If you study Putin’s career, you realise that we are dealing with a hyper-aggressive psychopath whose word cannot be relied upon. He is a man who identifies compromise as weakness; who sows dissent and mistrust in the West; who likes killing. The idea that we can negotiate with Putin is foolish. Nobody in the West will be safe until he and his killing machine are stopped. Period. Our programs and centers deliver in-depth, highly relevant issue briefs and reports that break new ground, shift opinions, and set agendas on public policy, with a focus on advancing debates by integrating foundational research and analysis with concrete policy solutions. This brings us to another Russian whose career was brought to a premature end. Boris Nemtsov was shot dead late at night while walking near the Kremlin. His death made a striking impression on Sweeney: “Nemtsov was an extraordinary man, the sweetest, funniest and most human Russian I’ve ever met. His brutal snuffing out caused me to sink into a profound depression.” If Sweeney could “doorstep” Johnson and ambush him with an unexpected interview, what would he most like to ask? Yuri Shchekochikhin was a Russian MP and journalist investigating these mass killings. He had courage, tremendous energy, a nose for a story and, I’ve been told, a fondness for Armenian brandy. In January 2003, he told a friend, “For the first time in my life I feel frightened.”

Bem, este livro foi bastante interessante e mostra o nível de crimes que o Vladimir Putin praticou ao longo da sua carreira no KGB e no Kremlin. Foi um “zé ninguém”, que em curto prazo de tempo tornou-se o homem mais poderoso da Rússia e das figuras mais temíveis do Mundo. People who have difficult childhoods, especially around the 2-3 year old stage, tend to turn out with a blinkered view of the world and seek revenge. Such a man is Putin, though his birth and early years are shrouded in mystery, and woe betide those who choose to speak out against him. There are graves scattered across many countries for which he is responsible, whether by war, poison or “accidentally fell off balcony”. Sweeney has a factual insight into of most of them, having pursued stories about Putin for a long time. Sweeney explains he was limited in what he could film for his video diaries in the early days of the Russian invasion, when Kyiv was placed under strict military curfew. But he also wanted to capture “all of the reality” of life in Ukraine and saw himself as a “weird kind of canary in the coal mine”, showing that “the electricity was still on, the internet was still on”. I am a student of the causes of WW1. One thing I am certain of is that if the Kaiser, the Emperor, the Tsar and the Caliphate knew where they would be five years hence from 2014, they would have done their utmost to have stopped that war from starting. I wonder if Putin will be in a similar situation. Once you start a war you never know where it will take you. This book delves into Putin’s soul, it questions his birthright and sexual preferences, it looks at his close links with organised crime and how he has become so wealthy, it delves into his relationships with corrupt business leaders and politicians including ex-Presidents and how he has manipulated the Russian economy for his own benefit. It gives many detailed examples of his vindictive and controlling methods and how any criticism has put people’s live at risk. From this book it is impossible to estimate how many lost lives Putin has been responsible for, but the lists of those who were once close and have died in mysterious circumstances is extraordinary.But ultimately, this book has clearly and most certainly demonstrated to the reader the Kremlin's villainy. No doubt about that. Do proceed with a salt shaker in hand - Sweeney spares no room in giving his blunt opinions and expressing his hatred of Putin. Sweeney’s polemic largely consists of digging up everything possible that shows Putin in a bad light, which admittedly is not a difficult task, but suggestions that he was simultaneously a paedophile and a womaniser, a supplier of arms to the Baader-Meinhoff gang, a hypochondriac and the richest man in the word are all open to question. The “drunken rage” may exist in Sweeney’s imagination and the “might of Russia” that he refers to was non-existent at the time. Untrained conscripts were sent to their deaths against tough Chechen fighters led by experienced commanders, including Dzhokhar Dudayev and Aslan Maskhadov, who had been senior Soviet officers. I feel it necessary and proper and right to put that stuff out,” says Sweeney. “It is gross, it is disgusting – that’s a war crime.” Yes, there was brutality in the later stages of the war but it took the form of massive artillery shelling and aerial bombardments.

Many people also visit those properties for fun. Evgeny Lebedev – the Russian-born proprietor of The Independent and the London Evening Standard, who also owned iuntil 2016 – is known for the extravagant parties he holds at Palazzo Terranova. Though the book can at times feel too personal and he does portray himself as a lad journalist against the world (this was in no part helped by the books narrator who injected the reading with the bravado of a nuts magazine editor). As well as revealing the harshest sights of war, he also wants to show contrasting moments of celebration and light relief that keep him going, the kinds of experiences that he says make life in Ukraine worth fighting for. Shchekochikhin’s girlfriend Alyona Gromova recalled: “On the day he was taken to hospital, he felt very weak. After he had a shower, his hair was a mess. I went to stroke it and great handfuls of hair came out in my hand. The symptoms were confusing. First, it seemed like a cold but his face was very red, as if he had sunburn, then lumps of his skin started to flake off.” But is there a risk that his sense of humour distracts from weightier matters, especially on social media? I confess to Sweeney that I initially missed his work in Bucha, amid his stream of photos and videos of his “spag bol” or fish suppers, Ukrainian booze and videos of him dancing on a table in his favourite Kyiv bar.John Sweeney’s book is not a disinterested biography of Vladimir Putin, the eponymous “Killer in the Kremlin”. It is, instead, a polemic relating not only to Russia’s president but to many other aspects of the politics of Russia and Ukraine. At its best it points to some of Putin’s most execrable traits and at its worst elevates the author to the position of the book’s leading character.

History teaches us so many things, if only people would listen. We’re currently going through the last days of an insecure dictator, whose birth and upbringing are shrouded in mystery but certainly tainted his view of the world. Russian president Boris Yeltsin shakes hands with prime minister Vladimir Putin during their meeting at the presidential residence Gorky-9 outside Moscow, November 1999IranSource provides a holistic look at Iran’s internal dynamics, global and regional policies, and posture through unique analysis of current events and long-term, strategic issues related to Iran.