The Putin Files

Putin's Political Rise

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Putin made a new life for himself back in St. Petersburg, working for the city’s democratic-minded mayor and styling himself as a modernizing reformer. He honed his skills as a bureaucrat and moved to Moscow to serve in the government of President Boris Yeltsin, first as head of the new intelligence services and then as prime minister. When Yeltsin resigned on New Year’s Eve 1999, Putin, still an unknown to most of the public, was named president.
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“Putin was a good student. He learned to run affairs very well at the beginning.”

Gleb Pavlovsky

Former adviser to Vladimir Putin

“Temperamentally and in style, he is the anti-Yeltsin, and I think that is symbolic of this idea that he’s bringing back a kind of dignity and strength to the Russian presidency that had been missing under Boris Yeltsin.”

Michael Crowley

Politico

“  I think the lesson is that Russians like when they are fighting against the world.”

Tikhon Dzyadko

Russian journalist

“What it did convey, of course, is that he had really studied my dossier.”

Strobe Talbott

Deputy Secretary of State, 1994-2001

“Russia is a country of symbols, and if you begin your tenure by honoring somebody like Andropov, a symbol of Soviet totalitarian repression, that's not a very good sign for an upcoming administration.”

Vladimir Kara-Murza

Opposition politician

“Suddenly he comes on television. He says: 'We’re going to hunt down the terrorists, and we’re going to wipe them out in the outhouse. If we find them in the outhouse, we’re going to wipe them out in the outhouse.'”

Masha Gessen

Author, "The Man Without a Face"

“It was all the time [a] comparison with Yeltsin, and Putin was winning in this comparison because he was much younger. He didn't drink. He was a sportsman. He was very decisive...”

Nikolay Petrov

Russian political scientist

“His very identity as a political figure in Russia is intertwined from the very beginning with this connection that he’s drawn between needing to keep the state safe...”

Susan Glasser

Co-author, "Kremlin Rising"

“He’s a professional liar. To lie is what he was taught in the Intelligence School.”

Yevgenia Albats

Russian journalist

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