The cyber attack began with an email. Bus this was not from Google. It had been sent by Russian hackers, a computer phishing attack. 60,000 emails from Podesta’s account were a political goldmine, part of a campaign aimed at disrupting the presidential election, that the American government linked to Vladimir Putin. Frontline: Putin’s Revenge II
Cyber attacks and disinformation ramped up. ibid.
Trump couldn’t avoid questions about Putin and the Russian hacking. ibid.
In my country once you’re in office you don’t let go. House of Cards US s5e6: Chapter 58, Petrov, Netflix 2017
He is his nation’s strong man. Saviour of Russian pride. And Russian manhood. But Vladimir Putin sits astride a corrupt state. This is a president with an astonishing past. The Fifth Estate: Putin’s Long Shadow, 2015
A remarkable ascent from unemployed spy to modern-day tsar. ibid.
Putin would not go to jail and neither would Sobchak, although his days as mayor were numbered. ibid.
His first act was to point the finger at Chechen separatists. And Putin’s invasion would be brutal. In Chechnya thousands would die. ibid.
Vladimir Putin is Russia’s biggest TV star. TV is Putin’s way of speaking to his people … ‘We are a great power. I believe in the end we will be victorious.’ The World According to Putin, Channel 4 2019
Welcome to Russian TV. Most of which is state controlled. ibid.
‘Why under Barack Obama was their voodoo in the White House.’ ibid. Russian bird presenter
‘We’ll miss her [Theresa May] African dancing, and her deep cleavage.’ ibid. presenter
Crimea brought relations with the West to a new low. ibid.
Just one month after he [Putin] took office, four apartment blocks in major Russian cities were bombed. The outrage was attributed to Chechen rebels. KGB: The Sword & The Shield III, BBC 2019
It happened twice. Both times in exactly the same way. Both times I was in Moscow I started feeling very sick for no reason … Toxic action by an unknown substance … There’s been a strangely high mortality rate over these past few decades among the people who are standing up against Putin’s regime. Putin: A Russian Spy Story I, victim, Channel 4 2020
The code of a spy: nothing is forgotten and nothing is forgiven. ibid. analyst
A street kid joins the KGB: Putin didn’t make any secret of the fact that he wanted to work for the secret services. ibid.
He ends up in eastern Germany … He’s sent to Dresden, a provincial backwater. ibid. commentator
The Fixer of St Petersburg: There was a cosy relationship between local democrats and gangsters. ibid.
The Spy in the Kremlin: He was the ‘People’s Spy’ in the Kremlin. ibid.
Betrayal is one thing he absolutely doesn’t tolerate. He is a vengeful man. Putin: A Russian Spy Story II, observer
We started to create his cult: he flew helicopters, he flew fighter jets, he sailed on warships, suddenly here was a young president who looked presidential. But I saw in him a weak Russian man who was trying to be strong. ibid. adviser
The Oligarchs go back to Moscow and they effectively sit down with Putin … Putin just wanted to become the biggest oligarch himself. ibid. observer
2008: Putin steps down: he became the prime minister, and the new president was selected. Putin: A Russian Spy Story III, observer
More than a million votes were simply stolen. ibid.
‘He wants respect. He wants to be recognised as world leader. Ukraine has always been important for any Russian leader.’ Putin’s Obsession: The Fight for Ukraine, woman, Sky Documentaries 2022
Vladimir Putin is dreaming of a new empire. Or rather, a return to a previous one. He is obsessed with the idea of Mother Russia and haunted by the humiliation of Soviet collapse. ibid.
On 24 February 2022 President Vladimir Putin ordered his troops to invade Ukraine. Inside Russia, Putin launched the biggest crackdown on dissent since the Soviet era. Now only a small number continue to speak out. Inside Russia: Putin’s War at Home, ITV 2022
‘Now he’s expressing a very very deep frustration and resentment against the West, and not only against the West, against the past, against history.’ Putin vs The West s1e1: My Backyard, Jose Manuel Barroso, BBC 2023
Vladimir Putin has rocked the foundations of European security. This is the story of Putin’s path to war; how and why he wrongfooted the West through a decade of clashes. ibid.
Armed forces were appearing across the [Crimean] peninsula. These little green men, as they came to be called, wore unmarked uniforms and carried modern Russian weapons. ibid.
The European Council threatened sanctions unless Putin withdrew his forces. ibid.
‘In the hearts and minds of the our people, Crimea has always been a part of Russia.’ ibid. Putin
The EU together with America imposed the toughest sanctions Russia had faced since the Cold War, targeting its energy, arms and finance sectors. But some thought they should go even further. ibid.
With no Western military support, Ukraine’s forces were being overwhelmed by the rebels armed by Russia. ibid.
‘You knew you were dealing with a difficult and dangerous and potentially very bad man.’ Putin vs The West s1e2: Back With a Vengeance, Cameron
In the months that followed Russian bombing in Syria increased dramatically … Civilians were also being hit. ibid.
Putin ramps up his aggression from an audacious poisoning to the moment he launches an invasion that threatens to engulf Europe. Putin vs The West s1e3: A Dangerous Path
‘His nuclear is tippy-top from what I hear.’ ibid. Trump
On 24th February 2022 Vladimir Putin rocked the foundations of European security. This is the story of the year that followed. Putin vs The West: At War s2e1: Invasion, BBC 2024
Putin’s invasion exposes cracks in the global order. And as the Russian president digs in, the resolve of Ukraine and its allies is tested like never before.
British and American Intelligence reported there were up to 150,000 Russian troops massing on the border with Ukraine. ibid.
The assumption that Ukraine would be overwhelmed by Putin’s forces was fast proving wrong. ibid.
What we were confronting was an awful evil. Putin vs The West: At War s2e2: Doubling Down
On 24th February 2022 launched an invasion that shook the world … The impact of the war is felt across the globe. And as Putin tries to build his own allies, Western support for Ukraine starts to fray. ibid.
Putin has this idea that it’s [Ukraine] really where Russia was born, and it’s an integral part of Russia. Turning Point: The Bomb and the Cold War VII: The End of History, Mary Sarotte
Most notoriously, the auctioning off of state enterprises. Turning Point: The Bomb and the Cold War VIII: Moscow Will Not Be Silent, David Remnick
You ended up in a place where capitalism was much worse than communism … They didn’t have any mecidine in the hospitals. ibid. Browder
Behaving Badly: Yeltzin in D.C.: Drunk, in his underwear, looking for pizza. ibid. Tim Reid newspaper article
Putin, he started collecting taxes from the oligarchs. ibid. Browder
He just wanted to become the biggest oligarch himself. ibid.
I was in prison for ten years. That was very painful. ibid. Khodorkovsky
Putin has been I think consistently underestimated by American and Western leaders. ibid. Glasser
Moscow in his view will not be silent. ibid. Fiona Hill
But we are in a much worse place than we were in the Cold War. Turning Point: The Bomb and the Cold War IX: We Are Not Dead Yet, Browder
I think he [Putin] saw it mainly as a rant. But in retrospect, it clearly was a harbinger, because he was clearly articulating the views of the West that he has put into practice in the years since 2007. This set the stage for a growing authoritarianism in Russia as Putin tried to reassemble authority in Moscow, and bring these countries back under the influence of Mocow. ibid. Gates
Russia invaded Georgia on a flimsy pretext. ibid. Hill
He [Putin] wants to give everyone a lesson. ibid.