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WWW.MY-SUBS.CO
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{n8}The Russian president
says a military operation
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{n8}is now underway in eastern Ukraine.
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I was in Moscow
when the war broke out,
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or when Russia invaded,
on a reporting trip.
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{n8}I told myself,
"Okay, this is fascism playing out."
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{n8}I think there was a sense of total shock,
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which not just I had.
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The city, Moscow, felt.
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Then in the evening
was the first protest.
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People were just walking on the streets.
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The police was grabbing them,
dealing with them very harshly.
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Putin is cracking down at home
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as he's facing
more pushback internationally.
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These were Moscow liberals.
This was the opposition.
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{n8}They were incredibly brave,
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{n8}and people continued to protest
until they really couldn't.
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{n8}There were calls
from two different sources
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{n8}that special forces
were coming to the newsroom.
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{n8}"No to war."
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{n8}Those were the final words of the final
broadcast of Russia's TV Rain.
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{n8}On Thursday, the news outlet shut down
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{n8}due to the government's attack
on free press in the country.
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{n8}It was clear for me that that was the end.
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We lost the future.
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The future was over.
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For us, for the Russian people
I belong to,
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we lived for decades
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dreaming of some better life.
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And it was all over that day.
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No to war! No to war!
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The Soviet red flag
with its hammer and sickle
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{n8}was lowered for the last time
over the Kremlin tonight.
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{n8}In its place went up the white, blue,
and red flag of the Russian Republic.
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I think it's very hard
for us to remember now
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what an immense task Russia was faced with
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after the fall of the Soviet Union.
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{n8}You don't just become
a democracy like that.
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{n8}Yeltsin's trying to make
the laws of supply and demand work,
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but there's almost unlimited demand,
and virtually no supply.
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The predictable result is economic chaos.
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All kinds of processes were carried out
that were a disaster.
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Most notoriously,
the auctioning off of state enterprises.
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So here you have a country that,
yes, it's badly disorganized,
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but there's immense resources.
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Timber, oil, gas,
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all kinds of minerals, et cetera.
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So they organized these auctions
for these giant state enterprises.
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The auctions were carried out
in a sleazy way,
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and people that were close to power
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were able to get,
to put it mildly, insider prices.
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So something worth a billion dollars
was bought for $50 million.
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And the next thing you know,
there was a class of people
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that we now know as the oligarchs.
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Many of them
had backgrounds among the elite
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of the Soviet system.
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They were people who had access,
perhaps, to some initial capital.
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{n8}They were traders who then bought banks
or, you know, created new institutions
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out of the opportunities
left behind by the old Soviet system.
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{n8}What ended up happening
was that a bunch of oligarchs
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{n8}who were pretty much predetermined
and chosen by Yeltsin,
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{n8}ended up with more than 40%
of the GDP of Russia.
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{n8}Mikhail Khodorkovsky
was one of the oligarchs.
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{n8}Probably in my mind, at the time,
one of the most rapacious oligarchs.
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I think he was smarter
than the other ones.
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He really accumulated
anything and everything he could.
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{n8}The Soviet economy
was extremely monopolized.
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{n8}That is, every industry effectively
had one overarching corporation
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called the ministry of so-and-so,
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but they did not have
their own supply system.
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Nor did they have
their own distribution systems.
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Add to that
difficulties of working
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with outdated equipment
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and the other legacies
of seven decades of communism.
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So one day,
when they were told, "You're on your own,"
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the entire management system fell apart.
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And of course, there were plenty
of young and enterprising people like me
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who could earn money on this
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and take part in the purchase
of industrial enterprises.
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BANK MENATEP
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And we made a lot of money.
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Mikhail Khodorkovsky was able to parlay
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an initial amount of backing
from institutions
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into, uh, one of the first new banks
of the post-Soviet era,
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and from there, to ultimately become
the richest man in the new Russia.
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In the mid to late 1990s,
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Khodorkovsky probably
was worth $15 billion.
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{n8}Seven or eight of these big bankers,
we call them oligarchs.
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{n8}Maybe that's too nice a word.
Robber barons.
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{n8}They're buying up newspapers,
airlines, oil companies.
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It's everybody for themselves.
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It's a winner-take-all economy,
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and the rules don't exist
except the rule of the gun
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and the rule of the use of force.
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These people lived
in the most lavish villas and mansions,
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and floated around on the biggest yachts,
and flew around on private jets.
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Well, someone had to become rich.
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We rebuilt this living network
of the country's economy.
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In six to seven years,
we did manage to rebuild it.
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And yet those six years had to be lived.
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The people had to live through
those six years.
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You can't feed them in six years.
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And that was a disaster, a real disaster.
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Because the system
was set up without a rule of law,
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without proper institutions,
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you ended up in a place where capitalism
was actually much worse than communism.
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{n8}Bread prices shot up 400%,
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from 60 kopeks
to more than two-and-a-half rubles a kilo.
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Gasoline prices also quadrupled.
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The government didn't have
any money. There was no tax revenue.
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And since most people worked
for different government organizations,
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most people weren't paid their salaries.
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"I simply can't survive
on a pension," declared one man.
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"It's daylight robbery, stealing from
the honest," complained another.
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"A kilo of cheese now costs me
twice my monthly pension."
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The average Russian
was dying at the age of 57
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because they didn't have
any medicine in the hospitals.
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There was no teachers in the schools.
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Professors had to become taxi drivers,
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and the art museums
were selling the art right off the walls
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just to survive.
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From Hollywood,
where dreams do come true,
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it's the return of the one and only
Supermarket Sweep!
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And you're watching on TV,
not the old Soviet programs,
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but huge amounts of Western television.
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This new inequality was a disaster.
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And that infuriated a lot of people,
and it undermined the status of democracy,
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so that democracy which was,
in Russian is demokratiya,
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was now known as der'mokratiya.
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"Shit-ocracy."
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We should have invested heavily
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in what was a very difficult
economic transformation.
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{n8}Going from communism to capitalism
is costly and hard,
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and we took our eye off the ball.
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{n8}So in 1992,
we had an election and the incumbent,
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{n8}President George H.W. Bush,
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{n8}was criticized by the Democratic Party
as being too internationalist,
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too engaged in foreign affairs.
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{n8}I think it is important
that the United States stay in Europe,
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{n8}and continue to guarantee the peace.
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We simply cannot pull back.
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{n8}And there was this rather
obscure governor from Arkansas,
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{n8}who ran on the slogan,
"It's the economy, stupid."
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{n8}We have to face that, in this world,
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economic security
is a whole lot of national security.
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Our dollar's at an all-time low
against some foreign currencies.
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We're weak in the world. We must rebuild
America's strength at home.
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Democrats really
skillfully used in that 1992 campaign
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the promise and possibility
of this post-Cold War era
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as a way to reset American politics,
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and Bill Clinton
was going to be the first president
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of the post-Cold War era.
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As a result of 1992,
this pivotal year in Russia,
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we were disengaged,
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and I think that was
a real lost opportunity.
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We should have gone all in.
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{n8}A lot of government officials
in Europe and in the United States
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{n8}hugely underestimated the magnitude
of the humiliation of the Russian people
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{n8}after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
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This is a country
that went from being
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one of the world's two superpowers,
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to really not knowing what its status
and place in the world were.
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There was a moment
in the Yeltsin years
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that always stuck with me,
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when they couldn't even
come to a consensus
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on what the lyrics should be
for a new Russian national anthem
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to take the place
of the old Soviet national anthem.
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And so when their athletes
won medals at the Olympics,
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they just played the music.
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There was no song yet to sing.
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Starting in 1994,
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Yeltsin's engaged in a war in Chechnya,
which was a horror show.
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{n8}Moscow has battled for centuries
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{n8}to suppress Chechen independence
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{n8}and exert ultimate control.
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{n8}Russia is a multiethnic country
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{n8}that includes bits that were joined in
or annexed or conquered
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{n8}in the late 19th century.
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{n8}The republics of the North Caucasus,
Chechnya, Dagestan, et cetera.
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The vicious Russian efforts
over the past 14 months
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to crush the Chechen nation
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merely continue a deep,
ingrained tradition of mutual hatred.
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{n8}And it was a huge crisis for Russia.
The Russian army was failing.
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{n8}People were not really, uh,
enthusiastic about the war.
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{n8}1996, there was just
a real sense of things falling apart.
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You got corruption,
you got a depressed economy,
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you got crime on your streets,
you got a war in Chechnya.
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And of course,
that became exploited
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by those who were resentful
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and who believed
that this was a direct result
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of the collapse of the old system.
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Yeltsin's poll ratings
were within spitting distance of zero.
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00:14:25,990 --> 00:14:28,826
And he was faced
with having to run against, wait for it,
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a communist.
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00:14:30,327 --> 00:14:31,537
Gennady Zyuganov.
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00:14:35,583 --> 00:14:37,793
There was
a very real possibility
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that Boris Yeltsin would be defeated
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and that the communists
would return to power.
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This was viewed
with great alarm in Moscow,
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as well as in Western capitals
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00:14:49,430 --> 00:14:52,516
and, in a way, there was
a sort of a corrupt bargain struck
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between Yeltsin and the oligarchs.
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We go in to see Yeltsin,
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and Chubais starts persuading him,
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that there's no need to declare
a state of emergency,
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00:15:07,406 --> 00:15:09,533
that there's no need
to call off the elections,
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00:15:09,617 --> 00:15:11,827
and that he can win these elections.
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Yeltsin said to these oligarchs,
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00:15:15,789 --> 00:15:20,252
"If you use all of your resources,
your television stations, your money,
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00:15:20,336 --> 00:15:23,213
everything else to help me get reelected,
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00:15:23,297 --> 00:15:26,175
then I will make sure that you get
the largest and most coveted
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and valuable oil companies
and metals companies in the country."
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These companies hadn't yet
been privatized.
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These oligarchs
funded the hell out of him...
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and pushed Yeltsin
like a recalcitrant elephant
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up and over the hill.
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You, young people,
are the future of Russia!
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Yeltsin's campaign managed to scare people
with the threat of communists returning.
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People still remembered
how it was back then.
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00:16:15,975 --> 00:16:22,147
No way. I had enough
of all that communist history at school.
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Boris Yeltsin!
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{n8}He ended up getting reelected, barely.
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00:16:29,738 --> 00:16:32,324
But after he was reelected,
things got worse and worse
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because these oligarchs
controlled everything.
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00:16:35,202 --> 00:16:38,622
And then he was in a very bad place
because he was an alcoholic,
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00:16:38,706 --> 00:16:41,375
his health was failing,
he had heart disease.
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00:16:42,334 --> 00:16:46,296
He was not able
to perform his duties, uh,
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00:16:46,380 --> 00:16:51,093
for the last three and a half years
of his presidency, and that was obvious.
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00:16:52,386 --> 00:16:57,266
{n8}Most Russians, uh, felt huge shame
for Russian president Boris Yeltsin.
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He was obviously a disgrace.
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In Washington, he has, you know,
a day of summits with Bill Clinton,
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00:17:10,154 --> 00:17:13,991
and then he goes back to Blair House,
the guesthouse in Washington, D.C.
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{n8}And no one quite knows what happens,
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00:17:15,826 --> 00:17:18,829
{n8}but he's found on the side of the street
in his underwear,
234
00:17:18,912 --> 00:17:21,915
{n8}yelling in Russian
that he needs a taxi and a pizza.
235
00:17:24,418 --> 00:17:26,962
By 1999,
236
00:17:27,046 --> 00:17:30,549
Yeltsin begins a search for a successor.
237
00:17:33,385 --> 00:17:35,637
He went through
a series of successors,
238
00:17:35,721 --> 00:17:39,516
{n8}basically prime ministers
that he appointed to test them out.
239
00:17:40,392 --> 00:17:44,021
{n8}And the first three completely failed
one way or another.
240
00:17:45,814 --> 00:17:49,068
{n8}And they were kind of running out of time
because his health was so bad,
241
00:17:49,151 --> 00:17:50,861
{n8}and he was really struggling.
242
00:17:51,820 --> 00:17:55,240
{n8}And so they just randomly picked
this strange unknown man
243
00:17:55,324 --> 00:17:57,576
{n8}that nobody had really
had much experience with.
244
00:17:57,659 --> 00:18:00,996
This is the man
Boris Yeltsin says should lead Russia
245
00:18:01,080 --> 00:18:03,207
in the 21st century.
246
00:18:03,290 --> 00:18:04,458
Vladimir Putin.
247
00:18:22,976 --> 00:18:25,229
In the year of 1952,
248
00:18:25,312 --> 00:18:28,148
about five months before Stalin's death,
249
00:18:28,232 --> 00:18:29,942
was born Vladimir Putin.
250
00:18:35,280 --> 00:18:38,700
{n8}The legend
of Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin
251
00:18:38,784 --> 00:18:40,369
{n8}that has come down to us
252
00:18:40,452 --> 00:18:43,038
{n8}in a campaign-style book
called First Person
253
00:18:44,373 --> 00:18:50,337
{n8}portrays his hardscrabble childhood
in the mean courtyards of Leningrad.
254
00:18:55,801 --> 00:18:58,220
Putin describes himself
as almost a hooligan,
255
00:18:58,804 --> 00:19:02,891
running around with tough boys
in the corridors, chasing rats.
256
00:19:04,184 --> 00:19:07,646
{n8}He describes essentially being bullied
and beaten up...
257
00:19:09,314 --> 00:19:13,902
{n8}until he used his fists
and he fought back against the aggressors.
258
00:19:14,695 --> 00:19:18,782
And that, in Putin's telling,
is a sort of a core principle.
259
00:19:21,034 --> 00:19:22,870
Only the weak get beaten.
260
00:19:22,953 --> 00:19:25,789
THE SWORD AND THE SHIELD
261
00:19:29,084 --> 00:19:31,628
{n8}The story, as told by Vladimir Putin,
262
00:19:31,712 --> 00:19:34,131
{n8}is that he grew up watching
263
00:19:34,214 --> 00:19:38,177
the kind of World War II movies
and television shows
264
00:19:38,260 --> 00:19:41,305
that glorified the role
of the secret services.
265
00:19:41,388 --> 00:19:43,932
One in particular
that captured his attention,
266
00:19:44,016 --> 00:19:45,851
called The Sword and the Shield.
267
00:19:47,853 --> 00:19:51,815
And he has said that it made him
essentially want to grow up
268
00:19:51,899 --> 00:19:55,402
and to become an agent himself in the KGB.
269
00:19:59,072 --> 00:20:01,491
And he ultimately did join the KGB.
270
00:20:03,785 --> 00:20:07,664
Vladimir Putin was not
some daring secret agent
271
00:20:07,748 --> 00:20:11,043
as much as he was
a counterintelligence officer,
272
00:20:11,126 --> 00:20:15,339
and that means that he was looking
for betrayal from within.
273
00:20:16,965 --> 00:20:20,010
{n8}He was looking inside the ranks of the KGB
274
00:20:20,093 --> 00:20:23,305
{n8}and trying to make sure
that everyone was loyal.
275
00:20:25,724 --> 00:20:29,937
The KGB
was never a law-abiding organization.
276
00:20:30,020 --> 00:20:33,774
{n8}It was always an organization
that lived according to Mafia principles.
277
00:20:35,609 --> 00:20:39,988
{n8}The KGB used tricks
against American diplomats in Moscow,
278
00:20:40,072 --> 00:20:43,158
{n8}including, uh, very nasty things.
279
00:20:43,242 --> 00:20:46,578
{n8}You know, even some sort of,
uh, poisoning.
280
00:20:46,662 --> 00:20:50,123
Not to kill, but to put
in an awkward position.
281
00:20:54,169 --> 00:20:57,339
Putin had what
would be a relatively lackluster career
282
00:20:57,422 --> 00:20:59,049
in the Soviet-era KGB.
283
00:21:00,801 --> 00:21:04,221
He didn't rise
to be a top general in the KGB.
284
00:21:04,304 --> 00:21:09,184
He didn't rise to have one of its premier
foreign postings in the West
285
00:21:09,268 --> 00:21:10,894
somewhere, uh, undercover.
286
00:21:11,853 --> 00:21:17,109
{n8}He ends up instead in a relative backwater
in Dresden, in East Germany.
287
00:21:23,782 --> 00:21:27,619
{n8}He's working with the Stasi,
the East German secret police.
288
00:21:27,703 --> 00:21:29,204
{n8}And the country around him,
289
00:21:29,288 --> 00:21:33,500
{n8}which has been the leading part
of the Soviet Bloc, is unraveling.
290
00:21:45,262 --> 00:21:47,597
Your government
seems to be changing every day.
291
00:21:47,681 --> 00:21:49,474
Where do you think it's going?
292
00:21:49,558 --> 00:21:52,060
That's the government's problem, not mine.
293
00:21:53,145 --> 00:21:55,522
{n8}For Putin,
this was a terrible catastrophe.
294
00:21:56,898 --> 00:22:00,777
It was the end of the Soviet Empire
that he had served and believed in.
295
00:22:07,576 --> 00:22:11,580
So Putin at this point is
in his 30s. He's a mid-level KGB officer.
296
00:22:11,663 --> 00:22:16,084
And he's horrified that Moscow
is not responding violently
297
00:22:16,168 --> 00:22:17,794
to the collapse of East Germany.
298
00:22:20,172 --> 00:22:22,507
In particular,
when the crisis comes to his door.
299
00:22:26,178 --> 00:22:29,806
{n8}Peaceful protesters occupy
the headquarters of the Stasi,
300
00:22:29,890 --> 00:22:31,892
{n8}which is the East German secret police.
301
00:22:33,894 --> 00:22:36,688
{n8}Putin is in the KGB outpost in Dresden,
302
00:22:36,772 --> 00:22:39,399
{n8}which is around the corner
from Dresden Stasi headquarters,
303
00:22:39,483 --> 00:22:40,859
{n8}since they work together.
304
00:22:40,942 --> 00:22:43,945
Some of these protesters
who are occupying the Stasi headquarters
305
00:22:44,029 --> 00:22:47,616
say, "Let's go over to the KGB outpost.
Let's go take that over."
306
00:22:48,116 --> 00:22:53,246
So they go over to the KGB outpost
where Putin is the senior officer on duty.
307
00:22:53,747 --> 00:22:55,999
And Putin is not amused.
308
00:22:57,167 --> 00:22:59,044
{n8}And in the book First Person,
309
00:22:59,127 --> 00:23:03,340
{n8}he remembers colleagues
calling Moscow for directions.
310
00:23:03,423 --> 00:23:04,423
"What should we do?"
311
00:23:05,092 --> 00:23:07,844
And the phrase was, "Moscow was silent."
312
00:23:09,179 --> 00:23:12,182
{n8}In other words,
Moscow had written off East Germany.
313
00:23:13,058 --> 00:23:15,143
{n8}And this enraged Putin.
314
00:23:16,436 --> 00:23:18,522
Central power had collapsed.
315
00:23:18,605 --> 00:23:21,775
And greatness, in his view,
had been relinquished.
316
00:23:22,776 --> 00:23:26,113
{n8}All these events
have inspired intense bitterness in him.
317
00:23:26,196 --> 00:23:27,489
{n8}Humiliation.
318
00:23:28,156 --> 00:23:30,158
{n8}This is the great country
that defeated the Nazis.
319
00:23:33,912 --> 00:23:36,748
It's hard to overestimate
how important that is.
320
00:23:36,832 --> 00:23:41,128
What a foundation to Russian
self-identity the defeat of the Nazis is.
321
00:23:42,087 --> 00:23:48,343
And so to have to retreat in such a way
from Germany was just, for Putin, awful.
322
00:23:53,390 --> 00:23:56,852
He was shocked, I think,
by his years in Germany.
323
00:23:58,311 --> 00:24:02,941
He saw that even in East Germany,
there was a much higher standard of living
324
00:24:03,024 --> 00:24:05,444
than there was inside Russia itself.
325
00:24:06,361 --> 00:24:10,532
He describes returning, in fact,
to Russia with, I think,
326
00:24:10,615 --> 00:24:13,743
a washing machine,
you know, strapped to his car.
327
00:24:16,121 --> 00:24:20,750
Then he basically decides to throw
his lot in with his old law professor
328
00:24:20,834 --> 00:24:24,463
{n8}at the University of Leningrad,
Anatoly Sobchak,
329
00:24:24,546 --> 00:24:27,591
{n8}who was the first
democratically-elected mayor
330
00:24:27,674 --> 00:24:30,385
{n8}of what was then
going to be St. Petersburg
331
00:24:30,469 --> 00:24:31,887
and no longer Leningrad.
332
00:24:33,221 --> 00:24:38,059
And back then, St. Petersburg
was like Chicago in the 1930s.
333
00:24:38,143 --> 00:24:42,606
{n8}There is even a set phrase.
334
00:24:43,106 --> 00:24:46,693
{n8}"Gangster's Petersburg."
335
00:24:48,528 --> 00:24:51,490
He immediately went into contact
336
00:24:51,573 --> 00:24:53,825
{n8}with people with a very shady background.
337
00:24:53,909 --> 00:24:55,118
{n8}With criminal groups.
338
00:24:55,702 --> 00:25:00,457
And he was the mayor's man
to fix these kinds of problems
339
00:25:00,540 --> 00:25:02,292
and to talk to these people,
340
00:25:02,375 --> 00:25:06,588
and to make sure that the mayor was safe,
and some shady deals were done.
341
00:25:09,174 --> 00:25:13,011
Sobchak loses his reelection
as mayor for a second term.
342
00:25:14,513 --> 00:25:16,806
Putin is then again
looking for another job.
343
00:25:17,682 --> 00:25:19,976
And Putin is brought to Moscow
344
00:25:20,477 --> 00:25:23,522
{n8}for now a succession of jobs
in the late '90s.
345
00:25:24,147 --> 00:25:27,526
{n8}He becomes the head
of the Kremlin's properties division,
346
00:25:27,609 --> 00:25:32,155
which is a fantastic place to be
if you want to have access to corruption.
347
00:25:32,948 --> 00:25:37,035
All the perks of the old system
that are run by the Kremlin,
348
00:25:37,118 --> 00:25:38,370
he's in charge of them.
349
00:25:38,453 --> 00:25:42,123
{n8}The disposition of everything
from dachas, vacation homes,
350
00:25:42,207 --> 00:25:46,044
{n8}to places in Kremlin
hospitals and schools,
351
00:25:46,127 --> 00:25:49,965
leases on cars that are run
by the Kremlin and boats.
352
00:25:50,882 --> 00:25:53,969
And that gave him some powers.
353
00:25:54,052 --> 00:25:57,264
And that was his start
of his national career.
354
00:25:57,347 --> 00:26:01,851
After that, it was a very quick way
to become, uh, the new head
355
00:26:01,935 --> 00:26:04,354
of the Russian Security Service, FSB.
356
00:26:04,437 --> 00:26:07,315
Which is the successor agency to the KGB.
357
00:26:08,692 --> 00:26:12,279
Suddenly this not very distinguished
KGB guy's the head of the whole thing.
358
00:26:12,904 --> 00:26:15,490
And all this is happening fairly rapidly.
359
00:26:21,705 --> 00:26:25,625
In 1999, Boris Yeltsin
is not seen as being fully in control
360
00:26:25,709 --> 00:26:26,793
of his own government.
361
00:26:26,876 --> 00:26:30,046
And there are enormous concerns
that Yeltsin and those close to him
362
00:26:30,130 --> 00:26:34,384
might actually face corruption charges
from a future president of Russia.
363
00:26:35,010 --> 00:26:38,972
So they are desperately looking
not just for a successor for Russia,
364
00:26:39,055 --> 00:26:41,182
but they're looking to protect themselves.
365
00:26:43,560 --> 00:26:46,104
{n8}The people around Yeltsin,
especially his daughter,
366
00:26:46,187 --> 00:26:48,273
{n8}say, "You need someone like Putin."
367
00:26:50,191 --> 00:26:54,404
And now,
I have decided to name a man,
368
00:26:54,487 --> 00:26:57,532
who, in my opinion,
369
00:26:58,491 --> 00:27:05,165
is capable of uniting society.
370
00:27:06,750 --> 00:27:08,418
The decision has been made.
371
00:27:08,501 --> 00:27:09,836
Vladimir Vladimirovich,
372
00:27:09,919 --> 00:27:14,090
we congratulate you
on your appointment as prime minister.
373
00:27:14,674 --> 00:27:17,844
Yeltsin tells
a senior American diplomat
374
00:27:17,927 --> 00:27:22,682
when he appoints Vladimir Putin
as prime minister, "This one's different."
375
00:27:22,766 --> 00:27:26,978
"I can even envision him
as a future successor to me."
376
00:27:28,063 --> 00:27:31,149
And so he rises
in this incredibly short period of time
377
00:27:31,232 --> 00:27:35,445
from FSB director
to prime minister of Russia.
378
00:27:36,363 --> 00:27:38,948
And what's made clear
at a certain point,
379
00:27:39,032 --> 00:27:41,284
is that after Yeltsin leaves,
380
00:27:41,368 --> 00:27:43,995
Putin would not act on the Yeltsin family.
381
00:27:44,913 --> 00:27:46,414
There'd be no arrests.
382
00:27:46,498 --> 00:27:50,460
They would be allowed to live out
their lives in wealth, and untouched.
383
00:27:58,176 --> 00:28:00,720
He was appointed
prime minister in August,
384
00:28:00,804 --> 00:28:05,684
and in September, there was a series
of terror attacks, uh, in Moscow.
385
00:28:13,900 --> 00:28:17,904
{n8}My mom was
a very well-educated, beautiful woman.
386
00:28:20,365 --> 00:28:22,617
She wanted to give us better future.
387
00:28:24,536 --> 00:28:27,080
That's why we've moved to Moscow.
388
00:28:28,790 --> 00:28:34,295
{n8}In 1999, she had started a new job,
a new life, at Russian television,
389
00:28:34,379 --> 00:28:36,381
{n8}as an editor at a morning show.
390
00:28:38,758 --> 00:28:41,511
{n8}One day, I was in Tbilisi, Georgia,
391
00:28:41,594 --> 00:28:43,596
{n8}visiting my grandfather
and my grandmother,
392
00:28:44,431 --> 00:28:46,307
and she was home alone.
393
00:28:53,565 --> 00:28:57,402
{n8}September 9th,
first explosion in Moscow.
394
00:28:58,111 --> 00:28:59,237
Guryanov Street.
395
00:29:00,196 --> 00:29:03,050
A nine-story
apartment building has been blown up.
396
00:29:03,074 --> 00:29:05,910
The middle part, two entrances, collapsed.
397
00:29:05,994 --> 00:29:08,997
Ninety-three corpses and many
so-called fragments of human bodies
398
00:29:09,080 --> 00:29:12,584
were recovered from the rubble.
399
00:29:15,462 --> 00:29:17,797
My uncle,
who was in Moscow,
400
00:29:17,881 --> 00:29:19,758
he went to the building.
401
00:29:19,841 --> 00:29:21,843
He saw terrible things.
402
00:29:22,927 --> 00:29:26,765
Parts of people's bodies
were all over the place.
403
00:29:29,058 --> 00:29:31,853
Our apartment was in the epicenter
of the explosion.
404
00:29:31,936 --> 00:29:35,356
So that's why they didn't find
even DNA of my mom.
405
00:29:35,440 --> 00:29:38,902
How do I find out...
Where is my family?
406
00:29:38,985 --> 00:29:40,445
And who lived there?
407
00:29:41,070 --> 00:29:46,451
My nephew and his mother lived there.
408
00:29:47,869 --> 00:29:50,749
There were others
after that Guryanov explosion.
409
00:29:52,499 --> 00:29:55,585
These bombings occur in Moscow
and several other cities.
410
00:29:57,253 --> 00:30:01,466
{n8}The Russian government
blames them on Chechen separatists,
411
00:30:01,549 --> 00:30:03,343
{n8}Chechen terror groups.
412
00:30:05,970 --> 00:30:08,848
{n8}The North Caucasus region is
413
00:30:08,932 --> 00:30:12,101
{n8}not exclusively, but primarily, Muslim.
414
00:30:12,185 --> 00:30:15,688
{n8}And it was very easy
for the Kremlin and for Putin
415
00:30:15,772 --> 00:30:18,691
{n8}to other the people of the North Caucasus
416
00:30:18,775 --> 00:30:23,029
{n8}as Muslims who have terrorized
the Russian population.
417
00:30:25,907 --> 00:30:29,828
It's an attempt by international
terrorists to frighten the people,
418
00:30:29,911 --> 00:30:31,079
stir up panic,
419
00:30:31,162 --> 00:30:33,706
paralyze the political leadership
of the country.
420
00:30:36,292 --> 00:30:40,672
But as these bombings unfold,
there's this series of odd events.
421
00:30:41,548 --> 00:30:44,884
{n8}At one point,
the speaker of the Russian Duma
422
00:30:44,968 --> 00:30:47,929
{n8}announces the fourth bombing.
423
00:30:48,012 --> 00:30:51,224
The fourth bombing actually
doesn't take place for three more days.
424
00:30:51,808 --> 00:30:54,269
{n8}Can't you see
what is happening in the country?
425
00:30:54,352 --> 00:30:55,937
{n8}Remember, Mr. Chairman,
426
00:30:56,020 --> 00:30:59,148
{n8}on Monday you told us
a house in Volgodonsk was blown up.
427
00:30:59,232 --> 00:31:01,109
Three days before the explosion!
428
00:31:01,192 --> 00:31:04,279
Then residents
report to local police
429
00:31:04,362 --> 00:31:07,574
{n8}that they see these men carrying sacks
430
00:31:07,657 --> 00:31:10,285
{n8}into the basement
of this apartment building.
431
00:31:12,370 --> 00:31:15,999
The local police discover a bomb
432
00:31:16,082 --> 00:31:19,460
identical to those
that had gone off in other cities.
433
00:31:20,336 --> 00:31:22,547
{n8}The cops were running
all over the building,
434
00:31:22,630 --> 00:31:26,426
{n8}banging on doors and shouting,
"Everybody out! There's a bomb!"
435
00:31:27,218 --> 00:31:31,890
And they arrest three FSB agents,
436
00:31:31,973 --> 00:31:34,726
agents of the
Russian intelligence service,
437
00:31:34,809 --> 00:31:38,313
who had been carrying those sacks
into the basement.
438
00:31:39,355 --> 00:31:41,566
Positive measures
are already being taken.
439
00:31:41,649 --> 00:31:43,902
{n8}One example is the prevention
of an explosion
440
00:31:43,985 --> 00:31:45,528
{n8}in an apartment building in Ryazan.
441
00:31:46,321 --> 00:31:48,156
The day after those arrests,
442
00:31:48,239 --> 00:31:50,617
the Russian government announces
443
00:31:50,700 --> 00:31:54,078
that it was actually an FSB
training operation all along.
444
00:31:54,162 --> 00:31:58,207
{n8}It was an exercise.
There were no explosives, just sugar.
445
00:31:58,291 --> 00:32:02,378
But the sacks test as real explosives.
446
00:32:02,962 --> 00:32:05,882
And so what many people believe
447
00:32:05,965 --> 00:32:09,302
is that the Russian intelligence service
448
00:32:09,385 --> 00:32:12,096
actually carried out
as a false flag operation
449
00:32:12,180 --> 00:32:15,600
to gin up the pretext for war.
450
00:32:17,310 --> 00:32:20,813
There is only
one independent investigation of this
451
00:32:20,897 --> 00:32:22,482
that ever takes place,
452
00:32:22,565 --> 00:32:25,652
{n8}and of those independent investigators,
453
00:32:25,735 --> 00:32:28,905
{n8}two of the commission
are actually assassinated,
454
00:32:28,988 --> 00:32:31,032
{n8}and the third, the lawyer,
455
00:32:31,115 --> 00:32:34,535
{n8}is actually arrested
and imprisoned for four years.
456
00:32:39,999 --> 00:32:44,879
We don't have solid evidence
of Vladimir Putin being involved in this.
457
00:32:45,964 --> 00:32:48,591
The only thing that we know
is that after these explosions,
458
00:32:48,675 --> 00:32:51,594
Russia started the second Chechen war.
459
00:32:51,678 --> 00:32:55,848
{n8}And Vladimir Putin,
as Yeltsin's hand-picked prime minister,
460
00:32:55,932 --> 00:32:59,102
he becomes the public face of this war.
461
00:32:59,894 --> 00:33:02,063
For seven straight days now,
462
00:33:02,146 --> 00:33:04,482
Russian warplanes have pounded Chechnya.
463
00:33:04,565 --> 00:33:06,442
Russia stepped up its air strikes
464
00:33:06,526 --> 00:33:08,194
against Chechen villages today.
465
00:33:08,778 --> 00:33:12,490
At that period of time in 1999,
Vladimir Putin didn't have any popularity.
466
00:33:12,573 --> 00:33:14,784
No one knew what he was.
467
00:33:15,952 --> 00:33:18,579
And after that,
he became a strong bogatyr.
468
00:33:18,663 --> 00:33:20,331
A hero for Russians.
469
00:33:21,207 --> 00:33:25,545
A person who says,
"We don't negotiate with terrorists."
470
00:33:25,628 --> 00:33:27,171
"We kill the terrorists."
471
00:33:27,255 --> 00:33:29,507
{n8}We'll be chasing
the terrorists everywhere.
472
00:33:29,590 --> 00:33:32,218
{n8}At the airports or in the toilet.
473
00:33:32,301 --> 00:33:36,889
{n8}We'll waste them in an outhouse.
End of story.
474
00:33:41,769 --> 00:33:45,440
Putin was willing
to do the most brutal thing imaginable,
475
00:33:45,523 --> 00:33:50,069
which is to bring the Chechen War
to an end by obliterating,
476
00:33:50,153 --> 00:33:54,949
obliterating the better part
of the Chechen capital Grozny.
477
00:33:59,370 --> 00:34:03,499
And he goes from basically
an unknown, in the course of months,
478
00:34:03,583 --> 00:34:07,170
to the most popular politician in Russia.
479
00:34:07,253 --> 00:34:12,842
And it's really on the backs
of this very popular military campaign.
480
00:34:20,767 --> 00:34:24,312
And then,
as the millennium's changing,
481
00:34:24,395 --> 00:34:27,899
Yeltsin gets up on television
on New Year's Eve and says...
482
00:34:29,400 --> 00:34:30,520
"I am leaving."
483
00:34:31,110 --> 00:34:36,783
Today, on the last day
of the outgoing century,
484
00:34:37,325 --> 00:34:41,496
I am retiring.
485
00:34:43,164 --> 00:34:47,502
I want to ask your forgiveness,
486
00:34:47,585 --> 00:34:53,800
because many of our hopes
did not come true.
487
00:34:53,883 --> 00:34:57,220
He makes it
very clear that he is, if anything,
488
00:34:57,303 --> 00:35:01,891
apologizing to the Russian people
in his diminished state
489
00:35:01,974 --> 00:35:05,812
for the failures
that have taken place in the '90s.
490
00:35:06,395 --> 00:35:09,732
I have signed
a decree entrusting
491
00:35:10,566 --> 00:35:13,861
duties of the President of Russia
492
00:35:14,403 --> 00:35:20,159
to Prime Minister
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin.
493
00:35:23,121 --> 00:35:27,625
For the next three months,
he will be head of state.
494
00:35:28,501 --> 00:35:32,338
Again, in accordance
with the constitution,
495
00:35:32,421 --> 00:35:36,050
presidential elections
will be held in three months' time.
496
00:35:37,552 --> 00:35:39,637
And then Yeltsin abdicates,
497
00:35:39,720 --> 00:35:42,473
and Putin becomes the acting president.
498
00:35:43,141 --> 00:35:45,309
On March 26th,
499
00:35:45,393 --> 00:35:48,604
we will be electing,
not just a head of government,
500
00:35:48,688 --> 00:35:52,984
but also a supreme commander,
501
00:35:53,067 --> 00:35:59,949
in the sense that the president
is also the head of the armed forces.
502
00:36:00,032 --> 00:36:03,327
Russia is one of the largest governments
in the world
503
00:36:03,411 --> 00:36:05,746
with a powerful nuclear arsenal.
504
00:36:05,830 --> 00:36:08,207
And this is something
not only our friends remember.
505
00:36:10,042 --> 00:36:12,146
One of Vladimir Putin's ideas
506
00:36:12,170 --> 00:36:15,506
was if he explains to people
that he is the one
507
00:36:15,590 --> 00:36:20,178
who can bring stability
and safety to Russians,
508
00:36:20,261 --> 00:36:24,307
then he would have
a very high level of, uh, support.
509
00:36:31,480 --> 00:36:33,816
{n8}He was elected as a president in 2000.
510
00:36:34,984 --> 00:36:36,611
So it... it really worked.
511
00:36:40,656 --> 00:36:44,744
{n8}Putin took over a nation demoralized
512
00:36:44,827 --> 00:36:49,540
and traumatized by defeat in the Cold War.
513
00:36:50,082 --> 00:36:52,877
And this was very hard on Russians.
There's no doubt.
514
00:36:52,960 --> 00:36:57,215
And President Putin was able to say
to the Russian people,
515
00:36:57,298 --> 00:37:00,885
"Look, I will restore Russian pride."
516
00:37:00,968 --> 00:37:02,720
And he didn't say this exactly,
517
00:37:02,803 --> 00:37:06,641
but the implication was,
the implied deal was,
518
00:37:06,724 --> 00:37:11,103
"I will make your lives better,
but it's not gonna be a democracy."
519
00:37:15,483 --> 00:37:20,613
{n8}He is still a... a Soviet type of a man.
520
00:37:20,696 --> 00:37:26,035
{n8}I think that he even dreams
about the Soviet Empire.
521
00:37:31,749 --> 00:37:34,293
One of the first things
that Vladimir Putin did
522
00:37:34,377 --> 00:37:38,881
was he restored the old
Stalin-era Soviet national anthem.
523
00:37:38,965 --> 00:37:45,012
♪ Be glorified ♪
524
00:37:45,096 --> 00:37:50,476
♪ Our free Fatherland... ♪
525
00:37:50,559 --> 00:37:53,104
Russians had
this very negative experience
526
00:37:53,187 --> 00:37:55,940
during the later years of Boris Yeltsin,
527
00:37:56,023 --> 00:38:00,069
and there was a sense
that it was a good thing for Russia.
528
00:38:08,577 --> 00:38:11,455
Putin immediately
reached out to the West.
529
00:38:15,293 --> 00:38:17,837
{n8}Putin's first significant act
in foreign policy
530
00:38:18,546 --> 00:38:21,465
{n8}was to send a message
to the Secretary General of NATO,
531
00:38:21,966 --> 00:38:23,634
{n8}and he said, "We'll start again."
532
00:38:24,218 --> 00:38:26,929
And so, NATO reopened an office in Moscow,
533
00:38:27,013 --> 00:38:30,349
and Putin started building up
the relationship with NATO.
534
00:38:30,433 --> 00:38:34,061
{n8}From that point, his second
significant act in foreign policy
535
00:38:34,145 --> 00:38:35,646
{n8}was to get on to Tony Blair.
536
00:38:38,691 --> 00:38:42,028
{n8}Tony Blair, at the time,
was the preeminent leader in Europe.
537
00:38:42,111 --> 00:38:44,030
{n8}Enormously popular figure.
538
00:38:44,113 --> 00:38:45,781
{n8}So rather cunningly, Putin said,
539
00:38:45,865 --> 00:38:48,701
{n8}"Why don't you and your wife
come to a premiere
540
00:38:48,784 --> 00:38:53,998
of a new production of Prokofiev's opera
War and Peace in St. Petersburg,
541
00:38:54,081 --> 00:38:55,082
in my home city?"
542
00:38:55,875 --> 00:38:58,419
{n8}So a totally informal,
kind of family visit.
543
00:39:02,465 --> 00:39:05,384
{n8}I was the first leader to go
and see him from the West.
544
00:39:05,468 --> 00:39:08,095
{n8}He was wanting the meeting
in St. Petersburg.
545
00:39:08,179 --> 00:39:10,097
{n8}He wanted it to be Western-oriented.
546
00:39:10,181 --> 00:39:12,099
He was talking about
the reform of his economy,
547
00:39:12,183 --> 00:39:14,894
a new era for Western-Eastern relations.
548
00:39:16,020 --> 00:39:18,856
This informal weekend
wasn't at all informal.
549
00:39:18,939 --> 00:39:23,027
The very first meeting took place
in a grand room of a grand palace,
550
00:39:23,110 --> 00:39:26,197
with all the world's press covering it
because it was the first time
551
00:39:26,280 --> 00:39:29,283
a Western leader
had been seen meeting Putin.
552
00:39:29,367 --> 00:39:31,410
And then they spent
several hours together.
553
00:39:33,537 --> 00:39:35,456
It's very important to emphasize
554
00:39:35,539 --> 00:39:38,876
we're desperate to have
a good relationship with Russia,
555
00:39:38,959 --> 00:39:41,170
to bring Russia closer towards us.
556
00:39:41,253 --> 00:39:43,589
Some people in the European Union
even talked about Russia
557
00:39:43,672 --> 00:39:45,591
becoming a member of the European Union.
558
00:39:47,093 --> 00:39:51,055
I believed that he was someone
who was potentially going to be a partner
559
00:39:51,138 --> 00:39:52,473
we could work with.
560
00:39:52,556 --> 00:39:55,184
And with whom we could resolve
some of the world's problems
561
00:39:55,267 --> 00:39:56,727
rather than aggravate them.
562
00:39:58,229 --> 00:40:01,315
I remember meeting
Putin in Slovenia for the first time
563
00:40:01,399 --> 00:40:02,858
as the President of Russia.
564
00:40:03,567 --> 00:40:08,823
{n8}And he walked toward us,
and, uh, he had a kind of athlete's gait.
565
00:40:08,906 --> 00:40:10,950
{n8}Any breakthroughs?
566
00:40:11,033 --> 00:40:15,454
{n8}But I remember thinking that he was
a little bit lacking in confidence, oddly.
567
00:40:17,164 --> 00:40:22,086
And when he met President George W. Bush,
he so wanted to be treated as an equal.
568
00:40:23,504 --> 00:40:26,632
And President Bush didn't want
to do anything to embarrass him,
569
00:40:26,715 --> 00:40:29,176
and thus that famous moment
at the press conference
570
00:40:29,260 --> 00:40:31,011
when he was asked if he trusted Putin.
571
00:40:32,012 --> 00:40:34,849
I'll answer the question.
I looked the man in the eye.
572
00:40:34,932 --> 00:40:38,561
I found him to be very
straightforward and trustworthy.
573
00:40:39,645 --> 00:40:41,313
We had a very good dialogue.
574
00:40:41,939 --> 00:40:46,152
I was able to, uh,
get a sense of his soul.
575
00:40:46,694 --> 00:40:48,612
He's a man deeply committed
to his country,
576
00:40:48,696 --> 00:40:50,656
and has the best interests of his country.
577
00:40:51,907 --> 00:40:54,285
I thought, "Oh my God,
what did he just say?"
578
00:40:54,368 --> 00:40:58,581
But he was just trying to develop
a relationship with, uh, with Putin.
579
00:41:00,666 --> 00:41:03,627
Also,
would you make everyone aware
580
00:41:03,711 --> 00:41:05,588
that we're gonna be seeing some tape?
581
00:41:07,465 --> 00:41:09,467
Holy shit. Jesus!
582
00:41:14,972 --> 00:41:17,892
{n8}Early in his time in power in Russia,
583
00:41:17,975 --> 00:41:21,020
{n8}September 11th happened
here in the United States,
584
00:41:21,103 --> 00:41:26,358
{n8}and he saw terrorism as a common enemy
between Russia and the United States.
585
00:41:29,028 --> 00:41:31,155
Everybody go straight.
There's an ambulance...
586
00:41:31,238 --> 00:41:34,074
I think Putin felt
that he had found, actually,
587
00:41:34,158 --> 00:41:35,910
a new strategic rationale
588
00:41:35,993 --> 00:41:37,953
for the relationship
with the United States.
589
00:41:38,662 --> 00:41:42,666
{n8}I want to tell the American people
on behalf of Russia, we are with you.
590
00:41:42,750 --> 00:41:45,544
{n8}We share and feel your pain.
We support you.
591
00:41:52,927 --> 00:41:54,637
Putin thought, "Finally,
592
00:41:54,720 --> 00:41:58,349
{n8}finally the United States
and the West will understand
593
00:41:58,432 --> 00:42:01,185
{n8}this war on terrorism
that I am carrying out
594
00:42:01,268 --> 00:42:03,687
{n8}inside of Russia against Chechnya."
595
00:42:12,279 --> 00:42:14,990
But of course,
quickly, I think, Putin realized
596
00:42:15,074 --> 00:42:17,826
that his definition
of the global war on terror
597
00:42:17,910 --> 00:42:20,621
was very different
than the United States's.
598
00:42:21,997 --> 00:42:23,916
And that came to a head pretty quickly
599
00:42:23,999 --> 00:42:29,213
{n8}by the time that it became clear
US was moving toward war in Iraq.
600
00:42:30,506 --> 00:42:35,844
{n8}Iraq had been one of the major
Soviet proxy states and military partners
601
00:42:35,928 --> 00:42:39,139
{n8}in the Middle East throughout
the long years of confrontation
602
00:42:39,223 --> 00:42:40,223
{n8}of the Cold War.
603
00:42:41,141 --> 00:42:44,645
{n8}And this was not the kind
of military adventurism
604
00:42:44,728 --> 00:42:48,440
{n8}that Putin thought he was signing up for
with the war on terror.
605
00:42:52,361 --> 00:42:54,401
I will do everything in my power
606
00:42:54,446 --> 00:42:56,740
so that this time as well
Russia is not pulled
607
00:42:56,824 --> 00:43:00,619
into the Iraqi crisis in any form.
608
00:43:07,793 --> 00:43:12,131
Because of Iraq
and other factors, Putin gets lucky.
609
00:43:12,715 --> 00:43:14,592
The price of oil goes up.
610
00:43:19,555 --> 00:43:20,931
Russia's an oil and gas country,
611
00:43:21,015 --> 00:43:23,058
and if the oil price goes up,
that can really help.
612
00:43:24,059 --> 00:43:25,436
{n8}The money starts to pour in.
613
00:43:26,520 --> 00:43:29,857
It made it possible
for Putin to pay off the Soviet debt.
614
00:43:30,524 --> 00:43:35,321
It made it possible for him
to increase the pensions for Russians.
615
00:43:35,404 --> 00:43:40,868
It made it possible to increase other
social service payments for Russians.
616
00:43:42,369 --> 00:43:46,206
You start to see,
more vividly than ever before,
617
00:43:46,290 --> 00:43:49,793
the creation of an urban middle class.
618
00:43:51,086 --> 00:43:53,922
And people just say,
"Look, if he can provide us
619
00:43:54,006 --> 00:43:56,634
with these new living standards,
we're okay with it."
620
00:43:56,717 --> 00:43:59,136
"Why we should care about your democracy?"
621
00:43:59,219 --> 00:44:02,389
Putin, he started
collecting taxes from the oligarchs.
622
00:44:02,473 --> 00:44:06,435
{n8}And because of that,
the state then started to function again.
623
00:44:08,562 --> 00:44:12,149
And then Putin basically
makes this very concerted effort
624
00:44:12,232 --> 00:44:16,195
to bring the oligarchs to heel.
625
00:44:20,824 --> 00:44:23,202
{n8}Putin decided to take control
626
00:44:23,702 --> 00:44:27,915
of the two main
television channels in Russia,
627
00:44:27,998 --> 00:44:30,000
which had been in private hands.
628
00:44:30,084 --> 00:44:33,170
{n8}Gusinsky and Berezovsky
had owned these two channels,
629
00:44:33,253 --> 00:44:34,630
{n8}and they were taken off them.
630
00:44:37,091 --> 00:44:39,968
I am in the studio
of NTV, and it is strange,
631
00:44:40,052 --> 00:44:47,052
but today is a very important event
for all NTV staff.
632
00:44:47,142 --> 00:44:51,605
Today our TV station
was taken over by force.
633
00:44:55,192 --> 00:44:58,654
They are put into hands
effectively controlled by Putin.
634
00:44:59,321 --> 00:45:03,951
Because Putin understood as a KGB officer
that 85% of the Russian population
635
00:45:04,034 --> 00:45:06,495
got pretty well all of their information
636
00:45:06,578 --> 00:45:08,789
through these two
main television channels.
637
00:45:12,209 --> 00:45:15,170
And then there was a signature
early confrontation
638
00:45:15,254 --> 00:45:19,967
between Putin and a possible
rival power center, Mikhail Khodorkovsky...
639
00:45:23,178 --> 00:45:26,724
...who, by that time,
was not only the richest man in Russia,
640
00:45:26,807 --> 00:45:29,893
but also one of the very
wealthiest men in the whole world.
641
00:45:32,396 --> 00:45:36,567
Khodorkovsky, he seemed to think
that the rules no longer applied to him.
642
00:45:41,697 --> 00:45:45,951
You know,
I don't remember when I met Putin.
643
00:45:47,536 --> 00:45:50,205
{n8}Here, I'm looking at a young guy
much like us.
644
00:45:50,289 --> 00:45:54,293
{n8}He's ready to listen,
understand, communicate.
645
00:45:56,295 --> 00:46:00,883
It turned out that this guy
was just a very talented recruiter.
646
00:46:00,966 --> 00:46:04,386
He showed each of us,
each of his partners,
647
00:46:04,470 --> 00:46:07,347
precisely what each one of us
wanted to see.
648
00:46:08,766 --> 00:46:11,453
Khodorkovsky
owned an oil company called Yukos,
649
00:46:11,477 --> 00:46:14,688
which was the largest
oil company in the country.
650
00:46:15,564 --> 00:46:18,442
Khodorkovsky wanted
to venture beyond Russia.
651
00:46:18,525 --> 00:46:20,778
He wanted to become
an international businessman.
652
00:46:21,987 --> 00:46:26,074
He felt as if it would help him
if Russia wasn't so corrupt anymore.
653
00:46:26,158 --> 00:46:27,534
If Russia became normal,
654
00:46:27,618 --> 00:46:29,620
he could become
the richest man in the world.
655
00:46:30,204 --> 00:46:32,456
So he went from poacher to gamekeeper.
656
00:46:33,499 --> 00:46:36,293
He went on a campaign
of transparency in his company.
657
00:46:36,376 --> 00:46:40,839
He stopped all the dirty practices
that were going on in the 1990s.
658
00:46:41,548 --> 00:46:43,908
Here is an example of corruption.
659
00:46:43,967 --> 00:46:46,887
There was this company
called Severnaya Neft,
660
00:46:46,970 --> 00:46:50,641
and its owners wanted to sell it.
661
00:46:50,724 --> 00:46:54,436
The price they wanted was $200 million.
662
00:46:55,979 --> 00:47:00,192
We crunched the numbers
and decided it wasn't worth that much.
663
00:47:00,275 --> 00:47:03,320
And then we find out later
that Rosneft, a state company,
664
00:47:03,403 --> 00:47:06,657
is buying this company for $600 million.
665
00:47:06,740 --> 00:47:10,536
Well, for us, this was blatant corruption.
666
00:47:10,619 --> 00:47:11,912
Simply blatant.
667
00:47:11,995 --> 00:47:15,165
And most importantly, that $400 million,
668
00:47:17,000 --> 00:47:19,503
it went into Putin's pocket.
669
00:47:23,048 --> 00:47:25,048
Turns out, he had no interest
670
00:47:25,092 --> 00:47:26,372
in getting rid of the oligarchs.
671
00:47:26,426 --> 00:47:28,546
He just wanted to become
the biggest oligarch himself.
672
00:47:30,472 --> 00:47:33,684
Putin gathers
these oligarchs in a roundtable,
673
00:47:34,560 --> 00:47:39,314
and Mikhail Khodorkovsky starts talking
about corruption at the meeting,
674
00:47:39,398 --> 00:47:40,691
which infuriated Putin.
675
00:47:42,150 --> 00:47:45,380
I said corrupt
practices are highly developed in Russia,
676
00:47:45,404 --> 00:47:48,490
they have begun to interfere
in the economy's development,
677
00:47:48,574 --> 00:47:51,869
and they are interfering
with our companies' business.
678
00:47:51,952 --> 00:47:53,704
The scale of corruption in Russia
679
00:47:53,787 --> 00:47:57,708
is estimated
by four different organizations
680
00:47:57,791 --> 00:48:01,920
at $30 billion a year.
681
00:48:02,004 --> 00:48:07,009
And here we noticed that Putin's face
had simply turned to stone.
682
00:48:09,803 --> 00:48:12,264
Putin glared at him
and said, you know,
683
00:48:12,347 --> 00:48:15,601
"You've done your own crimes.
Don't tell me what to do."
684
00:48:17,102 --> 00:48:22,190
Some other oil companies,
such as Yukos, have extra reserves.
685
00:48:22,274 --> 00:48:23,775
How did it get them?
686
00:48:23,859 --> 00:48:27,779
This is the question in terms
of the topic we are discussing today.
687
00:48:27,863 --> 00:48:33,368
Including, therefore,
such issues as the payment
688
00:48:33,452 --> 00:48:35,245
or non-payment of taxes.
689
00:48:35,329 --> 00:48:38,707
And then all sorts of trouble
began for Khodorkovsky.
690
00:48:43,670 --> 00:48:48,800
Mikhail Khodorkovsky was
arrested in October 2003 for tax evasion.
691
00:48:49,426 --> 00:48:52,888
The best-known,
most successful Russian businessman,
692
00:48:52,971 --> 00:48:54,890
really in the vanguard of the business
693
00:48:54,973 --> 00:48:58,685
of bringing Western investment
into Russia, had been arrested.
694
00:48:59,394 --> 00:49:02,689
This was a fantastically negative signal
to the markets,
695
00:49:03,482 --> 00:49:07,903
{n8}because Putin's personal agenda
had trumped, as it always does,
696
00:49:07,986 --> 00:49:09,738
{n8}the national interest.
697
00:49:10,697 --> 00:49:12,950
{n8}The reason why Putin arrested...
698
00:49:13,033 --> 00:49:16,495
{n8}And I want to say Putin
arrested Khodorkovsky,
699
00:49:16,578 --> 00:49:19,706
{n8}not the other one,
is just politically motivated.
700
00:49:20,415 --> 00:49:23,335
This is now a war
between the oligarchs and Putin?
701
00:49:23,418 --> 00:49:24,419
No doubt.
702
00:49:26,672 --> 00:49:29,174
The indictment I was charged with,
703
00:49:29,257 --> 00:49:31,802
there were an insane number of counts.
704
00:49:33,220 --> 00:49:35,300
When you're on trial in Russia,
705
00:49:35,347 --> 00:49:37,891
there's a 99.7% conviction rate.
706
00:49:37,975 --> 00:49:41,353
And so they put you in a cage,
because that's where you're gonna be.
707
00:49:42,020 --> 00:49:45,273
And they allow the television cameras
to come into the courtroom
708
00:49:45,357 --> 00:49:48,944
and film the richest,
the most powerful man in Russia
709
00:49:49,027 --> 00:49:50,112
sitting in a cage.
710
00:49:52,489 --> 00:49:56,159
I think Russians were pretty happy
that the biggest oligarch was arrested.
711
00:49:56,743 --> 00:49:59,413
Everyone must be equal
in the eyes of the law.
712
00:49:59,496 --> 00:50:04,751
A modest clerk, a civil servant,
713
00:50:04,835 --> 00:50:06,753
even one of the highest rank.
714
00:50:08,672 --> 00:50:10,632
And a big businessman,
715
00:50:10,716 --> 00:50:14,553
no matter how many billions of dollars
716
00:50:14,636 --> 00:50:17,431
he has on his private
or corporate accounts.
717
00:50:24,146 --> 00:50:26,648
{n8}I was in prison for ten years.
718
00:50:28,984 --> 00:50:31,695
{n8}That was very painful. Well...
719
00:50:31,778 --> 00:50:33,989
I survived.
720
00:50:36,366 --> 00:50:39,619
The other oligarchs
then go to Putin and say,
721
00:50:39,703 --> 00:50:42,622
"What do we have to do
so we don't go to jail ourselves?"
722
00:50:42,706 --> 00:50:45,792
and the right answer would have been,
"You're all going to jail."
723
00:50:45,876 --> 00:50:48,920
But instead, he said,
"Something like 50%."
724
00:50:50,297 --> 00:50:51,965
Not 50% for the Russian government,
725
00:50:52,049 --> 00:50:54,968
or 50% for the presidential
administration of Russia.
726
00:50:55,052 --> 00:50:56,928
Fifty percent
for Vladimir Putin personally.
727
00:50:57,929 --> 00:51:01,433
And that was the moment that Putin
became the richest man in the world.
728
00:51:03,435 --> 00:51:06,605
The oligarchs that remain,
he makes them a deal.
729
00:51:07,314 --> 00:51:09,357
{n8}"I will let you keep your wealth
730
00:51:10,192 --> 00:51:15,947
{n8}if you turn your wealth and power
towards helping me, Vladimir Putin."
731
00:51:16,031 --> 00:51:21,369
"If you don't, I will crush you.
I will imprison you. I will kill you."
732
00:51:22,996 --> 00:51:26,500
And very quickly,
the old oligarchic gang cracks up.
733
00:51:27,042 --> 00:51:28,502
Berezovsky is in London,
734
00:51:28,585 --> 00:51:30,962
and years later he "commits suicide."
735
00:51:31,046 --> 00:51:32,839
Who the hell knows what happened there?
736
00:51:33,757 --> 00:51:37,594
Gusinsky ends up
in Israel and Connecticut.
737
00:51:37,677 --> 00:51:41,932
Roman Abramovich is a different thing.
He shows his loyalty by Putin.
738
00:51:43,225 --> 00:51:47,813
{n8}So the old gang is gone,
and a new oligarchy begins to accumulate.
739
00:51:47,896 --> 00:51:48,896
{n8}Who are they?
740
00:51:49,397 --> 00:51:52,317
{n8}They are people, lo and behold,
741
00:51:52,400 --> 00:51:56,446
{n8}from the Leningrad,
St. Petersburg secret services.
742
00:51:57,447 --> 00:52:01,159
{n8}They are people
from Putin's old dacha community.
743
00:52:01,785 --> 00:52:02,869
{n8}His old pals.
744
00:52:05,205 --> 00:52:09,334
{n8}And he begins to enrich
and put in positions
745
00:52:09,417 --> 00:52:11,294
people that he knows and he trusts.
746
00:52:11,378 --> 00:52:14,714
And that's the new power structure.
747
00:52:17,676 --> 00:52:22,139
It never occurred to us
that the president of Russia
748
00:52:22,222 --> 00:52:23,849
could be about money.
749
00:52:24,432 --> 00:52:29,855
It was, of course, our dramatic mistake.
750
00:52:29,938 --> 00:52:31,940
My personal mistake.
751
00:52:39,072 --> 00:52:42,951
Putin has been,
I think, consistently underestimated
752
00:52:43,034 --> 00:52:45,120
by American and Western leaders.
753
00:52:46,997 --> 00:52:51,418
So one consequence of that, is that Putin
repeatedly took escalatory measures
754
00:52:51,501 --> 00:52:54,462
that his partners in the West
did not think he would undertake.
755
00:52:54,546 --> 00:52:57,549
Arresting Russia's richest man
was one example.
756
00:53:00,635 --> 00:53:03,013
There was also his actions in Ukraine.
757
00:53:11,730 --> 00:53:14,858
In 2004, there was about to be
an election in Ukraine.
758
00:53:20,447 --> 00:53:25,076
{n8}2004 was only 13 years
after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
759
00:53:25,869 --> 00:53:28,622
{n8}Yes, Ukraine was an independent country,
760
00:53:28,705 --> 00:53:31,416
{n8}but for Putin, nothing changed.
761
00:53:33,376 --> 00:53:37,505
In early 2000s,
was the clash of two men
762
00:53:37,589 --> 00:53:40,383
who competed for the position
of Ukrainian president.
763
00:53:40,467 --> 00:53:42,344
{n8}One pro-Russian, one pro-Western.
764
00:53:43,595 --> 00:53:46,848
{n8}Viktor Yushchenko
was running against another Viktor,
765
00:53:47,432 --> 00:53:49,851
{n8}Viktor Yanukovych, in 2004.
766
00:53:51,686 --> 00:53:54,356
{n8}I remember going to Putin's dacha.
767
00:53:54,439 --> 00:53:56,316
I was about to become Secretary of State.
768
00:53:56,399 --> 00:53:59,778
And Putin had this man
come out from behind a door.
769
00:53:59,861 --> 00:54:02,614
{n8}Kind of like "door number one."
And it's Yanukovych.
770
00:54:02,697 --> 00:54:05,116
{n8}And he says, "This is Yanukovych,
771
00:54:05,200 --> 00:54:08,787
and he is going to run
for president of Ukraine."
772
00:54:08,870 --> 00:54:11,665
And he might as well have said,
"This is my man Yanukovych,
773
00:54:11,748 --> 00:54:14,251
and he's going to run
for president of Ukraine."
774
00:54:15,252 --> 00:54:20,799
I think he believed in 2004, 2005,
that he could still control Ukraine.
775
00:54:21,675 --> 00:54:25,095
An independent Ukrainian democracy
on Russia's border
776
00:54:25,178 --> 00:54:28,848
is a danger to what he wants
to achieve at home.
777
00:54:29,432 --> 00:54:33,687
And in his own mind,
Ukraine is a made-up country.
778
00:54:33,770 --> 00:54:36,106
It's a part of the Russian Empire.
779
00:54:40,777 --> 00:54:43,029
President Putin
supported Yanukovych.
780
00:54:43,113 --> 00:54:46,074
{n8}Somehow during that campaign,
781
00:54:46,157 --> 00:54:48,326
{n8}Viktor Yushchenko was poisoned.
782
00:54:48,910 --> 00:54:51,830
{n8}When Yushchenko
began his campaign a year ago,
783
00:54:51,913 --> 00:54:53,248
{n8}he looked like this.
784
00:54:53,331 --> 00:54:54,833
{n8}For the last few months,
785
00:54:54,916 --> 00:54:57,877
{n8}his face has been marked
by boils and cysts.
786
00:54:57,961 --> 00:54:59,963
{n8}He suffers from severe back pain.
787
00:55:01,881 --> 00:55:04,134
{n8}My face was twice its size.
788
00:55:06,761 --> 00:55:09,222
It was all inflammation.
789
00:55:10,223 --> 00:55:13,810
{n8}And after having received
the result of blood tests,
790
00:55:13,893 --> 00:55:19,607
{n8}there is no doubt in our minds
791
00:55:20,358 --> 00:55:23,194
{n8}that Mr. Yushchenko's disease
792
00:55:23,278 --> 00:55:26,823
has been caused
by a case of dioxin poisoning.
793
00:55:28,158 --> 00:55:30,493
Tests at a Vienna hospital confirmed
794
00:55:30,577 --> 00:55:35,290
{n8}Yushchenko has 6,000 times
the normal level of dioxin in his body.
795
00:55:42,922 --> 00:55:44,966
I was at a hospital.
796
00:55:45,050 --> 00:55:48,345
At the time I couldn't spend
more than ten minutes
797
00:55:48,428 --> 00:55:51,264
without painkillers.
798
00:55:51,348 --> 00:55:53,183
But to tell Ukrainian voters,
799
00:55:53,266 --> 00:55:57,354
"Sorry, I won't take part
in the elections."
800
00:55:57,437 --> 00:56:02,442
"Let's go into Moscow's hands
voluntarily."
801
00:56:02,525 --> 00:56:04,819
I couldn't do that.
802
00:56:07,572 --> 00:56:10,132
He was lucky
that he was brought to Vienna
803
00:56:10,158 --> 00:56:14,245
{n8}because doctors said if he would stay
another 24 hours in Ukraine,
804
00:56:14,329 --> 00:56:16,581
{n8}there could be
a "final solution," so-called.
805
00:56:19,042 --> 00:56:21,044
My older daughter...
806
00:56:22,796 --> 00:56:25,173
she hadn't seen me, probably...
807
00:56:27,342 --> 00:56:28,635
maybe for a month.
808
00:56:30,470 --> 00:56:31,679
She was shocked.
809
00:56:32,555 --> 00:56:34,891
She couldn't imagine
her father would look like that.
810
00:56:43,900 --> 00:56:47,570
Yanukovych
won the election due to voter fraud,
811
00:56:47,654 --> 00:56:51,741
perpetrated by Viktor Yanukovych,
supported by President Putin,
812
00:56:51,825 --> 00:56:58,540
{n8}stuffed ballot boxes,
and otherwise stole the election in 2004
813
00:56:58,623 --> 00:57:01,042
{n8}away from Viktor Yushchenko,
814
00:57:02,043 --> 00:57:05,755
{n8}which brought the Ukrainian people
to the streets around the nation.
815
00:57:12,720 --> 00:57:15,640
With thousands of supporters
standing in the snow,
816
00:57:15,723 --> 00:57:18,643
Ukraine's opposition leader
dug in his heels.
817
00:57:18,726 --> 00:57:20,895
Our action is only beginning.
818
00:57:21,896 --> 00:57:23,815
Our action is only beginning.
819
00:57:24,774 --> 00:57:27,652
{n8}Yushchenko! Yushchenko!
820
00:57:28,528 --> 00:57:31,340
{n8}Hundreds
of thousands, even millions of Ukrainians,
821
00:57:31,364 --> 00:57:34,868
came to protest the stolen election.
822
00:57:35,452 --> 00:57:38,788
The orange banners,
the songs that they had created,
823
00:57:39,372 --> 00:57:42,709
the willingness of people
to sit through freezing cold temperatures
824
00:57:42,792 --> 00:57:45,295
in order to fight
for what they believed was right,
825
00:57:45,378 --> 00:57:47,589
{n8}was like nothing I had ever seen
826
00:57:47,672 --> 00:57:50,008
{n8}on the territory
of the former Soviet Union before.
827
00:57:50,758 --> 00:57:53,928
- Yushchenko!
- Yushchenko!
828
00:57:54,012 --> 00:57:56,764
{n8}That was a total shock for the Kremlin.
829
00:58:00,518 --> 00:58:02,854
{n8}We shouldn't introduce the practice
830
00:58:02,937 --> 00:58:04,522
{n8}and means of an international society
831
00:58:05,857 --> 00:58:09,027
{n8}of addressing similar disputes through
832
00:58:10,069 --> 00:58:11,779
{n8}mayhem on the streets.
833
00:58:13,573 --> 00:58:15,492
Yushchenko!
834
00:58:15,575 --> 00:58:17,202
Yushchenko!
835
00:58:17,285 --> 00:58:20,955
Yushchenko! Yushchenko!
836
00:58:21,039 --> 00:58:22,582
Yushchenko!
837
00:58:22,665 --> 00:58:25,543
In a clear sign
that the old order is wobbling,
838
00:58:25,627 --> 00:58:29,172
a hundred young police cadets
joined the demonstrators
839
00:58:29,255 --> 00:58:33,551
and announced that they will not
follow orders to crush the protests.
840
00:58:35,011 --> 00:58:38,932
So October-November of the year 2004
841
00:58:39,015 --> 00:58:43,228
was for the Ukrainian nation, like,
either we go into yesterday,
842
00:58:43,311 --> 00:58:45,730
where we spent 370 years,
843
00:58:45,813 --> 00:58:47,482
or we have a chance
844
00:58:48,399 --> 00:58:51,903
to choose the democratic way.
845
00:58:53,363 --> 00:58:57,700
If you're a citizen, you know
your duty is to make a change,
846
00:58:58,993 --> 00:59:00,745
as no one will do it for you.
847
00:59:01,538 --> 00:59:04,207
{n8}We thereby oblige
the Central Election Commission
848
00:59:04,290 --> 00:59:08,545
{n8}to appoint a second round
of presidential elections in Ukraine.
849
00:59:08,628 --> 00:59:11,130
{n8}Excellent! Very good!
850
00:59:15,843 --> 00:59:19,305
{n8}According to this count,
the results of the votes
851
00:59:19,389 --> 00:59:24,561
{n8}for the two candidates are as follows.
852
00:59:24,644 --> 00:59:27,855
53.22% for Viktor Yushchenko.
853
00:59:33,987 --> 00:59:36,489
Dear friends, the first piece of news,
it has happened!
854
00:59:42,120 --> 00:59:44,455
The pro-Western forces in Ukraine
855
00:59:44,539 --> 00:59:45,915
ended up winning.
856
00:59:46,791 --> 00:59:48,626
This made Vladimir Putin very angry.
857
00:59:52,088 --> 00:59:54,808
I think it's the first day
of independence of Ukraine.
858
00:59:56,509 --> 01:00:00,388
That was
the beginning of the confrontation
859
01:00:00,471 --> 01:00:03,808
that we're seeing today
between Ukraine and Russia.
860
01:00:05,476 --> 01:00:09,564
Putin became more and more
suspicious of the West's designs
861
01:00:09,647 --> 01:00:11,316
{n8}where Ukraine was concerned.
862
01:00:13,276 --> 01:00:15,153
{n8}He was always suspicious of the West,
863
01:00:15,236 --> 01:00:18,865
and he always experienced
the end of the Cold War
864
01:00:18,948 --> 01:00:21,993
not as a moment
of awakening and possibility,
865
01:00:22,577 --> 01:00:24,078
but as a horrendous defeat,
866
01:00:24,162 --> 01:00:27,707
and famously he said
the collapse of the Soviet Union
867
01:00:27,790 --> 01:00:30,627
was the worst geopolitical tragedy
of the 20th century.
868
01:00:33,254 --> 01:00:37,592
He starts to worry,
especially after the Orange Revolution,
869
01:00:37,675 --> 01:00:39,719
that Ukraine is getting away.
870
01:00:40,303 --> 01:00:42,597
And if he doesn't act, then Russia,
871
01:00:42,680 --> 01:00:46,768
just as he saw the Soviet Union losing
its place in Europe without an answer,
872
01:00:46,851 --> 01:00:50,980
will have lost its dominance
of the former Soviet republics as well
873
01:00:51,064 --> 01:00:52,148
without an answer.
874
01:00:55,568 --> 01:00:58,488
So he sees playing out in the 2000s
875
01:00:58,571 --> 01:01:01,574
the same thing that he saw playing out
in the 1980s.
876
01:01:04,160 --> 01:01:06,704
And this time,
he wants to have an answer.
877
01:01:08,289 --> 01:01:10,625
Moscow, in his view, will not be silent.
76163
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