or seek citizenship. rishi sunak said his government is on the side of the british people. the opposition called it a gimmick. now on bbc news, hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk. i m stephen sackur and today i m in nice on the french riviera, a glamorous corner of europe, which has long been a favorite haunt of russia s oligarchs. and my guest today, sergei pugachev, is one of them, or at least he was the billionaire businessman helped vladimir putin make it all the way to the kremlin. but their relationship soured. pugachev was accused of massive financial crimes. he fled from moscow, first to london and then here to nice, where he enjoys french citizenship. he now has his own private security and an extraordinary story to tell, which gives us insights into both the strengths and the weaknesses of vladimir putin. sergei pugachev, welcome to hardtalk. hello, thank you for the invitation. it s a very great pleasure to meet you. let me start with something you said three years
spill in east palestine. and it s a frustrating night for tottenham as they crash out of the champions league against milan. rat a very warm welcome to the programme. we begin in the former soviet republic of georgia, where large crowds have been protesting against new laws which critics say will limit freedoms. the biggest demonstrations took place in the capital tbilisi, where police used water cannon and tear gas to try to disperse the crowds. our correspondent rayhan demytrie is in tbilisi and she sent us this report. every big moment in history has its iconic image. this may be georgia s. on tuesday, thousands of protesters stood for europe, and stood their ground against water cannons, tear gas and pepper spray. and they even fought back. 55 police officers were injured. protesters have been outraged by what s been happening in parliament pro government mps spoiling for a fight with the opposition, and then backing a controversial foreign agents bill. the law would re