How Russia is quietly trying to win over the world beyond the West
Russian state-backed news channel RT and news agency and radio Sputnik have expanded their international presence; between them, they now broadcast across Africa, the Balkans, the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Latin America. These moves coincide with bans in Western countries.
BBC / British Broadcasting Corporation
Javier Gallardo likes to start his morning watching a classical music programme on television - it is part of his routine, and puts him in the right mood for the day before going to work driving trucks.
But one Monday in June, he turned on the television and, instead of music, the screen was filled with images of a warzone. A news report was playing on a channel he had never heard of.
"What's happening?" he asked himself. After 20 minutes, he turned it off. "I couldn't connect with it."
A green logo at the bottom corner of the screen showed the letters: "RT". Searching online, he found that this was a Russian channel.
Javier lives in Chile. It is alleged that Telecanal, a privately-owned TV channel in the country, has handed over its signal to Russian state-backed news broadcaster RT, formerly Russia Today.
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