Earlier this year I was on vacation in Kerala, India.

Over rice and curry and Kingfisher longnecks I got to talking to a Russian bloke.

He was ex-military and the conversation drifted to recent geopolitical events involving Russia and the West.

He was adamant that the Russian media was reporting facts and that Western media were distorting them.

He said an overwhelming amount of Russians believed the same thing.

I told him that Reporters Without Borders ranked Russia quite low on a press freedom index.

He replied: “And where are they from?”

I wonder what he would make of the recent doping allegations in the Russian Olympic teams.

Likely it would be a conspiracy cooked up by the U.S.

Good bloke, shouted me a few beers.