Putin: The New Tsar

The documentary traces the rise of Vladimir Putin. It starts with the early years. He reached the rank of colonel in the KGB. He then moved into politics. Under Boris Yeltsin he climbed quickly. In the end he took Yeltsin’s place. The film sets out the stages of that route in order. It asks what drives him and what he fears. The answers are sought from people who dealt with him. Sergei Pugachev is among those who speak. Garry Kasparov and Mikhail Khodorkovsky appear as well. The film was made before the Russian election of 2018. Patrick Forbes made the sixty minute documentary for the BBC, finished in 2018.