Steve Rosenberg
Appearances
Global News Podcast
US says it's cautiously optimistic that a deal to end fighting in Gaza is within reach
It was the day Russia's capital was reminded of Russia's war in Ukraine. The investigations committee confirmed they'd been a high-profile assassination outside an apartment building. A bomb hidden on a scooter had exploded, killing Lieutenant General Igor Kirilov, head of Russia's nuclear, biological and chemical protection troops, and his assistant Ilya Polykarpov.
Global News Podcast
US says it's cautiously optimistic that a deal to end fighting in Gaza is within reach
Only yesterday, Ukraine had reportedly charged the general in absentia for allegedly using chemical weapons on the battlefield. Russian state TV blamed the blast on Ukraine. With the attack, it said, President Zelensky had signed his own death sentence. The former Kremlin leader, Dmitry Medvedev, called for the killers to be tracked down in Russia.
Global News Podcast
US says it's cautiously optimistic that a deal to end fighting in Gaza is within reach
We must do everything, he said, to destroy the patrons who are in Kiev. Near the crime scene, local residents spoke of their shock. Liza told me, when this kind of thing happens, not just in your hometown or in your own neighbourhood, but in the building opposite, that's scary. Even after nearly three years of war, for many Muscovites, Russia's war in Ukraine is very distant.
Global News Podcast
US says it's cautiously optimistic that a deal to end fighting in Gaza is within reach
It's something they see only on TV or on their phones. But the killing of a Russian general here, that is a wake-up call that this war is very real and very close to home.
Global News Podcast
Russia's chemical weapons chief killed in Moscow bomb blast
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Global News Podcast
Russia's chemical weapons chief killed in Moscow bomb blast
which for many people has been a war on television or a war they've looked at on their phones, something that doesn't really concern them. You know, what happened today was a real jolt to the system when you have a top Russian general being assassinated in a residential district of Moscow.
Global News Podcast
Russia's chemical weapons chief killed in Moscow bomb blast
It brings it home, certainly to people living around there, that actually the war in Ukraine is not happening... A long way away. It's actually very real and very close to home. And one thing the Russian authorities, I think, have been quite successful at to this point has been to normalise the war so that people think, well, you know, it's going on, but we'll get on with our own lives.
Global News Podcast
Russia's chemical weapons chief killed in Moscow bomb blast
As I say, this was a jolt to the system and a reminder that actually it's very close to home.
Global News Podcast
Russia's chemical weapons chief killed in Moscow bomb blast
Well, certainly the feeling from Moscow is, yes, Russia is pretty convinced that Ukraine was behind this. Russian officials have been pointing the finger at Ukraine, also at the West, suggesting that somehow Western countries orchestrated this attack. There's almost certain to be a response from Moscow. Retaliation already calls from some quarters for retaliation.
Global News Podcast
Russia's chemical weapons chief killed in Moscow bomb blast
It is a very high-profile killing. In Moscow, a very high-ranked lieutenant general. And, as I say, we're still trying to piece together exactly what happened and the circumstances here, but, yeah, I think a sense of shock would be the right way to describe things.
Global News Podcast
Russia's chemical weapons chief killed in Moscow bomb blast
Well, it is a blow, certainly, but, I mean, when you look back over the last, what, nearly three years of... what the Kremlin called originally and still calls the special military operation, something that was only going to last a few days or a few weeks maximum and has dragged on for three years. There have been so many blows.
Global News Podcast
Russia's chemical weapons chief killed in Moscow bomb blast
This is an operation, a war, which has not gone at all according to plan for Moscow. And even though Vladimir Putin only yesterday, when he was addressing army chiefs, was very upbeat and saying things were going Russia's way and Russia had the strategic initiative in this war...
Global News Podcast
Russia's chemical weapons chief killed in Moscow bomb blast
When you look back at what has happened, and so much has happened and so much has gone wrong for the Kremlin in three years, what happened today, early this morning, this bomb attack, is the latest in a long line of incidents that Moscow did not prepare for. when Vladimir Putin ordered Russian troops across the border into Ukraine nearly three years ago. Steve Rosenberg in Moscow.
Global News Podcast
Russia's chemical weapons chief killed in Moscow bomb blast
I was there earlier this morning, and the apartment block had been cordoned off. There were police lines and Russian investigators outside the entrance, still clearing things away and looking for evidence. Quite a bit of damage to that particular entranceway, clearly, and a lot of shock. I mean, we spoke to residents nearby, and the sense was that, you know, suddenly this war...
Global News Podcast
French ministers arrive in Mayotte after devastating cyclone
First of all, this is a statement released on the Telegram channel of the presidency of the Syrian Arab Republic, purported to be Assad's first comment since he had to flee Syria just over a week ago. So the statement basically amounts to an attempt by Assad to justify his actions in those last few hours. and to deny that he abandoned Syria.
Global News Podcast
French ministers arrive in Mayotte after devastating cyclone
So, for example, he claims that he remained in Damascus until the early hours of Sunday, the 8th of December, but then moved to the Russian airbase, the Khmeimim airbase in Latakia, to oversee combat operations. But it became clear, he says in the statement, that the last positions of the Syrian army had fallen. And then he claims that the Russian military base itself came under attack
Global News Podcast
French ministers arrive in Mayotte after devastating cyclone
intensified attack by drone strikes. Interestingly Russia hasn't mentioned anything about that up till now. Anyway according to the statement Moscow then requested that the commanders of the base arranged an immediate evacuation to Russia on the evening of Sunday the 8th of December and he flew to Moscow.
Global News Podcast
French ministers arrive in Mayotte after devastating cyclone
He adds in the statement that at no point during these events did I consider stepping down or seeking refuge and he adds that he hopes that Syria will once again be free and independent.
Global News Podcast
French ministers arrive in Mayotte after devastating cyclone
Well, we had very little information from the Russians. But I remember going back to Sunday, the 8th of December, the Russians said that Assad had agreed to step down. Kremlin source said he had come to Moscow. There was no talk about the Russian airbase coming under attack. And actually, Russia had denied at the time taking part in negotiations before Assad's departure.
Global News Podcast
French ministers arrive in Mayotte after devastating cyclone
So there are various things in this statement that have come out today which don't quite square with what Russia has said. Interestingly, Vladimir Putin has said absolutely nothing publicly about the fall of Assad or events in Syria. What we're now more than a week away.
Global News Podcast
French ministers arrive in Mayotte after devastating cyclone
After those dramatic events, nothing from the Kremlin leader, even though earlier today, President Putin addressed a meeting of senior military leaders, which was shown live on television, an event I expected him to make some reference to Syria at. There was nothing at all. He spoke mostly about Russia's war in Ukraine, about the alleged threat from NATO, nothing at all about Syria.
Global News Podcast
French ministers arrive in Mayotte after devastating cyclone
And there could be a couple of reasons for that. For one thing, what has happened in Syria is... a major embarrassment for the Kremlin when you consider that for nine years, the Russians poured resources into trying to make sure that Assad stayed in power. He was the Kremlin's main man. He was the closest ally for the Kremlin in the Middle East.
Global News Podcast
French ministers arrive in Mayotte after devastating cyclone
But also, you know, some reports suggest that the Russians are in talks with the new Syrian leadership to try to retain their military bases, the two main Russian military bases in Syria.
Global News Podcast
Murder suspect Luigi Mangione faces charges in New York court
As ever in his speeches, in the comments he makes, he was upbeat in his assessment of Russia's progress in what he still calls the special military operation, Russia's war in Ukraine, saying that the Russian army was taking more and more territory in Ukraine and would soon achieve its preliminary targets. He did, however...
Global News Podcast
Murder suspect Luigi Mangione faces charges in New York court
suggest that he was open to compromise and suggest that he would be willing to meet President-elect Trump at any moment. But you have to ask the question, what is compromise in Vladimir Putin's mind? From everything he has said in recent months, compromise, I think he understands as a deal on Russia's terms, which equals the capitulation of Ukraine.
Global News Podcast
Murder suspect Luigi Mangione faces charges in New York court
Vladimir Putin has been talking about Russia having to keep what it calls new regions, land occupied by Russian troops. Also, he has talked about Western sanctions would have to be scrapped against Russia, and Ukraine would not be able to join NATO, which would add up to pretty much a capitulation by Kiev.
Global News Podcast
Murder suspect Luigi Mangione faces charges in New York court
Yes, he was asked about this. This is Igor Kirillov, who was assassinated this week. He spoke of him in very positive terms and said that this wasn't the first attack of its kind carried out by Ukraine. The main message, I think, from this marathon four and a half hour press conference slash phone-in was... was that, OK, there are some problems in the country, but I'm the man to solve them.
Global News Podcast
Murder suspect Luigi Mangione faces charges in New York court
As far as Syria goes, we heard his first comments on the dramatic events in Syria and the fall of Bashar al-Assad, which is a big blow to Vladimir Putin. Assad was Putin's key ally in the Middle East. But no, he turned that upside down and said this was not a defeat for Russia. So, as I say, the main message, I think, for the Russian people was things are sort of going OK.
Global News Podcast
Murder suspect Luigi Mangione faces charges in New York court
My overriding impression was that Vladimir Putin is someone who refuses to admit any mistakes. You know, the last three years, just look at what's happened. What was supposed to have been a very fast operation in Ukraine that would last days or weeks maximum went completely wrong for Moscow. We had then Putin being forced to declare partial mobilization.
Global News Podcast
Murder suspect Luigi Mangione faces charges in New York court
We saw a mutiny by Russian mercenaries who started marching on Moscow. And yet Vladimir Putin was able to get through all of that and now has the initiative on the battlefield in eastern Ukraine. And that, I think, adds to his sense of confidence, almost his feeling of invincibility.
Global News Podcast
Murder suspect Luigi Mangione faces charges in New York court
And I suppose if you've been in power as long as he has, for 25 years, as president mainly, sometimes as prime minister, then I suppose you do start to feel that you can do anything.