Summary
In the wake of the greatest crisis to hit Europe since the Second World War, former Moscow correspondent Tim Whewell examines the president, people and processes that led to that momentous decision, and others like it. Radical advisers, tame oligarchs, intelligence agencies scared to tell Putin the truth and the domestic repercussions of NATO’s political moves - Tim brings together the variety of causes that have led to deep dysfunction and the concentration of power in a single man who risks becoming synonymous with the state itself.
Interviewees include investigative journalists Catherine Belton and Andrei Soldatov, and former NATO Secretary General George Robertson.
Producer: Nathan Gower Sound: Nigel Appleton Production Coordinators: Siobhan Reed and Sophie Hill Editor: Hugh Levinson
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Just before this BBC podcast gets underway, here's something you may not know. |
| 0:04.6 | My name's Linda Davies and I Commission Podcasts for BBC Sounds. |
| 0:08.4 | As you'd expect, at the BBC we make podcasts of the very highest quality featuring the most knowledgeable |
| 0:14.3 | experts and genuinely engaging voices. What you may not know is that the BBC |
| 0:20.4 | makes podcasts about all kinds of things like pop stars, |
| 0:24.6 | poltergeist, cricket, and conspiracy theories and that's just a few examples. |
| 0:29.7 | If you'd like to discover something a little bit unexpected, |
| 0:33.1 | find your next podcast over at BBC Sounds. |
| 0:36.1 | BBC Sounds. BBC Sounds, Music Radio Podcasts. podcasts. |
| 0:45.0 | Once upon the time, even people who got up close to Russia's leader, |
| 0:50.0 | wondered who he really was. |
| 0:52.0 | There was no feature about Vladimir Putin that was memorable. You know he wore the same blue |
| 0:59.6 | polka dot tie, the white shirt, no couplings, no rings, nothing, you know, the standard intelligence officer |
| 1:08.9 | thing, but his eyes told a completely different story. |
| 1:14.1 | You know, they were direct, they were firm, |
| 1:16.7 | and they grew up told of you. |
| 1:20.1 | That was 20 years ago. |
| 1:30.4 | Cut to 2022. And an extraordinary scene broadcast on Russian TV on February the 21st, three days before the invasion of Ukraine. |
| 1:33.0 | Pasha. |
| 1:35.0 | Vadima Putin strides to a desk |
| 1:41.0 | at one end of a magnificently ornate white pillored circular hall in the Kremlin. |
| 1:46.6 | Absurdly far away at the opposite end is an arc of chairs with 27 men, |
... |
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