The war is going badly.
Ukraine’s deep strike capacity is bringing pain, hardship, and fear to Russian cities.
Fuel shortages are causing deep discontent.
As the economy swooned, the Central Bank chief just up and disappeared from public view for weeks.
And with Moscow awash in rumors of coups and conspiracies, a leaked European intelligence report painted a portrait of a deeply paranoid and isolated Vladimir Putin.
So what is going on in Russia’s ruling elite? And to what extent is the war taking a toll on Putin’s iron grip.
On The Power Vertical Podcast this week, host Brian Whitmore speaks with Mikhail Zygar, author of the bestselling books All The Kremlin’s Men: Inside the Court of Vladimir Putin, War and Punishment: Putin, Zelensky, and the Path to Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine, and the recently published The Dark Side of the Earth: Russia’s Short-lived Victory over Totalitarianism to make sense of it all and to separate the signal from the noise.
Enjoy…
Please follow Brian Whitmore and The Power Vertical on Bluesky @powervertical.bsky.social
SHOW NOTES
Mikhail Zygar’s three articles that were referenced in the podcast -- The Kremlin’s Conspiracy Fever, Who Owns Russia Now? and A New Battle in the Kremlin -- can be accessed here, here and here. Mikhail Zygar’s highly-recommended Substack newsletter The Last Pioneer can be accessed here.
Zygar’s 2016 book, All the Kremlin’s Men: Inside the Court of Vladimir Putin can be purchased here. His 2023 book, War and Punishment: Putin, Zelensky, and the Path to Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine can be purchased here. And his 2026 book The Dark Side of the Earth: Russia’s Short-lived Victory over Totalitarianism can be purchased here. And his published op-eds in The New York Times can be accessed here.
Brian Whitmore’s report for The Atlantic Council, “Russian Illusions: How the West lost the post-Cold War era,” can be accessed here. His essay, “Russia the Harbinger: Gangsterism, Global Putinism, and the Crisis of the West,” which was recently published as a chapter in the edited volume Perpetual Conflict: Russia and the Struggle for European Security can be accessed here.
Brian Whitmore’s column for Independence Avenue Media can be accessed here. The Power Vertical Newsletter on Substack can be accessed here. Other recently published work by Brian Whitmore can be accessed here, here, here, and here. Please follow Brian Whitmore and The Power Vertical on Bluesky @powervertical.bsky.social
