In Vladimir Putin’s Russia, where institutions are weak and the rule of law nonexistent, all politics are essentially court politics.
All political power is wielded by a group of individuals with access to the Kremlin leader.
And all relevant political struggles are the result of the rivalries and clan battles within this small elite circle.
So what is the state of the Putin court today? How has it been influenced by Russia’s war on Ukraine? By Russia’s upcoming fake presidential election? And what do dramatic events like the killing of mercenary leader Yevgeny Progozhin and opposition leader Aleksei Navalny show us about these bulldogs fighting under the carpet.
On The Power Vertical Podcast this week, host Brian Whitmore speaks with Mikhail Zygar, a Nonresident Senior Fellow at The Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center and author of the books “All The Kremlin’s Men: Inside the Court of Vladimir Putin” and “War and Punishment: Putin, Zelensky, and the Path to Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine.” Mikhail is also the author of the forthcoming Atlantic Council report “All the Autocrat’s Men.”
SHOW NOTES
Mikhail Zygar’s 2016 book, All the Kremlin’s Men, which was discussed on the podcast, can be purchased here. Zygar’s 2023 book, War and Punishment can be purchased here. His published op-eds in The New York Times can be accessed here.