Inside Russia: SPIEGEL TV Takes a Look Behind Putin's New Iron Curtain

TVS News AI, editorially supervised, presents Inside Russia: SPIEGEL TV Takes a Look Behind Putin's New Iron Curtain.

When discussions about Russia take place in Brussels, Berlin or Washington, they usually revolve around front lines, sanctions or arms deliveries. How people in Russia themselves are doing remains invisible to many – not so in the new SPIEGEL TV documentary "Inside Russia: Behind the New Iron Curtain".

The documentary aims to take a look behind the facades of the Putin regime and show how the war against Ukraine has long since reached the everyday lives of the Russian population. The broadcaster puts it this way in its teaser:

Fuel crisis, rising prices, fear of a new mobilization: Russia's population has long felt how the war against Ukraine is reaching them too. A look behind Putin's Iron Curtain.

What is the documentary about?

The teaser of the documentary specifically names three topic blocks:

• Fuel crisis: For many citizens, the war becomes physically tangible for the first time at the gas pumps – empty tanks, long lines, higher fuel prices.
• Rising prices: Inflation is hitting everyday goods and eating into real incomes.
• Fear of a new mobilization: Many Russians fear being drafted again – a shadow hanging over families and businesses.

Why the title "new Iron Curtain"?

The word choice deliberately plays on the isolation of the Soviet era. Independent reporting from inside Russia has become rare since the invasion of Ukraine, foreign media are obstructed, and journalists face repression. The interest in any material promising an unfiltered look at the lived reality there is all the greater as a result.

Why this matters to you

Anyone who wants to understand why Putin's regime is holding firm despite growing domestic pressure – or is crumbling precisely because of it – cannot ignore the lived reality of the people. This is exactly where the SPIEGEL TV documentary starts: not battlefields, but supermarkets, gas stations and apartment-building entrances.

The broadcast date and further background can be found on the SPIEGEL TV page for the documentary.