Putin's People by Catherine Belton Free PDF Download

The hacking of the 2016 US elections. The sponsorship of extremist politics in Europe. War in Ukraine. In recent years, Vladimir Putins Russia has waged a concerted campaign to expand its influence and undermine Western institutions. But how and why did all this come about and who has orchestrated it? In Putins People, investigative journalist Catherine Belton tells the untold story of the rise to power of Vladimir Putin and the small group of KGB men surrounding him. Delving deep into the workings of Putins Kremlin, Belton accesses key inside players to reveal how Putin replaced the free-wheeling tycoons of the Yeltsin era with a new generation of loyal oligarchs, who in turn subverted their countrys economy and legal system and expanded its influence into the West. The result is a chilling and revelatory expose of the KGBs revanche - a story that began long ago in the murk of the Soviet collapse when networks of operatives were able to siphon billions of dollars out of Russia and into the West. After Putins takeover of the economy, these networks acquired new flows of cash to realize their goals. Ranging from Moscow to London, Switzerland and Brighton Beach, and introducing a colorful cast of characters, Putins People is the definitive account of how hopes for the new Russia went astray, with stark consequences for its inhabitants and, increasingly, the world.