Reuters World News - Who are the Russians fighting Russia?

Episode Date: May 26, 2023

Russian anti-Kremlin fighters take the war back home with an incursion into Russia’s Belgorod region. We hear from one of their commanders who says it’s just the start. What’s next in the Madeleine McCann search? The fallout from Target pulling part of its Pride collection. Plus, we’re on the clay at Roland Garros for the French Open. Visit the Thomson Reuters Privacy Statement for information on our privacy and data protection practices. You may also visit megaphone.fm/adchoices to opt-out of targeted advertising. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today. The anti-Kremlin fighters who launched a rare incursion on Russia say they'll do it again. We go inside the assault on Balgorod. The mystery of Madeline McCann goes unsolved as investigators end a search of a Portugal reservoir. The backlash over target-pulling LGBTQ merch grows, and we're on the clay for the start of Roland Garros. It's Friday, May 26th. This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes.

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Reuters.com. Who would dare make an incursion into Russia, the world's biggest nuclear power? The answer is other Russians. After a shock raid into Russia, border region Belgarod. Two groups who claim responsibility for the attack are made up of Russians based abroad. Commander of the Russian Volunteer Corps, Dennis Kapustin, said they'll make more incursions soon. Phase one, we consider it a successful phase.

It's over now, but the operation is ongoing. Mike Collette White has been reporting on it for us. Okay, Mike, who are these Russians attacking Russia? There are thousands of non-Ukrainians fighting against the Russians and Ukraine. These are different because, as well as wanting to fight for the Ukrainians, they also have an agenda which is to try and sow dissent and discord within Russia and are therefore taking things a step further by crossing the border into Russian territory and staging small attacks there. Do they have any sort of unifying ideology? Yes, very, very broadly, they do not like Vladimir Putin, the president in the Kremlin. They think that he is an imperialist going back to pre-revolutionary days.

It should also be said that there is a lot of quite hardcore right-wing ideology within these groups. Some of their leaders have been described by the Anti-Defamation League in the US as neo-Nazis. And that's not true of all of them, but certainly their leadership is what I would describe as far right. Russia has alleged that US-made hardware was used in the attack. What have these groups said about that? And would that be an escalation here? I think there's an interesting side of this, and it's an important one. The photos we've had from one of the two groups involved on the Ukrainian side of the border

before they went over in the attack definitely featured quite a few US-made vehicles. Now, we can't say that they were directly supplied by the Americans or not. But it's interesting that the US government has reacted to this raid and the apparent use of US-made vehicles in it by saying that this is not something we signed up for and it's not something we want to see. I think the Americans are worried about the threat of escalation. They don't want to be associated with these raids. And I think that's the significance of it rather than military. Are they getting any support from Kyiv? Kiev will say that these are acting independently,

of them. Foreign, non-Ukrainian fighters fighting against the Russians in Ukraine tend to work under the Ministry of Defense, and Kiev is happy to admit that. Any time it goes into the Russian territory, they will wash their hands of it, say it's nothing to do with them. Investigators ended their search for the body of Madeline McCann, near a reservoir in Portugal. German investigators probing the three-year-old's disappearance had hoped for a breakthrough 16 years later. Our own Madeleine Chambers in Berlin has covered the case that became a global media sensation. Madeline, why did this German prosecutor renew the search for McCann's body?

They have been the German prosecutors who are sort of leading this investigation and prompted the latest dig, have been fairly reticent with their information. They have said not to expect too much, but they have also told Reuters that the was information that they received that led them to this area. So, yes, there has been some media speculation that a former friend or acquaintance of the formal suspect called Christian Bluchner provided some information which has led to this investigation in the reservoir. Christian Bruchner was named last year as a formal suspect. He is currently serving a seven-year prison sentence in northern Germany for the rape of a 72-year-old American woman

in the same area of the Algarve that Madeline McCann went missing from. Madeline McCann disappeared in 2007. It was a really different time. What were the elements of this that made it so big? Part of the reason, I think, was that the parents, Jerry and Kate McCann very quickly launched a very high-profile campaign, and they managed to get various famous people and celebrities on board. I mean, people from Wayne Rooney to Cristiano Ronaldo to David Beckham.

But another factor is probably that there is an attractive-looking photograph of three-year-old Madeline McCannes, smiling, looking into the camera, looking very sweet. And this makes very good front pages for newspapers. It goes well on television. What about the fact that they were a white middle-class family? I mean, that must have played into it. Yes, I think a lot of people have been pretty shocked and appalled at the contrast between this, the attention given to the McCann case and compared to the many, many other

cases of non-white children who go missing much more frequently and don't get anything like the same treatment. Target says it's pulled part of it. its LGBTQ pride collection to protect employees. They say their workers were subjected to violent backlash from customers over rainbow-colored merch. Retail reporter Sidath Cavale in New York is covering the fallout. So, Sid, how big is this issue for Target?

How has the LGBT community reacted? There has obviously been backlash from them to that Target has done this. So for example, GLAAD, it's an LGBT community. B2Q Media Advocacy Group said that, you know, there should be a wake-up call for America that, you know, some extremists can cause target to react this way, you know, a small number of extremists. And then I spoke to this, the National Back Justice Coalition. It's a prominent black community, LGBTQ group. They said that target's removal of these products was akin to sending people from the community back into the closet. What type of confrontations is Target talking about? So, yeah, that's interesting. So Target, the way that their staff has been facing.

facing a lot of verbal abuse, a little bit of heckling. Customers have thrown pride merchandise on the floor. They've taken videos in stores. And they've been posting threats online. I've worked in retail before and customers get angry. That's kind of normal. Couldn't Target just have beefed up at security? Yes.

That's the million dollar question, right? So for example, this is not the first time Target is facing a lot of these incidents. They have been complaining for a long time that they've been victim of, organized retail crime gangs who basically come in, steal merchandise, and then sell them for profits online. So in the last week, actually, Target reported earnings and their executives said that they've been really investing in security. The thing that they mentioned is they can't do too much of it because it kind of ruins the customer experience. How has all of this impacted Eric Carnell, the designer whose products were pulled? So far, Eric Carnell has been overwhelmed

with orders since Target started doing that. And so, in fact, the orders have been so immense. He's had to shut his app pro-neau brand's website and also the store on Etsy. I'm Amy Tennery. I'm a sports reporter for Reuters. Now, this weekend, we are heading to Paris, where our own Julian Pretto is on site at the French Open. The tournament was under fire last year for accusations of gender, inequality,

with regard to the primetime slots. Julian, is anything changing this year? Well, what's changing is not exactly the prior time gender equity because the organizers could not commit to that. They pledged to do better than they did last year because there is one night session which features only one match. They have an exclusive with the prime video in France for this one. I mean, it's a discussion between the two. But the feeling we had in a couple of previous years when they started this night session is that They didn't want to feature too many women's matches because they tend to be shorter.

This tournament is obviously going to be remembered not just for who's in it, but for who is not in it. And that is 14 times the winner, Raf Nadal. Rafa being out of Roland Garros is like Paris being without the Eiffel Tower. The Paris crowd is going to be very tough. And sometimes they don't care whether a player wins or loses, but the crowd darling here. And notably because also this very possible. a very boy next door attitude that has always been very much appreciated here. So, yeah, it's the 21st time I think I covered the tournament.

It's going to be only the third time. I don't see it at all. That's it for this edition of Reuters World News. We'll be back on Monday. To get all our shows in your podcast feed, make sure to follow us on your favorite platform or download the Reuters app.