The Kremlin is suspected of murdering its enemies, but what happens to Vladimir Putin’s opponents at home? Panorama: Taking on Putin, BBC 2018
A country where challenging power can get you killed. ibid.
Three months into the Ukraine war and evidence of Russian atrocities is mounting. After the Russian withdrawal from the suburbs of Kiev, we hear the stories of the civilians murdered in cold blood. Panorama: Hunting Putin’s War Crimes, BBC 2022
War on the streets of Europe. People living in fear. The Ukrainians are fighting back. There are questions about Vladimir Putin’s state of mind. What he does next could change the fate of millions. Panorama: Putin’s War in Ukraine, BBC 2022
Putin feared Ukraine, Russia’s nearest neighbour, would join Nato and demanded that it never should. ibid.
He [Putin] declared two pro-Russian areas in eastern Ukraine independent states. The west imposed economic sanctions. ibid.
Super-rich Russians like Roman Abramovich have become part of British life. But the war in Ukraine has ended the UK’s love affair with wealthy Russians and their cash. We’ve been investigating how Britain’s most famous Russian made his money. We uncover new details about Roman Abramovich’s murky past. And we reveal how he really made his fortune. Panorama: Roman Abramovich’s Dirty Money, Richard Bilton reporting, BBC 2022
Roman Abramovich has pumped £1.5 billion of his own cash into Chelsea, buying success on the pitch. He was one of the super-rich Russians who were welcomed into the UK. ibid.
1992: Russian detectives are investigating the alleged theft of a trainload of diesel. Roman Abramovich is the main suspect … ‘Abramovich personally met the shipment and using forged documents had it rerouted to Riga where the diesel oil was sold … It would be a multi-billion-dollar rip off and would make his fortune. ibid.
A giant oil company called Sibneft was formed. It was then auctioned off. But the auction was rigged so Roman Abramovich would win. ibid.
Most of the money borrowed by Roman Abramovich to buy the new oil company came from the Russian government. ibid.
This summer an armed mutiny in Russia. Putin faced his greatest challenge yet launched by the head of the Wagner Mercenary Group, Yevgeny Prighozhin. Panorama: Challenging Putin: Moscow and the Mutiny, BBC 2023
‘This is a stab in the back for our country and our people.’ ibid. Putin
Then a plane fell from the sky killing the mutiny’s leaders. ibid.
These children are hiding in the basement of a church in Ukraine. Russian forces found them then they disappeared. Thousands of Ukrainian children have been taken to Russia since the war started. Panorama: Putin & Ukraine’s Stolen Children, BBC 2023
A trail of evidence that leads to the heart of power in Putin’s Russia. ibid.
Obama v Putin: which of the two players in this chess game we are going to support? … That is a false dichotomy that has been force-fed into us … There are not just two sides here. The Corbett Report, The Enemy of My Enemy
Has nothing to do with overt anti-gay legislation and yet it is being portrayed that way … ridiculous over-the-top Russian propaganda that is becoming more and more the norm. ibid.
‘Putin dissolves state news agency, tightens grip on Russian media’. ibid. Reuters news agency report
Meet Vladimir Putin: ‘He is very much of a leader.’ The Most Powerful Man in the World, Trump, CNN 2017
‘Vladimir Putin is a thug and a murderer and a killer.’ ibid. John McCain
What does he want from Donald Trump? Just how powerful is he? So powerful he rigged the American election? While Russians celebrate, Americans ask, What does he want? ibid.
Putin controls television. Putin controls everything in Russia. ibid.
An astonishing approval rating – over 80%. ibid.
‘We have to stand up to his bullying.’ ibid. Hillary Clinton
‘I looked into Putin’s eyes and saw a stone-cold killer.’ Facing Putin s1e4, Robert Gates, National Geographic 2016
‘His popularity soars: so this guy goes from no-name recognition … [to] being the most popular politician in the country.’ ibid. Masha Gessen, author The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin
‘Blowing up our own apartment buildings? That is really … utter nonsense!’ ibid. Putin
‘Mr Yushchenko’s condition was caused by dioxin poisoning.’ ibid. doctor’s press conference
In 2011 he boasted that he could destroy America in 30 minutes. He’s knows a nuclear strike would be suicide. So Vladimir Putin chooses more insidious ways to attack. It’s an undeclared war he wages from the shadows. He’s been accused of wearing many faces. Breaking History: Putin: America’s Greatest Threat, History 2018
Vladimir Putin’s primary aim was to damage the campaign for Hillary Clinton. ibid.
Nothing was as history-making as the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War. ibid.
Putin’s clean record was enough for Anatoly Sobchak to make him deputy mayor. But then during Putin’s first year in politics his incorruptible image was called into question. ibid.
Handling things was a required skill for an agent of the KGB. ibid.
It almost seemed to plan: the apartment bombings and the invasion of Chechnya supposedly in retaliation. ibid.
34 journalists have been murdered since Putin became president. ibid.
Vladimir Putin has been 18 years in power and he’s still riding high. In the West, Putin is seen as a threat. British intelligence accuses the Kremlin of criminal thuggery. This week thousands of British fans will be arriving in Russia for the World Cup. What kind of Russia are they coming to? Putin’s Russia with David Dimbleby, BBC 2018
Encouraged by the state, the Russian Orthodox church is thriving. ibid.
After Russia annexed Crimea, Putin’s approval rating soared to 80%. ibid.
Corruption is widespread. ibid.
Active Measures: A Soviet term for the actions of political warfare conducted by the Russian security services to influence the course of world events. Active Measures, 2018
‘The Russian military does not match that of the United States by far. How do you then balance out that asymmetry? One way to do that is to invest in much cheaper measures, these non-conventional active measures to try to weaken Western institutions.’ ibid. Dr Alina Polyakova
‘He wants to be the Tsar. He wants to be the richest man in the world.’ ibid. Hillary Clinton
Russia Invades Georgia. ibid. CNN headline
‘The [Russian] election was clearly unfair and illegitimate.’ ibid. Hillary Clinton
‘He’s done a very brilliant job.’ ibid. Trump
Russia Hacked Voting Systems in 39 States Before the 2016 Presidential Election. ibid. Vox online article
‘Story after story after story. Totally creepy falsehood.’ ibid. Hillary Clinton
Russia is about to elect a new president. There’s no doubt who it’s going to be. The same man who has ruled unchecked for the last fifteen years. The real Vladimir Putin remains an enigma. So who is the world’s most powerful and feared leader? Putin: The New Tsar, BBC 2018
Vladimir Putin’s psyche has been forged on the anvil of absolute power. ibid.
‘There’s no such thing as a former KGB man.’ ibid. Putin
But also a desire for personal compensation. ibid.
Vladimir Putin sends in the tanks. ibid.
Election day 2016: As American headed to the polls, US intelligence agencies were on high alert. Intelligence agencies have been tracking a multi-pronged effort to influence voters, leaks of hacked emails, hands on Facebook and Google, on social media trolls and bots spreading fake news. All they believe connected to Russian president Vladimir Putin. Frontline: Putin’s Revenge I, PBS 2017
It would be Vladimir Putin’s revenge for a lifetime of grievances. ibid.
Putin cultivated the image of a reformer and democrat. ibid.
Putin began to centralize his authority. ibid.
Putin’s first promise to the Russian people – strength. ibid.
He had seized control of the media. ibid.