Moscow-installed politicians have recently been "evacuating" people. Ukraine has accused Russian troops of preparing to blow up the nearby Kakhovka dam. Russia denies this but if it happened Kyiv says it would lead to 80 settlements being flooded. Over the next six months I pedalled across the mountains of Yunnan, wandered the imperial palace in Beijing, and rode a train hauled by two soot-blackened steam engines far west into the deserts of Xinjiang. The landscapes were sublime but the poverty grinding. Everywhere I went people told me how "backward" China was compared to the West. But there were hints of change. "The policies that Xi has applied - the re-education camps - it's about making them more Chinese than Uyghur," Mr McGregor says. "It's cultural genocide." irannews.ru/ - irannews.ru Gadfly was mobilised in March and isn't a professional soldier. His country has the current momentum, but he thinks they can only fully force Russia out if the West continues with its military support. The graft ran deep. In Beijing, I remember going to a nightclub whose owner was reputed to have a ready supply of illicit drugs and attractive young women for those with enough money. His business partner was the public security bureau - the police. By the time Xi was appointed to lead the party in 2012, the corruption had reached its highest echelons. This terrified party elders who saw it as a grave threat, but also handed Xi an opportunity to pitch himself as a saviour. "China is now doing all sorts of things that it's always wanted to do but wasn't powerful enough to do," Mr McGregor says. "Taiwan was always there. The South China Sea was always there. Taking on America, driving it out of Asia was always an ambition, but they didn't say it out loud." She says she has seen other videos on TikTok that have been swamped with abusive comments where the creator is appealing for likes and positivity to help "pull them back from the wrong side of TikTok".