by Masha Gessen
Page 258 New York’s Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum: Art consultant Nic Iljine recounts the incident in his essay “Guggenheim 24/7,” in Laura K. Jones, ed., A Hedonist’s Guide to Art (London: Filmer, 2010); see, for instance: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/book-details-strongman-vladimir-putins-artful-ways/story-e6frg6so-1225978192724.
Page 258 costs about $300 in Moscow: Here, for example, it is listed for 8,200 rubles: http://www.alcoport.ru/katalog/products/vodka/vodka-kalashnikov/vodka-kalashnikov-1l. Accessed July 19, 2011.
Page 259 Andrei Illarionov discovered: Author interview with Andrei Illarionov, Moscow, June 2011.
ELEVEN. BACK TO THE USSR
Page 262 the Russian blogosphere consisted: Interview with Bruce Eitling and John Kelly, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Nov. 7, 2008.
Page 264 editors pulled their stories: In March 2011, Dozhd, an Internet TV channel, canceled the program Grazhdanin Poet over a sketch skewering Medvedev. General Director Natalya Sindeeva explained in a statement that she did not want to insult Medvedev personally. http://tvrain.ru/teleshow/poet_and_citizen/. Accessed Nov. 10, 2011. I had several similar experiences as editor of www.snob.ru, where the publisher, for example, made me remove a reference to a British newspaper article in which Medvedev was called “Putin’s assistant.”
Page 264 “We know they are now lying low”: “Putin poruchil spetssluzhbam ‘vykovyryat’ terroristov so dna kanalizatsii,” unsigned news item on www.lenta.ru, March 30, 2010. http://lenta.ru/news/2010/03/30/drainpipe/. Accessed Nov. 10, 2011.
Page 265 “We don’t spread our legs”: “Putin obidelsya na sravneniye Obamy: My ne umeyem stoyat’ ‘vraskoryachku,’” unsigned news item on www.newsru.com, July 3, 2009. http://www.newsru.com/russia/03jul2009/raskoryachka.html. Accessed Nov. 10, 2011.
Page 265 “I understand that an illness”: Petr Mironenko, Dmitry Butrin, and Yelena Kiselyova, “Rvyot i Mechel,” Kommersant, July 25, 2008. http://www.kommersant.ru/Doc/915811. Accessed Nov. 10, 2011.
Page 265 “to be hit over the head with a stick”: “Putin predrek oppozitsioneram ‘otovarivaniye dubinkoy,’” unsigned news item on www.lenta.ru, Aug. 30, 2010. http://lenta.ru/news/2010/08/30/explain/. Accessed Nov. 10, 2011.
Page 265 topless photographs of him vacationing: “Vladimir Putin Goes Fishing,” photo gallery, Guardian, Aug. 14, 2007. http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/gallery/2007/aug/14/russia.internationalnews. Accessed Nov. 10, 2011.
Page 265 coverage of his diving: “Vladimir Putin, nashedshiy amfory VI veka, stal obyektom dlya nasmeshek rossiyskikh bloggerov I zarubezhnykh SMI,” unsigned item on www.newsru.com, Aug. 11, 2011. http://www.newsru.com/russia/11aug2011/putin_amf.html. Accessed Nov. 10, 2011.
Page 265 planted there in advance by archaeologists: Putin’s press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, later admitted that the vases had been planted. See Stepan Opalev, “Peskov pro Putina: Amfory nashel ne sam,” www.slon.ru, October 5, 2011. http://slon.ru/russia/peskov_pro_putina_amfory_nashel_ne_sam-684066.xhtml. Accessed Nov. 10, 2011.
Page 265 increase the presidential term to six years: “Medvedev vnyos v Gosdumu zakonoproekt o prodlenii prezidentskikh polnomochiy,” unsigned news item on www.lenta.ru, Nov. 11, 2008. http://lenta.ru/news/2008/11/11/medvedev/. Accessed Nov. 11, 2011.
Page 266 Every year, Russia slid lower: Transparency International, Corruption Perceptions Index. http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/cpi/2010/results. Accessed Nov. 15, 2011.
Page 266 15 percent of the Russian prison population: Ludmila Alekseeva speaking at the Yegor Gaidar Prize ceremony, Moscow, Nov. 14, 2011.
Page 266 five gold wristwatches: “Zolotiye chasy dlya upravleniya delami Voronozhskoy oblasti. Prodolzheniye,” Rospil blog, Oct. 6, 2011. http://rospil.info/news/p/983. Accessed Nov. 11, 2011.
Page 266 technical documentation on a planned railroad crossing: “Recheniye komissii FAS po zakazu s tsenoy kontrakta boleye chem 11.5 mlrd rubley,” Rospil blog, Oct. 11, 2011. http://rospil.info/news/p/999. Accessed Nov. 11, 2011.
Page 266 two beds and two bedside tables: “MVD zaplatit 25 millionov rubley za otdelanniye zolotom krovati,” unsigned news item on www.lenta.ru, Aug. 19, 2008. http://lenta.ru/news/2009/08/19/gold/. Accessed Nov. 11, 2011.
Page 266 “An actual politician”: Anna Kachurovskaya, “Alexei Navalny: Tol’ko, pozhaluysta, ne nado govorit’: ‘Navalny sravnil sebya s Obamoy,’” Snob, Nov. 2010.
Page 266 a New Yorker profile: Julia Ioffe, “Net Impact: One Man’s Cyber-Crusade Against Russian Corruption,” New Yorker, April 4, 2011. http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/04/04/110404fa_fact_ioffe. Accessed Nov. 11, 2011.
Page 267 an all-time speed record: “Proekt ‘Rospil’ sobral perviy million na ‘Yandex-den’gakh’,” unsigned news item on www.lenta.ru, Feb. 3, 2011. http://lenta.ru/news/2011/02/03/million/. Accessed Nov. 11, 2011.
Page 270 Medvedev would be his prime minister: “Putin vydvigayetsya na prezidentskiye vybory 2012 goda,” unsigned news item on www.gazeta.ru, Sept. 24, 2011. http://www.gazeta.ru/news/lastnews/2011/09/24/n_2022837.shtml. Accessed Nov. 12, 2011.
EPILOGUE: A WEEK IN DECEMBER
Page 274 just over 23 percent of the vote: Aleksei Zakharov, “Rezultaty vyborov na tekh uchastkakh, gde ne byli zafiksirovany narusheniya,” www.slon.ru, Dec. 5, 2011. http://slon.ru/calendar/event/723777/. Accessed Dec. 11, 2011.
Page 275 “‘Democracy is in action’”: David Herszenhorn, Ellen Barry, “Majority for Putin’s Party Narrows in Rebuke from Voters,” New York Times, Dec. 4, 2011. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/05/world/europe/russians-vote-governing-party-claims-early-victory.html?n=Top/News/World/Countries%20and%20Territories/Russia?ref=russia. Accessed Dec. 11, 2011.
Page 280 Mikhail Gorbachev has called for a revote: “Mikhail Gorbachev—Novoy,” Novaya Gazeta, Dec. 7, 2011. http://www.novayagazeta.ru/politics/49918.html. Accessed Dec. 12, 2011.
Page 280 “The problem with the Soviet regime”: Masha Gessen, “When There’s No Going Back,” International Herald Tribune, Dec. 8, 2011. http://latitude.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/08/when-theres-no-going-back/?scp=2&sq=masha%20gessen&st=cse. Accessed Dec. 12, 2011.
Page 281 “irritated urban communities”: Natalya Raybman, “Surkov: Nuzhno sozdat’ partiyu dlya razdrazhennykh gorozhan,” Vedomosti, Dec. 6, 2011. http://www.vedomosti.ru/politics/news/1444694/surkov_nuzhno_sozdat_partiyu_dlya_razdrazhennyh_gorozhan. Accessed Dec. 12, 2011.
Page 283 “inciting enmity against a specific social group”: Olga Korol’, “Ex-press-sekretaryu prezidenta Tatarstana Murtazinu dali real’niy srok,” Komsomol’skaya Pravda, Nov. 26, 2009. http://www.kp.ru/online/news//577494/. Accessed Dec. 12, 2011.
Page 285 “Why does everything in this country”: Boris Akunin blog entry, “I Could Not Sit Still,” Dec. 9, 2011. http://borisakunin.livejournal.com/45529.html. Accessed Dec. 12, 2011.
Page 289 Protests were held today: Konstantin Benyumov, “Vstavay, strana ogromnaya! Mitingi protesta 10 dekabrya proshli v 99 gorodakh Rossii,” onair.ru. http://www.onair.ru/main/enews/view_msg/NMID_38499/. Accessed Dec. 13, 2011.
Page 289 the government has no comment: “Dmitry Peskov ne kommentiruyet miting na Bolotnoy ploshchadi,” unsigned news item, www.gazeta.ru, Dec. 10, 2011. http://www.gazeta.ru/news/lenta/2011/12/10/n_2130194.shtml. Accessed Dec. 12, 2011.
Index
Abramovich, Roman, 255–56
Activism
Leningrad, 77–79, 82, 83, 86–88
pro-democracy, 83, 84, 87
See also People’s Front
Albright, Madeleine, 35
Alexandrov, Alexander, 179
All-Russia State Television, 185
Angleterre Hotel (Leningrad), 72–73, 75–76, 77
Apartment-block bombings (1999), 23–25, 26, 36–42, 202, 203–4, 211, 216, 217, 218
Armenia, 3, 79, 81, 82, 84
Artemyev, Igor, 109
Assassinations, 219
FSB, 200, 201
Putin and, 226, 264
&nbs
p; See also Murder; Poisoning
Aushev, Ruslan, 214, 215
Azerbaijan, 2, 79, 81, 102
Babitsky, Andrei, 32–36, 42, 161, 212
Baikalfinansgrup, 253, 254
Bakatin, Vadim, 93–94
Baku, 102
Baltic republics, 106, 133
Battle of the Angleterre, 76, 89
Belyaev, Alexander, 109
Berezovsky, Boris, 12, 26, 28–29, 41, 175, 188, 202, 209
Putin and, 15–21, 27, 31, 32, 42, 43, 131, 140, 171, 173–74, 182, 200–201, 257, 261
Berlin, 65, 67–68
Berzin, Yan, 53–54
Beslan school hostage incident, 189–90, 191–94, 212–17, 218, 221, 248–49
Bezrukov, Sergei, 97–98
Bills
lustration, 3, 4, 6
Putin and, 181, 182, 190
Bogdanov, Alexander, 135–36
Boldyrev, Yuri, 119, 121, 123–24, 136
Bolsheviks, 53, 178
Bombings
apartment-block (1999), 23–25, 26, 36–42, 202, 203–4, 211, 216, 217, 218
Leningrad, Angleterre Hotel (1987), 72–73, 75–76, 77
Bonner, Yelena, 174–75
Borisenko, Viktor, 48, 57
Browder, William, 233–34, 235, 243–47, 248
Buhre, Paul, 81
Bush, George W., 229
Buynaksk, 23
Bystritsky, Andrei, 187–88
Censorship, 73, 82. See also Journalism; Media
Channel One (Russian Public Television), 17, 27, 172, 174
Chechens, 25, 41, 146–51, 212, 213, 217, 224–25
Chechnya, 5, 17, 23, 107, 145, 154–55, 209, 213, 214, 217, 221, 226
Putin and, 208, 220, 224, 231–33
wars, 25–26, 28, 32–35, 36, 146–48, 149–51, 155, 208, 210, 214, 218, 220, 229, 231–32
Cherkesov, Viktor, 160
Chochiev, Alan, 195
Chubais, Anatoly, 12, 20, 21, 22, 28, 31
CNN, 173
Committee for Constitutional Oversight, 98
Committee 2008, 186
Communism, 132–33. See also Soviet Union
Communist Party, 3, 4, 6, 20–21, 22, 60, 73, 77, 80, 83, 84, 85, 86–87, 88, 89, 92, 97, 104, 118, 124, 133, 227, 242–43
Companies, 239
corruption of, 234, 241–42, 244–47, 248
Congress of People’s Deputies, 125–26
Constitution, Russian, 153, 154, 181
Corruption
of companies, 234, 241–42, 244–47, 248
in elections, 182–83, 184–85, 186–88, 228, 267–68
of Putin, 254, 256–57, 258, 259–60, 261, 266, 270
in Russia, 248, 255–56, 258, 264, 266, 270
Coup (1991), 105–6, 107–14, 115–18, 119, 235
Courtyards, of Soviet apartment buildings, 46, 48
Death of a Dissident: The Poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko and the Return of the KGB (Goldfarb), 224
Decrees, 153–54, 181, 182
Democracy
Kasparov campaign to establish, 102, 190–91, 192–97
Putin and, 131, 132, 134, 181–82, 184, 187, 190–91
Russia and, 131, 132, 134, 181–89, 227–28
Democratic Russia, 5
Democrats (Russia), 110, 115, 126, 227
KGB and, 98
Detention cells/camps, 74, 149
Discussion groups, Leningrad, 76, 77, 80
Dissidents, 61, 72, 73, 126. See also “Informals”
Dorenko, Sergei, 171–73
Dozen Knives at My Back, A (Sobchak), 141
Drel, Anton, 240
Dresden, 62–64, 65–67, 68–69, 70
Dresden University of Technology, 64
Drozdov, Yuri, 97
Dubeykovskaya, Yana, 184, 186
Dubov, Yuli, 257
Duma, 6, 20, 22, 180, 203, 228. See also Parliament
Dzasokhov, Alexander, 214
Echo Moskvy, 1, 2, 204
Economic crisis (1998), 181, 236–37
Economy, 236
Illarionov and, 230–33
Putin and, 230, 231, 232, 233, 241, 253–54, 259
Russian, 255
St. Petersburg, 134–35, 139
Elections
corruption in, 182–83, 184–85, 186–88, 228, 267–68
journalism and, 228–29
1989, 83–84
parliamentary (2003), 227–28, 243
presidential (2000), 263
presidential (2004), 183–88, 263
presidential (2008), 263
Putin presidential candidacy, 19–22, 27, 28, 29, 30–31, 36, 41–42, 127, 142, 145, 147, 148–49, 150–51, 153, 183, 184–85, 186, 187–88, 263, 270
Putin’s changes to, 190
Estonia, 106, 133
Ethnic conflicts, 106. See also Armenia; Chechens; Chechnya
European Union, 133, 208
“Family” (around Yeltsin), 12, 13, 15, 16, 18, 21, 29
Federal Security Service (FSB), 23, 38, 40, 209, 213, 214
apartment-block bombings (1999) and, 31, 38–42, 202, 203, 216, 217
assassinations, 200, 201
Putin and, 18, 39, 41, 42, 152–53, 160, 172, 200–201
terrorism and, 217
whistle-blowers, 199–204
Felshtinsky, Yuri, 202, 203
Flag
new Russia (1991), 114–15, 178
USSR, 114–15, 178
Foreign postings
Dresden, 62–64, 65–67, 68–69, 70
money and, 64–65
Foundation for Effective Politics, 27, 28, 131
FSB. See Federal Security Service
Gagry, 56
Gaidar, Yegor, 13, 127
Gazprom, 163, 164, 253
Georgia, 45, 56, 106
Germany, 44, 53, 133
East, 62–64, 65–66, 67–70
emigrants from East to West, 67
protests and unrest in East, 66, 67–69
reunification, 66, 68
West, 62, 63, 65, 66, 67–68
See also World War II
Gevorkyan, Natalia, 32, 33–34, 36, 45, 52, 93, 161
Gidaspov, Boris, 89
GKChP. See State Committee for the State of Emergency in the USSR
Glasnost (openness), 73
Glazyev, Sergei, 184–85, 186
Glinka, Mikhail, 179
Goldfarb, Alexander, 28, 182, 202, 223, 224–25
Gonchar, Nikolai, 115
Gorbachev, Mikhail, 4, 66, 73–74, 85–86, 93, 98, 164, 178
coup (1991) and, 106, 107, 108, 114, 115
Great Palace (Kremlin), 151
Great Terror, 79
Grozny, 25, 26, 146–50, 209
Gusinsky, Vladimir, 36, 41, 132, 155, 156, 159, 161, 162–64, 174, 175, 185, 188, 189
Hamzat (Chechen man), 148–49
Hermitage Fund, 234, 244
Hostage incidents, 218
Beslan school, 189–90, 191–94, 212–17, 218, 221, 248–49
Moscow theater, 204–8, 209, 210–11, 213, 217, 218
House of culture, Kasparov at, 191–92
“Hyde Park” (Mikhailov Gardens, Leningrad), 77–78
Illarionov, Andrei, 230–33, 235, 243, 248, 249, 259
Independent Press Center, 137, 138
“Informals,” 74–76, 92, 93
Information Point, 76, 77
Interregional Group, 3
Itogi, 1–2, 164
Ivanov, Igor, 35
Journalism, 137, 138
elections and, 228–29
investigative, 144, 211–13, 221
Putin coverage in U.S., 229–30, 233, 248
Russia coverage in U.S., 228–30, 233, 248
Kadyrov, Ramzan, 224–25
Kartofelnikov, Alexei, 37, 38, 40
Kasparov, Garry, 102, 190–91, 192–97, 218, 267
Kasyanov, Mikhail, 153, 154, 163, 164, 242, 249–51
Kazansky Cathedral (Lenin
grad), 78
KGB, 3, 8, 137, 162
active reserve, 93–94, 95, 136
bloating (1970s) of, 60, 63
coup (1991) and, 66, 99, 108, 110, 115, 117
democrats and, 98
directorates, 64
dismantling of, 114
dissidents and, 61
drafting of undercover agents, 64, 66
Dresden outpost, 62–64, 65–67, 68–69, 70
ideology of, 60, 63
illegal intelligence directorate, 64, 97
image of, 52
officer school, 61
Putin and, 17, 18, 28, 32, 36, 50–51, 52–53, 54, 55, 56–57, 59–64, 65–67, 68–69, 70, 93, 94, 96, 97, 98–99, 117, 118, 133, 134, 136, 181, 260
spy school, 62
Khakamada, Irina, 186, 187, 188
Khodorkovsky, Mikhail, 131–32, 213, 235–43, 248, 249, 250, 251, 252–53, 254, 259–60
Khramtsov, Viktor, 109
Khrushchev, Nikita, 179
Klebanov, Ilya, 169–70
Knowledge Day, 188–89
Kolesnikov, Sergei, 254–55, 256–57, 258
Kommersant, 152, 182
Komsomol, 235
Kontinent, 118, 119
Kovalev, Alexei, 75, 89, 180
Kovtun, Dmitry, 225, 226
Kraft, Robert, 258
Kremlin, 16, 141, 151, 211, 219
television and, 167–68
Kryuchkov, Vladimir, 117, 118, 152
Kuroyedov, Vladimir, 169
Kursk disaster, 164–72, 173, 206
Larry King Live, 173
Latvia, 106
Lebedev, Platon, 238, 240, 242, 250, 252
Lenin, Vladimir Ilyich, 235–36
Leningrad, 61, 70, 107, 119, 120
activism, 77–79, 82, 83, 84, 86–88
Angleterre Hotel bombing (1987), 72–73, 75–76, 77
Committee for Foreign Relations, 121
commodity exports, 121–24
food imports, 121–22, 123–24
meat imports, 104–5, 118–19