6/27/2023 0 Comments The russia conundrum![]() ![]() Since then, while living in London I have gained an understanding of how Russia is seen from the West. When, finally, I was released from prison in December 2013, the authorities kicked me out of Russia, promising a life sentence should I ever return. They helped me to understand that Russia can be saved from an endless succession of dictatorships, that she can become a normal country, taking her rightful place in the community of nations, instead of a pariah state constantly embroiled in confrontation and acrimony. ![]() My prison years deepened my appreciation of Russia's importance, her beauty and her future. My experience of the capricious, personalized model of authority that Putin exercises taught me that there is a crucial difference between the Russian state and the men who now run the Kremlin, Putin is not Russia and Russia is not Putin. Speaking truth to power-and doing so publicly-led to my arrest and incarceration. I did exactly that in February 2003, in an angry, televised exchange between us that lifted the lid on the dark side of his regime and unleashed a chain of dramatic events for both of us. ![]() Few have had the opportunity to read Putin's mind even fewer have had the chance to say to his face everything they think about the corruption that exists right at the very top. I was close enough to Vladimir Putin to discover how he thinks and to intuit the psychology of the man, to understand what his goals are for Russia and for himself. ![]()
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