Putin Folgen

In late 2021, Vladimir Putin emerges from his Covid-19 bunker with an even smaller inner circle, increasingly outlandish demands of NATO and the west, and an immense military build-up on the border of Ukraine. How did seclusion change his mindset? And how did the west misunderstand him so badly?To understand the Russian President and interpret his words and actions in those crucial weeks before the invasion, Jonny Dymond is joined by:Andrei Soldatov - Investigative journalist, specialist in Russia’s intelligence services, and author of ‘The Compatriots: The Russian Exiles Who Fought Against the Kremlin’ Sarah Rainsford - BBC Eastern Europe Correspondent and former Moscow Correspondent Sir Laurie Bristow - Former British diplomat and UK Ambassador to Russia, 2016-2020. Production coordinators: Helena Warwick-Cross and Siobhan Reed Sound engineer: Rod Farquhar Producer: Nathan Gower Researcher: Octavia Woodward Series Editor: Simon Watts

In 2021 Vladimir Putin retreats to his bunker as the Covid-19 pandemic spreads through Russia. How did this isolation affect his thinking, and what role could it have played in his decision to invade Ukraine?To understand how Putin views history and his place in it, Jonny Dymond is joined by: Nina Khrushcheva, Professor of International Affairs, The New School; former BBC Moscow correspondent Sarah Rainsford; and Alexander Vindman, former director of European Affairs at the US National Security Council.Production coordinators: Sophie Hill and Siobhan Reed Sound engineer: Rod Farquhar Producers: Sandra Kanthal, Caroline Bayley, Joe Kent Series Editor: Emma Rippon Commissioning Editor: Richard Knight

President Putin tries to crush the leading opposition figure, Alexei Navalny as Russians take to the streets in protest over pensions and local elections. And there are revelations about expensive watches and a secret and very opulent palace.To understand how Vladimir Putin rules Russia Jonny Dymond is joined by:Catherine Belton, author of ‘Putin’s People: How the KGB took back Russia and then took on the West'Sergei Guriev, Professor of Economics at Sciences Po and co-author of 'Spin Dictators' Vitaliy Shevchenko, Russia Editor, BBC Monitoring Production coordinators: Sophie Hill and Siobhan Reed Sound engineer: Rod Farquhar Producers: Caroline Bayley, Sandra Kanthal, Joe Kent Series Editor: Emma Rippon Commissioning Editor: Richard Knight