Russian President Vladimir Putin is the most menacing man on the planet in our time, but his internal approval rating is close to 80%안전놀이터. Where did Putin’s power come from? This book digs into the answer to this question through the people around Putin. The author has worked as a Moscow correspondent for the British Financial Times for six years, closely covering the Putin regime. Based on the testimonies of numerous people, including Putin’s closest aides, anti-Putin figures, and businessmen, he examines major events from before Putin’s full-scale entry into politics to the present from various perspectives.
The author pays attention to the two key forces, ‘Siloviki’ and ‘Oligarchs’, as the background of Putin’s iron-fisted rule. The ‘Siloviki’ are Putin’s inner circle made up of former members of the KGB , military and police organizations, and the ‘Oligarchs’ are emerging conglomerates with enormous assets. The Siloviki are portrayed as the top echelons of Putin’s power as armed bearers. The book contains the process by which Putin’s forces secured black money by destroying private companies, colluded with gangs to oppress political opponents, and the mysterious deaths of anti-Putin personnel. The possibility of Putin’s involvement in the Beslan Elementary School hostage case in which 364 people were killed by Chechen terrorists is also raised, and how Putin took advantage of the situation is also explored.
Through them, the book unfilteredly reveals Putin’s power. For example, in the summer of 2008, Putin called Sergei Pugachev, an emerging tycoon, and asked for $500 million in funding to help his friend Rotenberg. At the time, Putin said: “This is just a loan. It will be repaid within six months,” he said. Disillusioned with Putin and fled from Russia, his closest aides also appear. One of them, Pugachev, was once a key figure in Putin’s forces to the extent that he was called ‘Putin’s safekeeper’. Not only that, but those in Putin’s inner circle are doing all sorts of tough things to put Putin in power, and they say they can no longer trust anyone. It is ironic that those who took the lead in strengthening Putin’s power and eliminating political opponents are suffering from anxiety. The characters that appear repeatedly in the front of the book are organized separately to help introduce and read the book. 880 pages, 48,000 won.