after she passed out in the
melee. But a short time later even more officers grabbed her, taking her by
force to a police lockup. |
13:46 |
Vasilyeva
at police station |
She
was kept in a cell overnight, in seeming contravention of Russian law. |
14:31 |
|
Vasilyeva:
"You have no right, I have children under 14." Officer:
"You’ve left them alone there." Vasilyeva:
"You've been keeping me here for 10 hours. Man:
"So you have the information that she has children and you want to
arrest her now?" |
14:39 |
|
Officer: "She didn’t give us any
information." Man:
"She is telling you now, and you must check it with the information
registers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. You must check, you can't detain a woman
with children under 14 for more than three hours." Vasilyeva: "You have no right to detain me." |
14:53 |
|
Man: "She won’t go anywhere without a
lawyer. There’s no right to detain her for more than three hours." |
15:10 |
Solovyov program excerpt |
|
15:15 |
|
ERIC
CAMPBELL, Reporter: Back in Moscow, the attacks continued. Vladimir Solovyov
is a prominent State TV host and YouTube shock jock. Tonight’s target – Dr.
Vasilyeva and her Alliance of Doctors. |
15:21 |
|
Music |
15:35 |
|
Vladimir Solovyov: "What
are you talking about, crazy? What kind of alliance of doctors are you? You
are an alliance of crooks, scoundrels, villains and bastards. You are lying all the time, you are a group
of liars. Why do you drive a car without documents? Why do you break the rules and travel
outside of Moscow? You went to the hospital with patients. How do you know
that you are not contagious? Do you even understand anything in virology?
Where did you get your diploma from? Who gave it to you? Who taught you? You
are an ophthalmologist! You could be such a virologist - like a bullet made
of shit! Oh, sorry, it’s a bad word." |
15:44 |
Sick
nurses in laundry room/Patients in corridors |
Music
|
16:24 |
|
ERIC
CAMPBELL, Reporter: For months now, health workers have tried to air their
grievances on social media. In Dagestan, sick nurses were housed in a laundry
room while they waited to be tested for the virus. At this hospital in Saint
Petersburg, patients spilled out into the corridors. |
16:28 |
Doctor
pleads for help |
Doctor: "We do not refuse to work. We love our
patients and we want everyone to recover. But it’s impossible to work in such
unsafe conditions." |
16:49 |
Website
footage |
ERIC
CAMPBELL, Reporter: The Alliance for Doctors has featured their pleas on its
website. |
17:06 |
Dr.
Revva footage from website |
Dr.
Tatyana Revva: "Friends, my name
is Tatyana. I’m a resuscitation anaesthetist. We don’t have hazmat suits, we
don’t have N95 or FFP respirators, we don’t have special protective shields,
we don’t have glasses or skin antiseptics." |
17:11 |
State
media report. Hospital administrator shows supplies |
ERIC
CAMPBELL, Reporter: But most Russians have only seen State media reports
where hospital managers denounce the alliance’s videos as lies. |
17:32 |
|
State
News Reporter: "Obviously, everything is completely different from what
Tatyana Revva said. Each video has about 20-30 thousand views, not so many,
but it distracts medics from their professional duties because they're
walking through hospitals with phone cameras to refute another fake." |
17:44 |
Navalny
rally |
ERIC
CAMPBELL, Reporter: It’s not just her stance on COVID 19 that has made Dr.
Vasilyeva such a target of State media. It’s the company she keeps. Alexei
Navalny is the closest thing Russia has to a genuine opposition leader,
leading mass rallies against Putin in between stints in prison. |
18:03 |
|
Alexei
Navalny: "Do you need a monarchy?" Crowd:
"No." |
18:29 |
|
ANASTASIA
VASILYEVA: Three years ago, honestly,
I was not interested in politics at all, |
18:33 |
Vasilyeva
interview |
I
really thought that Putin was a great president. I did not know who Navalny
was. When he came to me for treatment in 2017, I honestly did not know who he
was at all. |
18:37 |
Navalny
with dye in face |
ERIC
CAMPBELL, Reporter: In 2017 he suffered an eye injury when green dye was
thrown in his face. |
18:46 |
|
Alexei
Navalny: "I’ve got a very stylish face that perfectly matches the colour
of our campaign headquarters." ERIC
CAMPBELL, Reporter: He sought treatment from the ophthalmology clinic where
Dr Vasilyeva and her mother worked. |
18:56 |
|
ANASTASIA
VASILYEVA: We successfully cured
Alexei. Everything was fine. A year later, mass layoffs started at the
Institute of Eye Diseases. They even
tried to fire my mother, they did fire her, and many other employees. |
19:07 |
Navalny
office |
ERIC
CAMPBELL, Reporter: Navalny gave her free lawyers to fight the cutbacks and
advised her on how to form a union. |
19:23 |
|
ANASTASIA
VASILYEVA: We registered it and began
working in November. |
19:30 |
Vasilyeva
working at laptop on kitchen table |
My
goal has always been to help healthcare workers. ERIC
CAMPBELL, Reporter: Until the lockdown, she worked out of Navalny’s office.
The Alliance of Doctors is now run from this laptop on her kitchen table. |
19:37 |
|
Vasilyeva: "There’s a doctor who works in an
Ossetian hospital." ERIC
CAMPBELL, Reporter: She liaises with colleagues across Russia, edits the
website and raises funds for personal protective equipment. |
19:52 |
Katja
and Vasilyeva cook |
All
this, while looking after her 14-year-old daughter, Katja, who is home
schooling during the lockdown. |
20:07 |
|
Vasilyeva:
"We need to buy more apples." Katja:
"No, there are some." Vasilyeva:
"Have you washed them? Tell me honestly." Katja:
"Yes, of course." Vasilyeva:
"Look." Katja: "What?" Vasilyeva:
"Have you washed them?" Katja: "Yes, Mum, I have washed them. This
is… This is…" |
20:16 |
Katja
interview |
KATJA: I always support my mother very much and I
see how she's editing the website. I
don't know if she sleeps at all. |
20:31 |
Vasilyeva
serves dinner |
ERIC
CAMPBELL, Reporter: Not only is her mother treated as an enemy of the State;
her father, who is also a doctor, is battling to treat COVID patients. |
20:41 |
Vasilyeva
interview |
ANASTASIA
VASILYEVA: My ex-husband, he is now,
he’s working in, a corona hospital and he said that it’s very difficult to work.
With the lack of PPE, they have no chance to eat, to drink. |
20:51 |
|
ERIC
CAMPBELL, Reporter: The longer we spent with Dr Vasilyeva, the clearer it was
that the constant harassment was taking a toll. |
21:04 |
|
ANASTASIA
VASILYEVA: Now I’m really very tired
with this, with the crying of medical workers and just trying to resolve
their problems. |
21:11 |
|
ERIC
CAMPBELL, Reporter: Dr. Vasilyeva, it
can be very dangerous to challenge the Kremlin. A lot of journalists have
been killed. You've been very brave, but do you worry about your own safety? |
21:25 |
|
ANASTASIA
VASILYEVA: I really do not afraid of anybody and anything because what they
really can do for me. I’m only telling the truth. And just all my sentences,
all my words I can prove, really, with the facts. And that’s why I’m not
afraid of anybody, I’m not frightened by the actions of government, by their
words. |
21:38 |
Vasilyeva
delivering medical supplies to hospital |
Music
|
22:07 |
|
ERIC
CAMPBELL, Reporter: Today, she and her colleagues are outside a hospital
again trying to deliver equipment. |
22:13 |
|
Vasilyeva: "Won’t the chief doctor be against us?
How should we deliver this?" |
22:21 |
|
ERIC
CAMPBELL, Reporter: They first have to work out if the hospital
administration will accept it. |
22:25 |
Vasilyeva
and colleagues in hazmat suits waiting outside hospital |
They
wait nervously, dressed in protective gear in case they get the all clear,
joking to break the tension. |
22:32 |
|
Man:
"Now you're definitely a ninja." Vasilyeva:
"Huh?" Man:
"Now you're definitely a ninja in the hood." Vasilyeva:
"How is it?" |
22:40 |
Vasilyeva
and colleagues unload supplies |
ERIC
CAMPBELL, Reporter: This time, to their relief, they don't have to deliver in
secret. Vasilyeva:
"It seems that here the chief doctor is not against our help. It’s very
cool we can bring supplies to doctors and make them safe. So now we are
delivering to the clinic, number 205
of the southwestern district." |
22:50 |
|
ERIC
CAMPBELL, Reporter: It seems a turning point for their operation. |
23:15 |
Delivering
supplies into hospital |
ANASTASIA
VASILYEVA: It’s the first time there
is such a normal attitude. Usually they attack us. |
23:21 |
Vasilyeva
interview on street |
It's
probably reached the point where it’s absurd to attack us and to say we don't
need anything, we have everything, when everyone understands there's a
shortage and doctors can get sick and a clinic can be quarantined so people
stop getting help. |
23:28 |
|
Music
|
23:46 |
Vasilyeva
out of car at hospital, unloading supplies |
ERIC
CAMPBELL, Reporter: But their relief is short-lived. ANASTASIA
VASILYEVA: Here is the conspiracy. ERIC
CAMPBELL, Reporter: At this hospital, they're not allowed to enter. Doctors
have to meet them outside and load the supplies into their cars. |
23:50 |
|
Vasilyeva:
"Let’s carry quickly. Is that all?" |
24:08 |
|
Music
|
24:11 |
|
ANASTASIA
VASILYEVA: They are scared. Health
workers are scared, unfortunately. |
24:19 |
Vasilyeva
with man outside hospital |
Man:
"Thank you for raising money." Vasilyeva:
"We hope that it will be easier and safer for doctors to work with the
protective equipment that we deliver." Man:
"Yes." Vasilyeva: "Say hello to them." Man: "Thank you." |
24:26 |
Man
behind fence filming |
ERIC
CAMPBELL, Reporter: They leave quickly when they spot an unidentified man
filming them. |
24:43 |
Vasilyeva
into car, drives away |
Music
|
24:47 |
State
TV footage. Putin in iso-bunker |
ERIC
CAMPBELL, Reporter: Since the early days of downplaying the danger, State
television has switched course, showing Putin as a man of action leading the
fight from his iso-bunker. The Kremlin has now acknowledged the virus's
exponential spread, with as many as 10,000 new cases a day, among them the Prime
Minister. But it's reporting a remarkably low death rate of around one per
cent, which officials put down to superior health care. |
24:56 |
Golikova |
Tatyana
Golikova: "It's true that the mortality rate in Russia is 7.6 times
lower compared to the world average.
We have never manipulated official statistics." ANASTASIA
VASILYEVA: I don't believe, I know, I
know it's |
25:26 |
Vasilyeva
skype interview |
a
very terrible lie. It's the same virus, but in Russia maybe we have some
magic medicine. |
25:48 |
Moscow
streets |
Music
|
25:59 |
|
ERIC
CAMPBELL, Reporter: The lockdown is finally easing. Putin has ordered
regional governors to start getting life back to normal. Dr Vasilyeva
believes Moscow’s infection has peaked, but she fears worse is to come. |
26:04 |
|
ANASTASIA
VASILYEVA: In a lot of regions of Russia, the self-isolation is finished. But
in some regions there, it's only the beginning of the infection. So what we can get now, in the regions,
there will be a terrible situation with a lot of patients with coronavirus. |
26:21 |
VE
ceremony. Putin lays wreath |
ERIC
CAMPBELL, Reporter: Putin is already
planning his next celebrations of political glory. In May, he had to postpone
celebrations of the end of World War Two. Instead of holding a military
parade in Red Square, he could only lay a solitary wreath. But he’s now
ordered mass parades across Russia at the end of June. |
26:41 |
Putin.
Address at Kremlin |
Vladimir
Putin: "We will hold them on June
24, the day in 1945 when the historical Victory Parade was held." ERIC
CAMPBELL, Reporter: And he’s declared there will be a public vote to extend
his rule on July 1. |
27:06 |
St.
Petersburg GVs |
Music
|
27:27 |
|
ERIC
CAMPBELL, Reporter: Meanwhile, the death toll of doctors keeps rising. In
Russia’s second city, Saint Petersburg, |
27:35 |
Memorial
photos health workers on fence |
friends
and relatives place photos of health workers who have died from coronavirus.
This unofficial memorial is opposite the city’s health department, so
bureaucrats have to see the daily casualties. |
27:42 |
|
ANASTASIA
VASILYEVA: A very big quantity of
medical workers died now. It's about 200. It’s not official statistics,
medical workers themselves writing this list. |
27:58 |
|
ERIC
CAMPBELL, Reporter: For Anastasia Vasilyeva, there is just one way to honour
them and it’s worth any price. |
28:10 |
|
ANASTASIA
VASILYEVA: We are helping medical
workers and I know that we are supporting them and they are supporting me. |
28:21 |
Vasilyeva
skype interview |
I
want very much to help out people, to help medical workers. Really, I just,
it's my wish. It's my dream to help them and, I'm ready for everything. |
28:27 |
Vasilyeva
and colleagues unload supplies. Credits
[see below] |
Music
|
28:40 |
|
Doctor: "Thank you very much." |
29:15 |
Outpoint
after credits |
|
29:24 |
CREDITS
Reporter
Eric
Campbell
Producers
Eva
Hartog
Daniel
Kozin
Camera
Dmitry
Demyanov
Michael
Nudl
Daniel
Kozin
Editor
Stuart
Miller
Leah
Donovan
Assistant editor
Tom
Carr
Research
Anastasia
Tenisheva
Archival research
Anastasia
Tenisheva
Michelle
Boukheris
Music
Video Courtesy
Cream Soda
Presidential Footage
President
of Russia website
Navalny TV
Government of Russia website
Senior Production Manager
Michelle
Roberts
Production Co-ordinator
Victoria
Allen
Digital Producer
Matt
Henry
Supervising Producer
Lisa
McGregor
Executive Producer
Matthew
Carney
abc.net.au/foreign
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2020 Australian Broadcasting Corporation