Meet our Surprise Guest Tikhon Dzyadko in a brief but sharp interview!

EESC info: When did you decide that you could no longer work in Moscow? Was it your decision to leave Russia, or did you not have a choice?

Tikhon Dzyadko: Like many other journalists, we were forced to leave the country. Following the beginning of the war in Ukraine, the Russian government imposed military censorship. New legislation was adopted meaning you could get up to 15 years in jail for even calling the war by its name, rather than a "special military operation".
So in order not to go to jail and at the same time continue my work as a journalist, I was forced to leave the country.  

Where are you working now?

TV Dozhd has three studios in three different locations: in Riga, in Tbilisi and in Amsterdam. I am based in Amsterdam.

How would you describe Russian propaganda?

Russian propaganda is very dangerous because it is organised and controlled by war criminals. Russian propaganda has the face of war criminals. They have been fuelling this war for many years by telling people lies.

What do you expect from the European Union?

I think the EU and its people should understand that there are a lot of Russians who are opposed to this war and support Ukraine and Europe.

What would you like to do in the future and where?

Go back to Moscow and continue working from there.