Steve Rosenberg, the BBC’s Russia editor, grew up in Chingford in east London. After studying Russian at Leeds University he moved to Moscow, where he taught English. He worked for CBS News as a translator, producer and reporter on the war in Chechnya before joining the BBC in 2003, initially as its Moscow correspondent. He’s a talented pianist and regularly posts musical updates on Twitter.
Has reporting from Russia become more difficult since the invasion of Ukraine last February?
Reporting has become more difficult. Getting access to officials has become more difficult, persuading the Russian people to speak to us has become more difficult. Although, despite the anti-western propaganda and anti-British rhetoric in the state media, out on the street Russians still stop and speak to me. Many are wary of expressing a public opinion about the war and about Putin but still, many people do talk to us.
What is the reputation of the BBC in Russia?
The Russian authorities portray the BBC as a British government mouthpiece, which is absolutely not the case. And very often the BBC is criticised in the state media. But on the other hand, last year I was still able to secure an interview with the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov. And we’ve been able to ask questions to the director of Russian foreign intelligence, Sergei Naryshkin. I would like to think it’s because there is some kind of respect for us.
Have you been able to get a sense of what level of support there is for the war?
We’ve been able to travel across the country and I’ve come to the conclusion from talking to people that public opinion roughly splits into three groups. There’s a small minority which is very publicly and vocally behind the war and Putin; a small minority which is completely against it, totally shocked by what’s happening. And in the middle, the majority, composed of people who are utterly confused by what’s happening, partly because of the stream of propaganda in the state media. They are very anxious about the situation.
Have the sanctions had any tangible effect on day-to-day life?
If you go to a supermarket in Moscow, the shelves are pretty full. The selection perhaps isn’t as large as it was a year ago, and a lot of western products that used to be there have disappeared, like Coca-Cola, replaced by new local brands. Imported goods are becoming much more expensive. But for the majority of Russians across the country, they don’t see a huge effect from sanctions. Now that may change this year. I think the economy is going to come under increasing pressure.
Do Russians worry about how their government looks to international eyes?
Perhaps in the big cities they do. But for the majority, their priority is not to think of their government’s reputation. Their priority is to get through life, the day-to-day struggle. Real incomes have been falling. Life is tough.
Has the war affected your own feelings for Russia?
This is a country that has intrigued and inspired me for years. I fell in love with the language, I fell in love with the people. For the last year, it’s been a country that has shocked and horrified me, and it’s tested my love and my respect to their limits. It’s an alternative reality, it’s Nineteen Eighty-Four and Through the Looking-Glass all mixed up. It’s almost as if a huge black cloud has come over the country and everything has gone dark. The whole country has been put on a war footing. It’s a militarised Russia, a more patriotic and more nationalistic place that affects all walks of life.
In 2018, you asked Putin about the attempted assassination of Sergei and Yulia Skripal. Were you nervous? And was there any comeback?
I was nervous, because I didn’t know what the consequences would be. He hadn’t spoken publicly up to that point about the Salisbury poisonings, and he didn’t expect that question. But there wasn’t any follow-up, which was quite interesting.
How do you see things going from here?
Even though everything has gone pretty badly for him, I think Putin comes across as someone who still believes that he holds strong cards, and that he will secure something that he can portray as a victory to the elite and to the people. He may be wrong about that. But I think he believes that western support for Ukraine will weaken, and that Russia is in this for the long term. What worries me is the increasing aggression in Russian society. There are a lot of groups with a lot of guns – the Wagner military organisation, the Chechen leader Kadyrov with his paramilitaries, and regional militias. There are also a lot of traumatised people. I think this year could get quite bumpy.
Ahead of the @Eurovision 2022 Grand Final, here's one of my craziest musical moments: when I tried to play on the piano (in one tweet) every winning #Eurovision song since 1956. Italy’s 2021 winner I’ve added in the thread. @bbceurovision @EBU_HQ @BBCNews @BBCRadio2 pic.twitter.com/WXj16Q4GcN
— Steve Rosenberg (@BBCSteveR) May 14, 2022
What was it like accompanying Mikhail Gorbachev on piano?
That was one of the most bizarre episodes of my career. We’d recorded an interview which hadn’t produced many news lines. But there was a piano in the corner of his office and he suddenly asked if anyone could play, and I sat down and played and he started singing. In those few musical minutes, I learned more about Gorbachev the man than in all the six interviews that I’d done with him. He was a very emotional, very warm person. And his death last year felt like the end of an era. He represented that rare moment in Russian history when the country opened up.
Can you explain your love of Eurovision?
It was one of the few programmes that I was allowed to stay up late to watch when I was a kid. I was mad about TV and I just thought it was amazing that you had all these different languages and crackly phone lines. I started to collect Eurovision songs the way other people collect stamps or coins, and I started playing them on the piano. Most years we do this Eurovision Piano Request live programme where people send in their requests, and I play them on the piano. I love that, because it’s the one day of the year where I can kind of switch off from politics and Putin and the Kremlin and just have a bit of Eurovision musical fun.
