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A geopolitical journey to the heart of a monumental project, the “Five Seas System”, a network of Russian waterways designed by Putin and based on Russian imperialism, linking Russia to five seas: the Black Sea, the Sea of Azov, the Caspian Sea, the Baltic Sea and the White Sea.

Since coming to power, Vladimir Putin has pursued an ambitious yet little-known goal: restoring Russia’s greatness by reclaiming control over the “Five Seas.” Inspired by Peter the Great and Stalin, this vision aims to make Moscow a maritime power. From the 2008 war in Georgia to the 2014 annexation of Crimea, the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, and recent tensions in Nagorno-Karabakh, each conflict follows the same pattern: using maritime regions as tools of reconquest and influence. Putin wages military actions and a hybrid war — blending military action, political and economic control, and digital interference. With exclusive archives, testimonies from experts, and on-the-ground footage from Georgia, Estonia, and Finland, Putin and the Five Seas War unveils a neo-imperial project long underestimated by the West.
 
A crucial documentary for understanding a geopolitical strategy driven by nationalism, trade routes, energy ambitions, and imperial memory.

China maintains that it is a peaceful power and neutral in other countries’ conflicts. But the country has a long history of aggressive expansion and has also suffered from the belligerence of European powers.

The fall of the Assad regime and the seizure of power by Ahmad El-Sharaa has changed the situation in the semi-autonomous Kurdish region of Rojava in north-east Syria. Women there are on the front line fighting for their homeland and for their hard-won equal rights.

The Andean Condor is the largest bird of prey and is only found in South America along the Andes Mountain Range. The revered bird, with a wingspan of around 3 metres, is a critically endangered species which is essential to the ecosystems where it lives. Biologist Luis Jácome is working hard to protect the king of the skies.

Daily demonstrations have been going on for months now in Georgia. Protestors are calling for new elections and closer ties with Europe and reject the authoritarian laws introduced by the pro-Russian government. But will the demonstrators, from all ages and walks of life, see their European dream come true?

In 2014 it was difficult to work as a journalist in Gaza, today it is practically impossible. Over 160 Palestinian journalists have been killed since the 7 October 2023 making Palestine the most dangerous place in the world to be a journalist.

Like many residents of the Gaza strip, journalist Rami Abou Jamous is going back home, or what is left of it: So much of the territory is a ‘no-life’ zone with almost everything in ruins.

Nahida Choobi, her husband Ahmad and their children Mohamed and Mariam have been refugees for a year and a half. Their village of Naqoura, two kilometres from the Israeli border, was one of the first to be bombed by the IDF in October 2023, then occupied and emptied of its population. With the withdrawal of Israeli troops, they have been able to return to their homes, but everything has been destroyed.

In August 2022, a drowned man was fished out of the Rio Grande. Many migrants perish trying to cross this last obstacle on their way to America, the river separating Mexico from the USA. This man’s migration story was remarkable: A Syrian who fled to Lebanon during the war, then built a life in Brazil before trying to reach America.

At least 89 migrants lost their lives trying to cross the English Channel in 2024 compared with 16 in 2023. More of these deaths are women and more women are in the makeshift camps around Calais looking to make the crossing.

Savita Diana Wagner fought as a German volunteer medic for almost two years on the front line in Ukraine. She died there on front on 31 January 2024. This is her story.