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BBC Radio 4


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.


Putin

Vladimir Putin survived the short lived revolt that saw thousands of mercenaries march towards Moscow, but at what cost?

Jonny Dymond is joined by:

Polina Ivanova: foreign correspondent for the Financial Times, covering Russia and Ukraine. 
Owen Matthews: journalist, historian and author of “Overreach”
Andrei Soldatov: investigative journalist and author of ‘The New Nobility: The Restoration of Russia's Security State and the Enduring Legacy of the KGB’

Production coordinator: Sophie Hill 
Sound engineer: Neil Churchill 
Researcher: Isobel Gough
Producer: Lucy Burns
Exec producer: Joe Kent
Editor: Emma Rippon

15. Tanks Riding Towards Moscow

Ukrainecast comes together with Putin, the BBC Sounds and Radio 4 podcast which examines the life, times, motives and modus operandi of Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin. Returning to the show are three lifelong Kremlin-watchers to cast ahead and speculate on just how this war might develop. 
 
Professor Nina Khrushcheva is an historian at The New School in New York and the great grand-daughter of Nikita Khrushchev, Sir Laurie Bristow was the UK’s Amabassador to Moscow from 2016-2020, and Vitaly Shevchenko is the head of the Russia section for BBC Monitoring. 
 
Today’s episode was presented by Jonny Dymond as part of a series of episodes marking the one-year anniversary of the start of the war in Ukraine. 
 
The producers were Fiona Leach and Luke Radcliff. The technical producer was Mike Regaard. The editor is Sam Bonham.
 
Email Ukrainecast@bbc.co.uk with your questions and comments. You can also send us a message or voice note via WhatsApp, Signal or Telegram to +44 330 1239480

14. 12 Months On: President Putin’s Next Steps?

In the final episode of the latest series of Putin, Jonny Dymond and three expert guests examine how the Russian president shaped the war in Ukraine between March and October 2022, and how the war has begun to shape him.

With Russia’s military position weakened by fierce Ukrainian counter-attacks, how much pressure is Vladimir Putin really under? Is there any way out for Putin, or might an increasingly difficult war proving his undoing? 

Guests:

Steve Rosenberg, BBC Russia Editor
Nina Khrushcheva, Professor of International Affairs at the New School in New York
Dr Mark Galeotti, author of Putin’s Wars: From Chechnya to Ukraine 
 
Production coordinators: Helena Warwick-Cross and Siobhan Reed
Sound engineer: Graham Puddifoot
Producer: Nathan Gower 
Researcher: Octavia Woodward
Series Editor: Simon Watts

13. No Way Out?

On the 24th of February 2022, after months of military build-up and increasingly grave warnings, Vladimir Putin stepped over the brink and ordered the invasion of Ukraine.

In this episode, Jonny Dymond tells the story of the crucial first month of the war, as Putin’s ambitions first faltered and then collapsed in the face of fierce Ukrainian resistance. By examining his speeches, public appearances and the political context, this programme chronicles Putin’s first weeks as a war leader.

To dispel the fog of war and understand Putin’s role at this dramatic time, Jonny Dymond is joined by:

Bridget Kendall - former BBC Moscow and Diplomatic Correspondent, now Master of Peterhouse, Cambridge.
Vitaliy Shevchenko - Russia Editor at BBC Monitoring and co-presenter of Ukrainecast
Owen Matthews - Journalist, historian and author of Overreach 
 
Production coordinators: Helena Warwick-Cross and Siobhan Reed
Sound engineer: Rod Farquhar 
Producers: Nathan Gower 
Researcher: Octavia Woodward
Series Editor: Simon Watts

12. The Lightning Strike

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

11. To the Brink

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

10. Preying on Hopes and Fears

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

9. The Emperor's Palace

Master strategist or opportunistic gambler? Vladimir Putin styles himself as a judo master – an expert in spotting weakness in his opponents and then exploiting it. To figure out what we can learn from his attempts to call time on liberal democracy and Russian meddling in the 2016 US election, Jonny Dymond is joined by:

Henry Foy, European diplomatic correspondent for the Financial Times and a former Moscow bureau chief
Nina Khrushcheva, professor of international affairs at the New School in New York
Misha Glenny, author of ‘McMafia’ and rector of the Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna

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

8. The Splinter

False flags, brutal military tactics and aspirations of greatness – Putin’s approach to the war in Syria, as he tries to prove Russia is still a power-broker in the Middle East. 

To understand how Putin views history and his place in it, Jonny Dymond is joined by:

Professor Angela Stent of the Brookings Institution, a former national intelligence officer for Russia and Eurasia at the US National Intelligence Council 
Anatol Lieven of the Quincy Institute 
Kevin Connolly, former BBC Moscow and Middle East correspondent.

Producers: Caroline Bayley, Sandra Kanthal and Joe Kent 
Production coordinators: Sophie Hill and Siobhan Reed
Sound engineer: Rod Farquhar
Series Editor: Emma Rippon
Commissioning Editor: Richard Knight.

7. The Ultimate Insult

Playing cat and mouse games with the world and using so-called little green men for masked warfare – what Russia's annexation of part of Ukraine in 2014 tells us about Vladimir Putin.

“Like tsars through the centuries, Putin sees himself as the rightful heir and the guardian of one true Christian faith,” says Lucy Ash, who has seen first-hand how the Russian leader has used religion to justify war and bolster his image. 

To make sense of the man everyone is trying to figure out, Jonny Dymond is joined by:

Lucy Ash, BBC reporter and author of the upcoming book “The Baton and the Cross” about the Russian Orthodox Church under Putin 
Steven Lee Myers, New York Times correspondent and former Moscow bureau chief 
Dr Gulnaz Sharafutdinova, professor of Russian politics at Kings College London and author of “Red Mirror: Putin's Leadership and Russia's Insecure Identity

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

13. No Way Out?

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