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

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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.” This biography of Putin focuses on the violence he used to claim and maintain power. Author and BBC journalist John Sweeny includes his personal experiences reporting on Russia and with the ongoing war in Ukraine.

That tenacity is what won him Private Eye’s first Paul Foot Award in 2005 for his four-year investigation into mothers wrongly imprisoned over the cot deaths of their children, among other prizes. 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 is a distinguished award winning investigative journalist, working in the past for many news outlets including BBC’s Panorama and Newsnight as well as Channel 4’s Dispatches. He has reported fearlessly from Chechnya and Ukraine and witnessed scenes that no-one should see. 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. It is natural that decisions about editorial balance can cause tensions between passionate journalists working on high-profile stories. Sarah Rainsford, the BBC correspondent who was banned from Russia last year, recently told i of her own frustrations while covering Moscow.

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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. The book is infused with anecdotes of Sweeney's own, which add a lot of kudos to the conclusions he draws. It also starts and finishes in Ukraine, where Sweeney based himself for 3 months of the start of the War, with the observations from that time well presented and documented. 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.” I can vouch for the Armenian brandy. I knew Yuri and often shared a glass or two with him in his office when he was a Duma deputy for the Yabloko party and deputy editor of the independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta. 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.

A former colleague says that while he has done some brilliant work, “he used to give his producers kittens”. History teaches us so many things, if only people would listen. We’re currently going through the last days of an insecure dictator, whose birth and upbringing are shrouded in mystery but certainly tainted his view of the world. 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. I have certainly met him without officials,” Johnson told the Commons Liaison Committee on 6 July, and confirmed: “I met him in Italy.” Alexander Lebedev (left) with his son Evgeny in London in 2018 (Photo: David M. Benett/Getty)When John Sweeney bought his flat in Perugia a few years ago, it seemed like a perfect bolthole from the pressures of journalism. He has certainly appreciated the quiet of his Italian apartment’s whitewashed rooms these last few days, after weeks of reporting on the conflict in 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) 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.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. 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.