A dictator, bent on rebuilding an empire, will never erase the people's love for liberty. This man cannot remain in power.' JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES What he saw in Bucha “is terrible”, but “the idea that you’re in a dark place, then you’re not allowed to laugh – that’s nonsense.” As well as revealing the harshest sights of war, he also wants to show contrasting moments of celebration and light relief that keep him going, the kinds of experiences that he says make life in Ukraine worth fighting for. Other correspondents also have a sense of humour, he argues, they just have a different approach. “I very much admire Orla Guerin; I think she’s great. She only does doom and gloom on screen. Actually, when you meet her outside of that, she’s a riot.” John Sweeney enjoying his break in Italy (Photo: John Sweeney) Face-to-face with Vladimir Putin In the first three chapters I have found great passion in Sweeny's disgust towards Vladimir Putin. I can't complain in the approach he taken; I would have been the same if I was writing a similar volume of work.

When major global news breaks, the Atlantic Council’s experts have you covered—delivering their sharpest rapid insight and forward-looking analysis direct to your inbox. MENASource offers the latest news from across the Middle East, combined with commentary by contributors, interviews with emerging players, multi-media content, and independent analysis from fellows and staff.From Sweeney’s perspective, frustrations with BBC management – and the broadcaster’s coverage of the Kremlin – ate away at him. “When I was at the BBC, we didn’t tell the story of Putin’s dark acts as truly as we should have done. There were too many compromises,” he says. Vladimir Putin meeting with his Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu at the Kremlin in Moscow this month (Photo: Mikhail Klimentyev/Sputnik) a Royal Television Society prize (2004) for "Angela's Hope," a BBC One documentary about a woman wrongly convicted of murdering her three babies. John Sweeney is a writer and journalist who, while working for the BBC, has challenged dictators, despots, cult leaders, con artists and crooked businessmen for many years. The “drunken rage” may exist in Sweeney’s imagination and the “might of Russia” that he refers to was non-existent at the time. Untrained conscripts were sent to their deaths against tough Chechen fighters led by experienced commanders, including Dzhokhar Dudayev and Aslan Maskhadov, who had been senior Soviet officers. 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.

Sweeney himself comes across as a mix of Humphrey Bogart and Hunter S. His fearlessness to put himself into the sights of powerful establishment figures and ask the important questions like "Why did Russian anti-aircraft guns shoot down an air Malaysia flight?" To Putin is astounding. In Killer in the Kremlin, award-winning journalist John Sweeney takes readers from the heart of Putin's Russia to the killing fields of Chechnya, to the embattled cities of an invaded Ukraine.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.” 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.” 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.” While unreservedly condemning his brutal murder I should admit that Nemtsov did not make a similar impression on me. When I spoke to him of the bravery of Yuri Shchekochikhin, Nemtsov scoffed and put down his death, not to poisoning, but to his “fondness for Armenian brandy”. It was a comment that lowered him in my estimation.

But ultimately, this book has clearly and most certainly demonstrated to the reader the Kremlin's villainy. No doubt about that. Do proceed with a salt shaker in hand - Sweeney spares no room in giving his blunt opinions and expressing his hatred of Putin.John Sweeney has a long career in investigative journalism and as such his experience of and interest in Russia and Putin helps to create a very readable and useful book. In Killer in the Kremlin, the story of Ukraine is bookended at the start and finish, using Sweeney's own experiences in Kyiv and elsewhere, with the wider story of Vlad the murder's executions and assassinations. Bem, este livro foi bastante interessante e mostra o nível de crimes que o Vladimir Putin praticou ao longo da sua carreira no KGB e no Kremlin. Foi um “zé ninguém”, que em curto prazo de tempo tornou-se o homem mais poderoso da Rússia e das figuras mais temíveis do Mundo. In the midst of one of the darkest acts of aggression in modern history - Russia's invasion of Ukraine - this book shines a light on Putin's rule and poses urgent questions about how the world must respond. In his committee grilling this month, Johnson did not reveal what he discussed with Alexander Lebedev. But their 2018 meeting was only weeks after the Salisbury poisonings – when Russian agents attempted to murder a former agent with the nerve agent Novichok and ended up killing a British woman, Dawn Sturgess – and shortly after a Nato meeting to determine the West’s response. 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.

Our programs and centers deliver in-depth, highly relevant issue briefs and reports that break new ground, shift opinions, and set agendas on public policy, with a focus on advancing debates by integrating foundational research and analysis with concrete policy solutions. At first I was worried this book wouldn’t offer much which was new, but Sweeney’s career holding Putin to account, as well as his highly personable writing style, ensured there was much new material to learn from in this book. 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.” 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. In Killer in the Kremlin , award-winning journalist John Sweeney takes readers from the heart of Putin's Russia to the killing fields of Chechnya, to the embattled cities of an invaded Ukraine.

He travelled there again in April 2018. Foreign Secretary at the time, Johnson was later photographed on his way home “ looking like he had slept in his clothes”. Evgeny Lebedev and Boris Johnson at one of their earliest meetings, at the Royal Opera House in London in 2009 (Photo: Dave M. Benett/Getty) Words have power, Putin is afraid of the truth, I have always said that.' ― ALEXEI NAVALNY, LEADER OF THE RUSSIAN OPPOSITION The pure evil of Putin’s reign is laid out here in knowledgeable detail. Somehow, throughout history, it’s all happened before. Only the methods available have changed. There’s also the matter of the hangers on, these days referred to as oligarchs, who are totally dependent on the corruption and brutality of the current regime. They’re not much better. But is there a risk that his sense of humour distracts from weightier matters, especially on social media? I confess to Sweeney that I initially missed his work in Bucha, amid his stream of photos and videos of his “spag bol” or fish suppers, Ukrainian booze and videos of him dancing on a table in his favourite Kyiv bar. 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?