which moves us kind of into into the next conversation where you know Wagner was very very popular if I can use that term all over the world but it went into the absolute mainstream and I think you know random villagers in in India probably know about it mostly from the so-called Wagner Rebellion which happened earlier this year.

So as you, someone who was there and especially a professional journalist and so on,

I want to ask you, what know the scene like at home when the so-called rebellion started

how did you feel how did others was it a sense of skepticism optimism fear or you know

depending on a person's political compass, all of those.

I can tell you what I was doing to introduce a bit of levity.

I was in a random bar or a club and a Russian friend of mine that I was supposed to be seeing

then he comes to me and he's like looking well not dishevelled but he's like you know

kind of skeptically smiling and I'm like what's the smirk about and he just

shows me the phone I'm like what the fuck is this actually happening and she's like

I don't know if it's actually happening nobody knows if it's actually happening so I'm wondering if you know I can he was a relatively decent representation of what you guys felt so yes please tell us

very similar I think that was a very common reaction. You probably heard that one of the Wagner tanks was parked in front of the Rostov circus.

And I think it tells it all. The feeling was one of an ongoing farce, although a bloody farce, a strange mixture of fear and irony is how ordinary people perceive it.

Not only that particular incident but the whole situation in general.

As for me, we heard that the Wagner column is approaching Moscow.

There were rumors that checkpoints are being built and firing positions installed.

We nevertheless we couldn't stop loving.

I swear you, we couldn't stop loving because of the absurdity of the whole thing.

Obviously and our comrades in Ukraine know it better than anybody there is nothing funny whatsoever

but still it was so absurd and the mere piling up of that absurdity over yet another absurdity it made you smile.

So yes, we loved I have to confess.

Given that I was't Rostov one week before the whole thing began and

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