Chapter 3: The Punk

Organized crime and violence reign supreme in post-Soviet Russia. In this world, the rules of the dvor prove invaluable — for the men fighting over the jewels of the Soviet industrial empire, and for Vladimir Putin. 

To predict what Vladimir Putin might do next in Ukraine, it’s helpful to remember his first and foremost education — in the dvor. 

In the West, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin is always seen as one of two things: KGB spy or judo master. But to anyone who’s ever lived in the Soviet Union, Putin is something else entirely: a street kid. Join journalist Julia Ioffe as she explores how Putin’s childhood taught h ...  Show more

From street thug to spy – what the Russian president did before he came to power. To understand what Vladimir Putin might do in the future, you need to understand his past; where he’s come from, what he’s lived through, what he’s done. Jonny Dymond hears tales of secret agents, g ...  Show more

[Episode 1 of 4] Welcome to our new four part series on the latter years of the Soviet Union, its fall, Putin's early life and his subsequent rise to power. Today's episode focuses on Brezhnev, Putin's formative years, his early KGB career and Gorbachev's descent into chaos. W ...  Show more

*Declassified Club exclusive: ⁠⁠SUBSCRIBE⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to listen to the full series* How did Vladimir Putin rise from a nobody in St Petersburg to the most powerful man in Russia? Did he always crave the power of public office? Or was this relentless determination beaten into him by the ...  Show more