For many people in the West, Russian politics has become synonymous with the country’s secretive President, Vladimir Putin, who has been known to disappear for weeks without explanation. But Mr. Putin does not work alone. As with most world leaders, he has a network of powerful allies around him — allies who both support and deceive him, according to a new book by the Russian journalist and opposition activist Mikhail Zygar.
The journalist founded the independent news network Dozhd (Rain), which was shut down by the government in 2014. He has spent years interviewing dozens of sources inside the Kremlin, and his book, All the Kremlin’s Men , paints a convincing portrait of the inside world of Russian politics, a place shrouded in conspiracy where “the biggest crime is being disloyal”. Disputes over military action in Syria; events in Ukraine and nuclear posturing in the Baltics have left international tensions between Russia and the West at a post-cold war high, but at home Mr. Putin’s approval ratings remain strong and he is preparing to run for President again in early 2018.
So how did he get there? And what drives him forward? The Guardian asked Mr. Zygar to talk through his key findings from inside the seat of Russia’s power. According to one of Mr. Zygar’s sources inside the Kremlin, Mr. Putin was initially reluctant to support the multi-billion-dollar bid to host the Winter Olympics in Sochi in 2014.
House of CardsMr. Zygar’s book lists several sources inside the government who say that Mr. Putin was so convinced that the backstabbing and politicking of the hit Netflix series House of Cards accurately mirrored Western politics that he instructed his colleagues to watch it.
Mr. Zygar claims that for Mr. Putin, the scheming protagonist Frank Underwood “represents the typical American politician” — which is why he prefers to support figures such as Italy’s former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi or Donald Trump, who are more “practical” and “cynical”, says Mr. Zygar. Russia’s decision to illegally annex Crimea, formerly part of Ukraine, was not part of a long-term strategy to “reclaim” the peninsula but was rushed through in three months, the book claims. “No one was ready for it, nobody expected it, so it was a surprise for the Russian public who previously had no public desire for Crimea coming back home,” says Mr. Zygar.
Georgia warThis is in stark contrast to the short war with Georgia in 2008 over the contested republic of South Ossetia, which was preceded by months of TV programmes warning about Georgia’s aggression, he adds.
Mr. Putin and the men behind him, including the security council head Nikolai Patrushev and intelligence officer Boris Ratnikov, fully believe their own propaganda: that the U.S. is hell-bent on destroying Russia, says Mr. Zygar. The current goal of foreign policy in the conflict-torn Ukraine is to leave everything as it is, according to a source close to Vladislav Surkov, Mr. Putin’s main adviser on the country. — The Guardian
