Putin's Russia: from KGB agent to Kremlin operator

 

As Vladimir Putin wages a bloody and unrelenting war in Ukraine, Guardian foreign correspondent Luke Harding examines Putin's unlikely path to the Russian presidency. From his humble beginnings in St Petersburg to his mysterious and 'mediocre' career in the KGB, we chronicle how Putin deftly manoeuvred himself to become one of the most powerful autocrats in modern history

How the KGB shaped Vladimir Putin and his Russian oligarchs | It's Complicated

Josh Toussaint-Strauss Ali Assaf Joseph Pierce Ryan Baxter Paul Boyd, Source: The Guardian

As Russia sent troops into Ukraine in February, countries around the world imposed severe sanctions on a group of influential Russian billionaires known as oligarchs. The intention being to turn the screw on Vladimir Putin’s war finances.

But who are these oligarchs, and how does Putin manage them and their wealth? Through the stories of two prominent businessmen, Roman Abramovich and Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Josh Toussaint-Strauss examines how Putin’s days in the KGB have informed the way he controls his web of oligarchs and their fortunes

From spy to president: The rise of Vladimir Putin

Vladimir Putin has been ruling Russia since 1999. In that time he has shaped the country into an authoritarian and militaristic society. The Soviet Union dissolved into 15 new countries, including the new Russian Federation. In Putin’s eyes, Russia had just lost 2 million square miles of territory. But Putin’s regime has also developed and fostered the most effect cyber hacker army in the world and he’s used it to wreak havoc in the West. But the election of Donald Trump brings new hope for the Putin vision. Trump’s rhetoric has been notably soft on Russia. He could lift sanctions and weaken NATO, potentially freeing up space for Putin’s Russia to become a dominant power once again.