A new BBC documentary will look at the story of when Sir Paul McCartney quoted Beatles song lyrics at Russian president Vladimir Putin in the hopes he would release imprisoned Greenpeace activists.
On Thin Ice: Putin V Greenpeace takes a look back to 2013 when campaigners and journalists on the Arctic Sunrise vessel were charged with piracy – which was then downgraded to hooliganism – following a protest outside a floating oil rig in the Pechora Sea.
Sir Paul wrote a letter to Mr Putin – who he previously met in Moscow at the Kremlin during a 2003 tour – after the 28 campaigners and two freelance journalists were detained.
He wrote at the time: “Forty-five years ago I wrote a song about Russia for the White Album, back when it wasn’t fashionable for English people to say nice things about your country.
“That song had one of my favourite Beatles lines in it: ‘Been away so long I hardly knew the place, gee it’s good to be back home.’ Could you make that come true for the Greenpeace prisoners?”
The six-part series draws on previously unseen footage, filmed during and after the protest, and uses cinematic reconstructions and interviews.
Sreya Biswas, BBC head of commissioning at natural history, said: “This gripping series, with incredible 360-degree access, is a different way of telling a story about the natural world.
“It’s a compelling environmental narrative, told in six fast-paced half-hour episodes, that’s important to hear within the current climate.”
There will also be contributions from British and Russian politicians, the jailed protesters themselves and senior decision makers at Greenpeace.
Called the Arctic 30, the crew, who were sailing under the flag of the Netherlands, spent two months in detention centres – first in Murmansk and then St Petersburg.
They were then able to leave Russia after the case was discontinued.
The country designated Greenpeace International an “undesirable organisation” in 2023 and subsequently the Russian offshoot closed its branch.
That same year, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that the government had violated the right to liberty and security and freedom of expression by detaining the activists more than a decade ago.
In 2022, Russia stopped being part of the European Convention on Human Rights after being excluded from the Council Of Europe, but cases up until September 16 of that year continue to go through courts.
Sir Paul has long been a supporter of Greenpeace, and has backed its Save The Arctic campaign among other issues.
On Thin Ice: Putin V Greenpeace will be on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer.