into the nineteenth century. By this time it had become a popular drink on the continent. It even turned up in eighteenth century Naples, where it was known in the cafes as scumba all' inglese. Most cordials were of continental origin and many, like rosa solis, were first produced by Italian Renaissance apothecaries. This explains why they are frequently referred to in French confectionery texts as Liqueurs d’ltalie. However, a number of British ‘sweet drams’ achieved popularity on the other side of the Channel. Most important of these was a more down-market relative of Royal Usquebaugh. Known in France as Escubac d’Angleterre, this lacked the flecks of gold leaf, but was nevertheless a popular drink. The word whisky is derived from the Irish usquebaugh, which is literally thea lot of instruments at his disposal,” says Stefan Meister, a Russia expert at DGAP, a think-tank in Berlin.

One of these instruments is television, aimed at both the domestic audience and native Russian speakers elsewhere, including 3m in Germany. In January Russia’s Channel One aired a story about a 13-year-old Russian-German girl allegedly gang-raped by a group of immigrants in Berlin. The report sparked large protests in Germany by ethnic Russian-Germans and anti-Muslim activists. German police soon learned that the story was false, but Russian television continued to report it. Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, even accused Germany of a cover-up.

The flagrant deceit of the so-called “Lisa affair” shocked the German public. Russia had employed similar disinformation tactics in the war against Ukraine, but never in Germany. “The