{"id":5567,"date":"2026-02-04T16:34:23","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T16:34:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shavuatov.co.uk\/?p=5567"},"modified":"2026-02-04T16:55:56","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T16:55:56","slug":"steve-rosenberg-the-bbcs-moscow-head-of-station","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shavuatov.co.uk\/?p=5567","title":{"rendered":"Steve Rosenberg-the BBC's Moscow head of station"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

With the war in Ukraine, and the demise of NATO, thanks to the behaviour of Donald Trump, the relationship between Europe and Russia has deteriorated severely, and Britain is disliked the most by the current Putin leadership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The BBC has a head of station there, who has been over 20 years in Russia, and seems for the time being, <\/em> to be accepted by the Russian regime, though this could change at any time. He is Steven Rosenberg who is a very interesting personality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Steven Barnett Rosenberg was born on 5 April 1968 in\u00a0Epping<\/a>\u00a0and grew up in\u00a0Chingford<\/a>,\u00a0east London<\/a>. He is\u00a0Jewish<\/a>. <\/a><\/sup>\u00a0During his senior high school summer holidays, Rosenberg worked at the BBC's\u00a0teletext<\/a>\u00a0service,\u00a0Ceefax<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following A-Levels<\/a> at Chingford Senior High<\/a>, he attended the University of Leeds<\/a> receiving, in 1991, a first-class<\/a> degree in Russian Studies. Rosenberg then moved to Moscow, initially teaching English at the Moscow State Technological University STANKIN<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Career<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Rosenberg began his career at\u00a0CBS News<\/a>' Moscow bureau, working as a translator, assistant producer and producer for six years, including covering the\u00a0first war in Chechnya<\/a>\u00a0(1994\u20131996). <\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1997, he joined the\u00a0BBC<\/a>'s Moscow bureau as a producer. On New Year's Eve 1999, no journalist was in the bureau when\u00a0Boris Yeltsin<\/a>\u00a0unexpectedly announced his resignation. \"That meant I had to step in to write and broadcast my first BBC dispatch,\" Rosenberg recalled 25 years later. <\/a><\/sup>\u00a0He became a reporter in 2000 and Moscow correspondent in 2003. He covered major stories such as the\u00a0Kursk submarine disaster<\/a>\u00a0(2000), <\/a><\/sup>\u00a0the\u00a0Nord Ost theatre siege<\/a>\u00a0(2002) <\/a><\/sup>\u00a0and the\u00a0Beslan school attack<\/a>\u00a0(2004).\u00a0In 2003, he interviewed Russian oligarch\u00a0Roman Abramovich<\/a>.[7]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

From 2006 to 2010, Rosenberg served as the BBC's Berlin<\/a> correspondent, covering Germany and Europe. He returned to Moscow as a correspondent in 2010.[8]<\/a><\/sup>[9]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2014, Rosenberg and his crew were attacked in\u00a0Astrakhan<\/a>\u00a0after interviewing the sister of a Russian soldier killed during the\u00a0war in Donbas<\/a>. The BBC lodged a complaint with Russian authorities. <\/sup>\u00a0In 2015,\u00a0Ukraine<\/a>\u00a0temporarily banned him and other journalists over their coverage of the war. The decree cited \"threat to national interests\" and promoting \"terrorist activities\". The BBC labelled the ban \"a shameful attack on media freedom\". <\/a><\/sup>\u00a0The authorities retracted the ban the following day. <\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rosenberg also has a YouTube channel, where he has hosted his \"Reading Russia\" series since 2015, analysing the Russian press.\u00a0The channel also features reports Rosenberg compiles for BBC broadcast news and piano videos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2018, Rosenberg confronted\u00a0Vladimir Putin<\/a>\u00a0about\u00a0the attempted assassination of Sergei and Yulia Skripal<\/a>, receiving widespread praise from journalists despite Putin's evasive response. <\/a><\/sup>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In November 2021, he interviewed\u00a0Belarusian<\/a>\u00a0President\u00a0Alexander Lukashenko<\/a>, who admitted Belarusian troops \"may have helped migrants into [the]\u00a0EU<\/a>\". <\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On 10 March 2022, Rosenberg was appointed the Russia editor for BBC News, to strengthen coverage of the\u00a0Russian invasion of Ukraine<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Piano playing<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Rosenberg is an amateur piano player and a fan of the Eurovision Song Contest<\/a>. Whilst covering the 2012 contest<\/a> in Baku<\/a>, Azerbaijan<\/a>, he showcased his piano skills on the Ken Bruce Show<\/em><\/a>, performing a ten-minute medley containing a short excerpt from every Eurovision winning song. He has repeated this medley on several occasions, including at the embassies in Russia of countries staging that year's contest, such as Portugal<\/a> in 2018<\/a> and the Netherlands<\/a> in 2021<\/a>.[18]<\/a><\/sup>[19]<\/a><\/sup> Later in the show, he took part in a \"Eurovision PopMaster<\/a>\", narrowly losing to the author of The Eurovision Song Contest \u2013 The Official History<\/em>, John Kennedy O'Connor<\/a>.[citation needed<\/a><\/em>]<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2013, after an interview, Rosenberg played the piano for\u00a0Mikhail Gorbachev<\/a>, performing \"Moscow Nights<\/a>\", which Gorbachev sang, followed by \"Dark is the Night<\/a>\" and \"The Misty Morning\", a favourite of Gorbachev's late wife\u00a0Raisa<\/a>. After interviewing Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, Rosenberg published his performance of \"Kupalinka<\/a>\", a protest song associated with the\u00a02020\u20132021 Belarusian protests<\/a>. <\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As part of the\u00a0BBC<\/a>'s programming in the lead up to the\u00a0Eurovision Song Contest 2023<\/a>, Rosenberg, alongside\u00a0Mel Giedroyc<\/a>\u00a0presented \"Eurovision Piano Party\". <\/a><\/sup>\u00a0They were joined by\u00a0Rebecca Ferguson<\/a>,\u00a0Da\u00f0i Freyr<\/a>\u00a0(performer of Iceland's entry for 2020 and 2021), and others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Private life<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Rosenberg is known for keeping his family entirely out of the public eye, which is common among BBC correspondents working in sensitive environments such as Russia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From a recent Broadcast on BBC<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

In the BBC's Moscow office we're a much smaller team now. Together we try to navigate the daily challenges of reporting the Russia story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Producer Ben Tavener and I often face \"additional checks\" flying in and out of Russia. Reporters from countries labelled \"unfriendly\" by the Kremlin (that includes the UK) are no longer issued one-year permits. Our journalist visas and accreditation cards require renewal every three months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many contributors who used to speak to us are now reluctant to do so. Probably they think that at a time of heightened international tension being associated with the BBC isn't worth the risk.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"A
Image caption,Steve Rosenberg first visited Moscow in the days of the Soviet Union<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Yet along with other Western broadcasters that have retained a presence in Russia we have still been receiving invitations to Kremlin events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And sometimes I get the chance to quiz President Putin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even a single question and answer at a press conference can provide valuable insight into the Russian president's thinking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vladimir Putin is driven by resentment of the West: over Nato's enlargement eastwards, and what he perceives as years of disrespect for Russia from Western leaders. His critics accuse him of imperialist designs, of trying to reforge Russia's sphere of influence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Will there be new 'special military operations'?\" I asked President Putin last December as a part of a wider question about his plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"There won't be any operations if you treat us with respect. If you respect our interests\u2026\" the Kremlin leader replied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Which raises the question: if Vladimir Putin concludes that Russia's interests have not been respected, what then?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With the war in Ukraine, and the demise of NATO, thanks to the behaviour of Donald Trump, the relationship between Europe and Russia has deteriorated severely, and Britain is disliked the most by the current Putin leadership. The BBC has a head of station there, who has been over 20 years in Russia, and seems […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5567","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-celebrities"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shavuatov.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5567","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shavuatov.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shavuatov.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shavuatov.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shavuatov.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5567"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.shavuatov.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5567\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5571,"href":"https:\/\/www.shavuatov.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5567\/revisions\/5571"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shavuatov.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shavuatov.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5567"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shavuatov.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}