Killer in the Kremlin: The instant bestseller - a gripping and explosive account of Vladimir Putin's tyranny

Product Information

Sweeney intercuts Putins story with his own experience of the leader of Russia and more importantly the people Putin has affected. Dissidents, residents and citizens of Russia have felt his wrath and sweepy injects these story with the humanity that they should be afforded, recognising their bravery in the face of such a monstrous power.

An explosive account of Putin's presidency and his long-term ambitions, including first-hand reporting from the invasion of Ukraine. Sweeney’s polemic largely consists of digging up everything possible that shows Putin in a bad light, which admittedly is not a difficult task, but suggestions that he was simultaneously a paedophile and a womaniser, a supplier of arms to the Baader-Meinhoff gang, a hypochondriac and the richest man in the word are all open to question.Dealing with someone as secretive and reviled as Putin, it is tempting for his enemies to believe any speculation suggesting he may be ill. But isn’t there a danger that journalists give too much credence to rumours, yearning for them to be true rather than proving it? His bold approach has also got him into plenty of scrapes. There was the 2007 Scientology investigation in which he spectacularly lost his temper (bellowing so loudly at a church spokesperson that he resembled, in his own words, an “exploding tomato”). Donald Trump accused him of having a “ lousy reputation” after walking out of an interview in 2013. The same year, he got into a row with the London School of Economics after using a student trip arranged by his then-wife to enter North Korea undercover (the BBC admitted breaches of editorial guidelines, but Sweeney stood by his methods, saying “North Korea is not Torremolinos”). The reason Sweeney mentions this now, besides his pride at confronting a dictator, is because of how Putin’s appearance has changed since then. “When I met Putin, he had a face like a weasel, or a space alien, or a snake – his cheeks were thin. Now, he looks like a hamster whose cheeks are stuffed with straw.” John Sweeney is an award-winning journalist and author, who brings a novel to the layman that truly confirms the Russian powers mindset - "Oderint dum metuant. Let them hate so long as they fear." I usually steer clear of biographies of politicians who are still in power. But in discussions about the Russian invasion of Ukraine some commentators readily blame the West, NATO and specifically the US for starting the war. Far too many do not take into account the evilness of Putin and the deaths that he has not only caused but actually directed. I believe that what is happening in eastern Europe is a consequence of Carlyle’s Great Man theory of history. As with other autocrats and dictators I believe he sparked this war for his own personal gain to rebuild the Russia of his dreams.

Heavily engaging and informative, sweeneys personal recount of the tsar of is gripping. Following Putins rise to power as a low ranking KGB officer to Yeltsins successor, Sweeney outlines briefly Putin's early life - some fascinating suggestions on his treatment as a child - to his KGB career - again suggesting why Putin languished in Russia and Dresden - and then onto his rise through domestic politics to leader of Russia.

Games

The second Chechen war was different. Putin, he writes, used the series of apartment bombings in Moscow as “a casus belli to prosecute the Second Chechen War in the autumn of 1999″ but he did not need to, as a casus belli already existed. A Saudi jihadist leader known as Khattab, incorrectly described by Sweeney as a “Chechen warlord”, had led an incursion into neighbouring Dagestan, thus breaking the treaty that ended the first conflict. It should also be remembered that the second Chechen war began under Yeltsin’s presidency. In a disturbing exposé of Putin's sinister ambition, Sweeney draws on thirty years of his own reporting - from the Moscow apartment bombings to the atrocities committed by the Russian Army in Chechnya, to the annexation of Crimea and a confrontation with Putin over the shooting down of flight MH17 - to understand the true extent of Putin's long war. A friend wrote: “Yuri’s condition worsened by the hour. His temperature rose continuously. His mucous membranes were swollen and his kidneys were failing. Then the worst began. His skin began to peel off as though he had suffered severe burns. Even a layman could see what was happening: it was either due to radiation or to some unknown poisons.” Sweeney may be correct in suggesting that Putin has been an expert conman and that his victims included former German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, UK prime minister Tony Blair and the billionaire oligarch Boris Berezovsky. Despite his extremely unsavoury reputation, Berezovsky was given asylum in London, having become one of Putin’s enemies. The phrase “my enemy’s enemy is my friend” comes to mind. Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, chief of the defence staff, said last weekend: “Some of the comments that he’s not well… I think they’re wishful thinking.”

I feel it necessary and proper and right to put that stuff out,” says Sweeney. “It is gross, it is disgusting – that’s a war crime.”Many people also visit those properties for fun. Evgeny Lebedev – the Russian-born proprietor of The Independent and the London Evening Standard, who also owned iuntil 2016 – is known for the extravagant parties he holds at Palazzo Terranova. Is Sweeney also too optimistic on Ukraine’s chances in the war? He states in his book: “I believe that sooner rather than later the Russian Army will be defeated and Vladimir Putin will be humiliated.” Putin subsequently invaded Georgia and hundreds more lives were lost. He helped Assad in Syria kill around half a million. In 2014, he invaded Crimea and eastern Ukraine leading to 15,000 deaths. The full-scale invasion of Ukraine this February has added to the butcher’s bill: maybe 40,000 Russian soldiers, 15,000 Ukrainian troops and many thousands of Ukrainian civilians have died so far. Leaving aside Syria, the master of the Kremlin is directly responsible for the deaths of some 150,000 people.

Russian president Boris Yeltsin shakes hands with prime minister Vladimir Putin during their meeting at the presidential residence Gorky-9 outside Moscow, November 1999In a disturbing expose of Putin's sinister ambition, Sweeney draws on thirty years of his own reporting - from the Moscow apartment bombings to the atrocities committed by the Russian Army in Chechnya, to the annexation of Crimea and a confrontation with Putin over the shooting down of flight MH17 - to understand the true extent of Putin's long war. Sweeney argues the suggestion that Putin has cancer “isn’t just gossip”. He points to a Russian investigation that indicated a cancer doctor had accompanied Putin on 35 trips between 2016 and 2019: “That’s good journalism.” Putin is the main war criminal of the 21st century.' IRYNA VENEDIKTOVA, UKRAINE’S PROSECUTOR-GENERAL Alyona went to say goodbye to her lover in the morgue. “It was a big place, a huge hall. There were bodies on slabs due to be buried the next day. I looked around. There were about 20 people but I couldn’t find Yuri. I went up to the supervisor and explained that I might be in the wrong place as I couldn’t find him. Through the corner of my eye I saw a dear old lady lying on a slab. The strangest thing, she reminded me of my grandma who passed away a long time ago. The curious resemblance of the two old ladies hit me. In my worst nightmares, I could never, ever have imagined that the dear old lady was in fact Yuri.”