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Pro-Luzhkov channel to strike back over corruption allegations

© RIA Novosti . Mikhail Fomichev / Go to the mediabankMoscow mayor Yury Luzhkov
Moscow mayor Yury Luzhkov - Sputnik International
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A Russian TV channel loyal to the mayor of Moscow is to air a documentary on Monday "exposing" the truth behind recent anti-mayor broadcast.

A Russian TV channel loyal to the mayor of Moscow is to air a documentary on Monday "exposing" the truth behind recent anti-mayor broadcast.

TV-Center's board of directors is chaired by Sergei Tsoi, a spokesman for Moscow mayor Yury Luzhkov, and includes at least two high-level Moscow government officials.

A full-fledged media campaign has recently been launched against Luzhkov and his billionaire wife Yelena Baturina by several television stations, including the NTV channel, which recently aired a documentary called the Cap Affair.

"I have prepared a documentary, called "Russian Hell," which will be aired as part of the Moment of Truth program on the TV-Center channel late on Monday. In it I thoroughly analyze only one [media] product, the Cap Affair," the Moment of Truth host, journalist Andrei Karaulov, said.

Karaulov described the NTV documentary as "the biggest lies I have ever come across to in my life."

He said that he would "reveal all the truth" during his talk show, which usually gathers well-known politicians, religious figures and celebrities to discuss Russia's most pressing problems.

"You won't believe me, but those involved in making in the Cap Affair helped me in analyzing this program. They told their stories, how they found themselves involved in this NTV-proposed project," the journalist said.

The Cap Affair, its title referring to the mayor's famous black cap, accuses Luzhkov and his wife of large-scale corruption. Among other things it says that Baturina, the world's third richest woman, used her husband's position to amass her wealth, reported by Forbes as $2.9 billion.

The 30-minute film also accused 74-year-old Luzhkov of relaxing on vacation while Moscow was choking in the acrid smog that hit the capital this summer.

The mayor and his wife said they would sue NTV and other TV channels, which have also aired materials aimed against the mayor.

Luzhkov, who has been in office since 1992, is allegedly at odds with President Dmitry Medvedev. Their conflict is thought to have its roots in a September article by Luzhkov in the Rossiiskaya Gazeta government daily that hinted at criticism of the Medvedev-Putin tandem.

MOSCOW, September 20 (RIA Novosti) 

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