Putin Is Back

Vladimir Putin’s mandate ended in 2008, after he had been in power for eight years. In this reconstruction running from his candidature in 2011 until the release of the band Pussy Riot, Mikhail Khodorkovsky and the Greenpeace activists from prison, draws on news reports, opinions and interviews to demonstrate how Putin is now more firmly in the saddle than ever. In 2008, he endorsed Medvedev, who was utterly committed to him. It was during Medvedev’s presidency that Putin meticulously planned his return to power by boosting state control, monopolizing oil and gas, stimulating corruption and jailing critical lawyers and journalists. Putin also managed to persuade Medvedev to extend the election cycle to six years. In a demonstration, this strategy was described as “Tsar” Putin’s “hijacking of power.” A wide variety of voices have their say about the subsequent presidential administration, including former advisors to Putin and Gorbachev, Putin’s right-hand man Sergey Markov, and a member of Pussy Riot. In addition to many opposing views, we also get to see things from the perspective of Putin, who envisions a Eurasian bloc, a USSR without communism but with a strong identity.