Putin

11. To the Brink

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

To understand what Vladimir Putin might do in the future, you need to understand his past; where he's come from, what he's lived through, what he's done. Jonny Dymond tells the extraordinary and revealing story of Vladimir Putin's life with the help of guests who have watched, studied and dealt with the Russian president.