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The ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ re-launches its exhibition area at the All-Russian State Library of Foreign Literature, named after M I Rudomino, in Moscow with two major debates which will be broadcast live on radio and online on the new-look website bbcrussian.com.

The renovated ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ exhibition area now showcases the revamped multimedia website, bbcrussian.com, with particular emphasis on its Learning English content. It also allows library visitors to sample a range of ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ resources, including the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳'s international 24-hour news and information channel ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ World News and the international news site, bbc.com/news.

To mark the re-launch of the exhibition area, the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ will hold two debates there which will be broadcast live on radio and streamed online via bbcrussian.com. The debates will engage an invited audience of students, journalists, leading government and political figures in a conversation about some key issues defining the present-day Russia.

On Tuesday 28 April, the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ will host a debate, A Changing Media – Changing Journalism. The panel – including Maryana Maksimovskaya, REN TV presenter; Leonid Podshibyakin, LiveJournal Editor; Jon Williams, World Editor, ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳; and Irina Yasina, analyst and RIA Novosti commentator – will explore a changing media environment and what impact it has on journalism.

On Wednesday 29 April, the debate, Russia's Role in the World, will use the results of a ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Russian-commissioned poll to explore Russians' attitude to the world, and the world's attitudes to Russia. The panel includes Adrian Campbell of Birmingham University; Gregory Feifer, US journalist; Masha Lipman, analyst from the Moscow Carnegie Centre; and Konstantin Zatulin, Member of the State Duma (United Russia), Deputy Head of the State Duma Committee on CIS affairs and relations with Russian citizens abroad.

Head of ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Russian, Sarah Gibson, says: "The revamped ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ exhibition area at the Library of Foreign Literature will provide visitors with a contemporary, engaging, open-access environment in which they can sample bbcrussian.com and the rest of the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ including up-to-the-minute news and information and the popular Learning English section.

"They can also access bbc.com/news for international news and information in English, and watch ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ World News television. Whichever ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ news service they choose to use, we hope they'll enjoy time spent at our exhibition area – and that they'll want to come back."

Commenting on the upcoming debates, Sarah adds: "The ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ editorial values – truth and accuracy, impartiality, independence and fairness – are at the heart of all our reporting which brings a Russian perspective to world events and a global perspective to Russian events. We are looking forward to broadcasting these two dynamic and engaging programmes from the library."

Editor of bbcrussian.com, Dmitry Shishkin, adds: "It is great that visitors will get a chance to sample our website in the new, improved format. The site's new features and design, and enhanced interactivity, really showcase our great multimedia editorial content, which is available via text and video, pictures, audio and podcasts."

Learning English podcasts started on bbcrussian.com in January 2009 and, since then, their uptake has been increasing. They feature the voice of the broadcaster, Rita Weissman (Belova), who used to produce and present ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Russian's Learning English radio programmes.

Rita says: "Over the many years of fronting the Learning English lessons on ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Russian, I have received feedback from our listeners that has moved and inspired me. I am excited that now, as audiences' media habits evolve, I can continue to help them to master the English language in this new media age."

Dr Ekaterina Genieva, Director General of the All-Russian State Library of Foreign Literature, adds: "We are very happy that the long-standing cooperation with the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ – which started in 1991 – is continuing. The ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ has renewed its exhibition in the library, making a special emphasis on the use of new technologies and showcasing the role of mass media in the construction of a civil society. We are confident that visitors to the Library of Foreign Literature will appreciate these innovations."

Notes to Editors

³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Russian is a multimedia broadcaster offering radio and online content to Russian-speaking audiences, with up-to-the-minute news, features and analysis.

The ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Russian radio programmes are streamed online via bbcrussian.com and are broadcast on shortwave, on medium wave in Moscow (1260 MW), St Petersburg (1260 MW) and Yekaterinburg (666 MW), and are available direct to home through the Hotbird 2 satellite.

The 24/7 website bbcrussian.com offers news and information in text, audio and video.

³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ World Service Publicity