Podcast appearances and mentions of Arkady Ostrovsky

Gideon talks to Russia experts Catherine Belton and Arkady Ostrovsky about Vladimir Putin's goals. They discuss his early ambition to restore Russia's status as a global superpower. And they go on to analyse why, after a quarter of a century in power, Putin may see his best chance yet of achieving that goal - at a cost of hundreds of thousands of Russian lives. This episode is an edited recording of an event organised by Intelligence Squared that took place in central London earlier this month.Free links to read more on this topic:The age of the strongmanTrump, Putin, Xi and the new age of empireUS agrees maritime ceasefire deal with Ukraine and RussiaUkraine ceasefire: what is Vladimir Putin's game?Russia trained officers for attacks on Japan and South KoreaSubscribe to The Rachman Review wherever you get your podcasts - please listen, rate and subscribe.Presented by Gideon Rachman. Produced by Fiona Symon. Sound design is by Breen Turner.Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A year on from our series Next Year in Moscow, Alexei Navalny, Russia's most prominent opposition leader, is dead. Hope for the “wonderful Russia of the future” he imagined from his prison cell in Siberia is all but extinguished. The Economist's Russia editor Arkady Ostrovsky finds out how Russians who oppose Vladimir Putin's war are enduring these dark timesGet a world of insights for 50% off—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+If you're already a subscriber to The Economist, you'll have full access to all our shows as part of your subscription.For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A year on from our series Next Year in Moscow, Alexei Navalny, Russia's most prominent opposition leader, is dead. Hope for the “wonderful Russia of the future” he imagined from his prison cell in Siberia is all but extinguished. The Economist's Russia editor Arkady Ostrovsky finds out how Russians who oppose Vladimir Putin's war are enduring these dark timesGet a world of insights for 50% off—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+If you're already a subscriber to The Economist, you'll have full access to all our shows as part of your subscription.For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Economist's editor-in-chief, Zanny Minton Beddoes, and our Russia and Eastern Europe editor, Arkady Ostrovsky, return to Kyiv to to find out if cracks are beginning to emerge in the iron shield of Ukrainian unity and to ask how the war with Russia is reshaping a nation living on a knife's edge.The Weekend Intelligence is a subscriber-only episode. For the next month you can sign up for a free trial of Economist Podcasts+If you're already a subscriber to The Economist, you have full access to all our shows as part of your subscription.For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Economist's editor-in-chief, Zanny Minton Beddoes, and our Russia and Eastern Europe editor, Arkady Ostrovsky, return to Kyiv to to find out if cracks are beginning to emerge in the iron shield of Ukrainian unity and to ask how the war with Russia is reshaping a nation living on a knife's edge.The Weekend Intelligence is a subscriber-only episode. For the next month you can sign up for a free trial of Economist Podcasts+If you're already a subscriber to The Economist, you have full access to all our shows as part of your subscription.For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How serious a threat are landmines to Ukraine? Jasmine Dann from the Halo Trust in Mykolaiv and Paul Heslop at the UN Development Programme in Ukraine answer listener questions about the huge challenge of clearing the millions of landmines in Ukraine. And we hear from the Economist's Arkady Ostrovsky about his interview with the commander of Ukraine's armed forces, Valery Zaluzhny. Today's episode is presented by Victoria Derbyshire and Vitaly Shevchenko. The producers were Arsenii Sokolov and Clare Williamson. The technical producer was Gareth Jones. The series producer is Tim Walklate. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham. Email Ukrainecast@bbc.co.uk with your questions and comments. You can also send us a message or voice note via WhatsApp, Signal or Telegram to +44 330 1239480 You can join the Ukrainecast discussion on Newscast's Discord server here: tinyurl.com/ukrainecastdiscord

#Bestof2021: 1/2: Russia's future may be as straightforwardly dramatic as Putin vs Navalny. Arkady Ostrovsky, @Economist https://www.economist.com/leaders/2021/04/24/russias-president-menaces-his-people-and-neighbours?utm_medium=pr&utm_source=us-e 1900 Peter

#Bestof2021: 2/2: Russia's future may be as straightforwardly dramatic as Putin vs Navalny. Arkady Ostrovsky, @Economist (Original post April 2021) https://www.economist.com/leaders/2021/04/24/russias-president-menaces-his-people-and-neighbours?utm_medium=pr&utm_source=us-e 1900 Nevsky Prospect

Photo: No known restrictions on publication. @Batchelorshow Wall Street bomb 1920 #Bestof2021: Consider Wagner Group milblogger Fomin dead by a bomb in Petersburg: Recalling that Putin and the Kremlin are masters of assassination: 2/2: It began with poison. 2/2: Russia's future may be as straightforwardly dramatic as Putin vs Navalny. Arkady Ostrovsky. (Originally posted April 21, 2021) https://www.economist.com/leaders/2021/04/24/russias-president-menaces-his-people-and-neighbours?utm_medium=pr&utm_source=us-e

Russia claims a Chinese plan for peace could be the basis for an end to hostilities. China expert, Isabel Hilton, and Arkady Ostrovsky, The Economist's Russia editor, discuss China's emerging role in the war, and what this might mean for Ukraine and the West. As President Putin visits occupied Mariupol, we talk to Odesa MP Oleksiy Goncharenko about how he felt seeing the Russian leader on Ukrainian soil. And Arkady talks through his podcast, Next Year in Moscow. Today's episode is presented by Victoria Derbyshire and Vitaliy Shevchenko. The producers were Arsenii Sokolov, Clare Williamson, Natasha Fernandes and Luke Radcliff. The technical producer was Mike Regaard. The series producer is Fiona Leach. The assistant editor is Alison Gee and the editor is Sam Bonham. Email Ukrainecast@bbc.co.uk with your questions and comments. You can also send us a message or voice note via WhatsApp, Signal or Telegram to +44 330 1239480 Music credit: Darren Ng for the original music for Next Year in Moscow podcast.

For Russians opposed to Vladimir Putin, everything changed the moment they awoke to news of the invasion of Ukraine a year ago. They felt a range of emotions: pain, fury and shame. And they had to figure out what to do next. The Economist's Arkady Ostrovsky has been speaking to them, because their stories help solve the mystery of why this senseless war began – and how it might end.For full access to print, digital and audio editions, as well as exclusive live events, subscribe to The Economist at economist.com/moscowoffer Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For Russians opposed to Vladimir Putin, everything changed the moment they awoke to news of the invasion of Ukraine a year ago. They felt a range of emotions: pain, fury and shame. And they had to figure out what to do next. The Economist's Arkady Ostrovsky has been speaking to them, because their stories help solve the mystery of why this senseless war began – and how it might end.New episodes will be released weekly on Saturdays.For full access to print, digital and audio editions, as well as exclusive live events, subscribe to The Economist at economist.com/moscowoffer Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When the shelling of Ukraine began a year ago, free-thinking Russians faced a fateful choice: lie low, resist or flee. Hundreds of thousands decided to leave. For them the war meant the future of Russia itself was now in doubt.The Economist's Arkady Ostrovsky finds out what happened to these exiles for a new podcast series. Their stories help solve the mystery of why this senseless war began – and how it might end. New episodes will be released weekly on Saturdays.For full access to print, digital and audio editions, as well as exclusive live events, subscribe to The Economist at economist.com/moscowoffer Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When the shelling of Ukraine began a year ago, free-thinking Russians faced a fateful choice: lie low, resist or flee. Hundreds of thousands decided to leave. For them the war meant the future of Russia itself was now in doubt.The Economist's Arkady Ostrovsky finds out what happened to these exiles for a new podcast series. Their stories help solve the mystery of why this senseless war began – and how it might end. The first episode will be available on February 23rd 2023.For full access to print, digital and audio editions, as well as exclusive live events, subscribe to The Economist at economist.com/moscowoffer Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's been a year since Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin announced the “no-limits” friendship between China and Russia, but is it one between equals? In the second episode of a two-part series, The Economist's Beijing bureau chief, David Rennie, and our senior China correspondent, Alice Su, explore the rocky past of Sino-Soviet relations with historian Joseph Torigian, and hear from locals in Heilongjiang, a border province, about whether the war in Ukraine has changed their view of Russia. Plus, Alexander Gabuev, of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Centre, and The Economist's Arkady Ostrovsky, discuss the power dynamic between Mr Xi and Mr Putin, and what Mr Xi stands to gain from the conflict. Sign up to our weekly newsletter here and for full access to print, digital and audio editions, as well as exclusive live events, subscribe to The Economist at economist.com/drumoffer. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Photo: No known restrictions on publication.  August 23, 1939 Kremlin. @Batchelorshow 1/2: #Bestof2021: Eleven months before the attack: foreshadows:  1/2: Russia's future may be as straightforwardly dramatic as Putin vs Navalny. Arkady Ostrovsky, @Economist (Originally posted April 27, 2021) https://www.economist.com/leaders/2021/04/24/russias-president-menaces-his-people-and-neighbours?utm_medium=pr&utm_source=us-e

Photo: No known restrictions on publication. 1943 Crimea @Batchelorshow 2/2: #Bestof2021: Eleven months before the attack: foreshadows:  2/2: Russia's future may be as straightforwardly dramatic as Putin vs Navalny. Arkady Ostrovsky, @Economist (Originally posted April 27, 2021) https://www.economist.com/leaders/2021/04/24/russias-president-menaces-his-people-and-neighbours?utm_medium=pr&utm_source=us-e

Photo: No known restrictions on publication. @Batchelorshow 1/2: It began with poison.  1/2: Russia's future may be as straightforwardly dramatic as Putin vs Navalny. Arkady Ostrovsky, @Economist (Originally posted April 24, 2021) #v https://www.economist.com/leaders/2021/04/24/russias-president-menaces-his-people-and-neighbours?utm_medium=pr&utm_source=us-e

Photo: No known restrictions on publication. @Batchelorshow 2/2: It began with poison.  2/2: Russia's future may be as straightforwardly dramatic as Putin vs Navalny. Arkady Ostrovsky, @Economist (Originally posted April 24, 2021) #v https://www.economist.com/leaders/2021/04/24/russias-president-menaces-his-people-and-neighbours?utm_medium=pr&utm_source=us-e

At his headquarters in Kyiv, Ukraine's president tells Zanny Minton Beddoes, The Economist's editor-in-chief, and Russia editor Arkady Ostrovsky why his country must defeat Vladimir Putin. He explains how people power is the secret to Ukrainian resistance and urges international partners to send in more military equipment. Plus, what does a Ukrainian victory look like?Please subscribe to The Economist for full access to print, digital and audio editions:www.economist.com/podcastoffer See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

At his headquarters in Kyiv, Ukraine's president tells Zanny Minton Beddoes, The Economist's editor-in-chief, and Russia editor Arkady Ostrovsky why his country must defeat Vladimir Putin. He explains how people power is the secret to Ukrainian resistance and urges international partners to send in more military equipment. Plus, what does a Ukrainian victory look like?Please subscribe to The Economist for full access to print, digital and audio editions:www.economist.com/podcastoffer See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Cementing power in Russia, a revolution in Ukraine and a challenge to the US - Jonny Dymond examines Vladimir Putin's second term as president. To help him make sense of how this tumultuous period from 2004 to 2008 began a path towards events we are witnessing today, he's joined by: Steven Lee Myers, former Moscow bureau chief for the New York Times and author of ‘The New Tsar; The rise and reign of Vladimir Putin'. Natalia Antelava, former BBC correspondent and co-founder and editor of Coda Story. Arkady Ostrovsky, Russia and Eastern Europe editor for the Economist and author of ‘The Invention of Russia: The Journey from Gorbachev's Freedom to Putin's War'. Production coordinators: Sophie Hill and Siobhan Reed Sound engineer: James Beard Producers: Sandra Kanthal, Caroline Bayley, Joe Kent Series Editor: Emma Rippon Commissioning Editor: Richard Knight

Russia and Ukraine share history that goes back centuries. But why has Russia never really accepted Ukraine's independence? Arkady Ostrovsky, Russia and Eastern Europe editor of The Economist joins us to explain how history plays into today's tensions.

Russia and Ukraine share history that goes back centuries. But why has Russia never really accepted Ukraine's independence? Arkady Ostrovsky, Russia and Eastern Europe editor of The Economist joins us to explain how history plays into today's tensions.

Tensions between Russia and Ukraine have continued to rise. One sticking point is Russia's crucial role in supplying natural gas to Europe through Ukraine and what a military conflict would mean for that gas. Another is the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which was built to carry natural gas from Russia to Europe – and circumvent Ukraine. The pipeline, which is not yet online, could mean economic problems for Ukraine. Arkady Ostrovsky, The Economist's Russia and eastern Europe editor, spoke to us about what's at stake. Also today, we take a look into Amazon’s plans to open an actual brick-and-mortar clothing store in Los Angeles.

Tensions between Russia and Ukraine have continued to rise. One sticking point is Russia's crucial role in supplying natural gas to Europe through Ukraine and what a military conflict would mean for that gas. Another is the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which was built to carry natural gas from Russia to Europe – and circumvent Ukraine. The pipeline, which is not yet online, could mean economic problems for Ukraine. Arkady Ostrovsky, The Economist's Russia and eastern Europe editor, spoke to us about what's at stake. Also today, we take a look into Amazon’s plans to open an actual brick-and-mortar clothing store in Los Angeles.

Photo: View of a church and government building in Tomsk . CBS Eye on the World with John Batchelor CBS Audio Network @Batchelorshow 1/2: The Securocrat State of Russia today. Arkady Ostrovsky @TheEconomist https://www.economist.com/briefing/2021/11/13/vladimir-putin-has-shifted-from-autocracy-to-dictatorship?utm_medium=pr&utm_source=us-e

Photo: Meeting of the special presence of the Governmental Senate in the case of the atrocity of March 1, Fig. Beer K., 1881 State Historical Museum. CBS Eye on the World with John Batchelor CBS Audio Network @Batchelorshow 2/2: The Securocrat State of Russia today. Arkady Ostrovsky @TheEconomist  https://www.economist.com/briefing/2021/11/13/vladimir-putin-has-shifted-from-autocracy-to-dictatorship?utm_medium=pr&utm_source=us-e

A Soviet nuclear physicist and Nobel laureate, Andrei Sakharov fought for disarmament, world peace, and human rights. To what extent is his legacy relevant for today's Russia and the world? What is the state of those values now, at a time when autocracies are on the rise and new international conflicts are developing?   The Kennan Institute's Maxim Trudolyubov discusses Sakharov's legacy in light of his recent centennial with Cecile Vaissie, a professor of Russian and Soviet studies at the University of Rennes 2, and Arkady Ostrovsky, Russia, and Eastern Europe editor for The Economist.

Photo: No known restrictions on publication.The New John Batchelor ShowCBS Audio Network@Batchelorshow1/2: Russia's future may be as straightforwardly dramatic as Putin vs Navalny. Arkady Ostrovsky, @Economisthttps://www.economist.com/leaders/2021/04/24/russias-president-menaces-his-people-and-neighbours?utm_medium=pr&utm_source=us-e

Photo: No known restrictions on publication.The New John Batchelor ShowCBS Audio Network@Batchelorshow 2/2: Russia's future may be as straightforwardly dramatic as Putin vs Navalny. Arkady Ostrovsky, @Economisthttps://www.economist.com/leaders/2021/04/24/russias-president-menaces-his-people-and-neighbours?utm_medium=pr&utm_source=us-e

Gideon talks to journalists Arkady Ostrovsky and Max Seddon in Moscow about why Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny decided to return home after he was poisoned and what his political movement can achieve if its leader is in jail. Max Seddon is the FT's Moscow correspondent and Arkady Ostrovsky is author of The Invention of Russia, winner of the 2016 Orwell Prize, and a staff journalist for The Economist. Clips: Reuters, RFE/RL Russian Service, Al Jazeera English, “Aquadiskoteka” by Cream Soda  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

How significant are the mass protests that swept Russia last Saturday and look set to be repeated this weekend? Has the Kremlin lost the battle for people's minds? And how much are these protests really about the opposition leader Alexei Navalny? Podcast host Alex Gabuev is joined by Arkady Ostrovsky, Russia editor at The Economist.

How significant are the mass protests that swept Russia last Saturday and look set to be repeated this weekend? Has the Kremlin lost the battle for people's minds? And how much are these protests really about the opposition leader Alexei Navalny? Podcast host Alex Gabuev is joined by Arkady Ostrovsky, Russia editor at The Economist.

International leaders have condemned the detention of Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny, who's been ordered to spend the next 30 days in prison. Vladimir Putin's political foe was arrested yesterday at a Moscow airport upon his return to Russia, five months after being poisoned with the nerve agent Novichok.

On this episode of Russia Rising, we’ll take a closer look at the man who has ruled over the world’s largest country for nearly two decades: Vladimir Putin was a poor kid from a tough neighbourhood who became a Russian KGB agent, a billionaire and the country’s longest-serving leader since Stalin. Along the way, he’s also been accused of committing a laundry list of atrocities. To truly understand what motivates Putin — why he does what he does — we need to know where he came from. To that end, we’ll speak with Arkady Ostrovsky, the Russian editor for the Economist magazine and Steven Lee Myers, a Putin Biographer and veteran journalist with the New York Times. We’ll explore Putin’s rapid rise to power in an interview with Jeremy Kinsman, Canada’s former ambassador to Russia. We'll also attempt to answer the question "what is Putin's motivation?" by speaking with a former KGB agent named Alexander Vassiliev. Vassiliev who was recruited by the KGB in the 1980s and attended the same spy training school at around the same time as Putin. If you enjoy Russia Rising, please take a minute to rate it on Apple Podcasts or Google Podcasts, tell us what you think and share the show with your friends. Contact: Twitter: @JeffSempleGN E-mail: RussiaRising@Curiouscast.ca Guests: Arkady Ostrovsky, Russian editor for the Economist magazine, Author of ‘The Invention of Russia’ @ArkadyOstrovsky Steven Lee Myers, New York Times Correspondent, Author of ‘The New Tsar: The Rise and Reign of Vladimir Putin’ @stevenleemyers Jeremy Kinsman, Former Canadian Ambassador to the Russian Federation Alexander Vassiliev, Former KGB Agent, Co-author of ‘Spies: The Rise and Fall of the KGB in America’ 

We're joined by Arkady Ostrovsky to discuss Russia’s long history of using sport as a proxy for war and invasion; E. J. Iannelli draws our attention to the rise and (perhaps...) fall of the automobile in the US, and the distinctly American phenomenon of the car as teenage male rite of passageBooksMachines of Youth: America’s car obsession by Gary S. Cross See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Anne McElvoy, our Senior Editor, asks Sir Francis Richards, former head of GCHQ, and Arkady Ostrovsky, our Russia Editor, if the diplomatic clash sparked by the Skripal case will escalate — and what has changed since the Cold War. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Anne McElvoy, our Senior Editor, asks Sir Francis Richards, former head of GCHQ, and Arkady Ostrovsky, our Russia Editor, if the diplomatic clash sparked by the Skripal case will escalate — and what has changed since the Cold War. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

With pithy and insightful observations, journalist and author Arkady Ostrovsky examines today's political reality from the perspective of Putin's Russia in the award winning book The Invention of Russia. Tracking a clear path from Gorbachev to Yeltsin to Putin, he paints a beguiling history: Putin's rise was not an aberration, but a deliberate move, generated by careful control of the media and security services. Join Arkady as he takes a closer look at what is real, what is fake, and what is possible in today's new world order. Chaired by Emma Alberici.

It was at the Moscow Art Theatre from the 1890's onwards that Stanislavsky developed an innovative acting system that demanded actors really inhabit the role they are playing. This then inspired Method acting, which originated in the United States, and whose disciples range from Marlon Brando to Marilyn Monroe to the majority of big stars around the world today - some of whom have taken the system to an alarming extreme. This programme explores Stanislavsky's life and legacy, and also asks if his work has a role outside the theatre. Joining Bridget Kendall are Maria Shevtsova, Professor of Drama at Goldsmiths University of London, the Russian theatre historian Dr Arkady Ostrovsky, and the actor and director Bella Merlin. Photo: Anton Chekhov, in the centre of the picture, reading his play 'The Seagull' with theatre director Stanislavsky on Chekhov's right. (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Putin’s government is often painted as an all powerful, centralized regime. But, in reality, it’s far from that: in Russia’s Far East, Moscow is either resented or disregarded by many, and the security services are the only agents fully loyal to Moscow. This week, special guest host Alina Polyakova interviewed Arkady Ostrovsky, the author of “The Invention of Russia: The Rise of Putin and the Age of Fake News” and the Russia and Eastern Europe editor at the Economist, on life Russia’s wild Far East, the tensions between the Kremlin and its far flung provinces, and what it all means for the limits of Putin’s power and his deepest fears.  This is the second podcast in a new series with Alina Polyakova to shed light on Russian politics and society in an effort to understand the Kremlin’s intentions toward and engagement with the West.

The Russian Revolution a hundred years on. To mark the centenary Tom Sutcliffe is in Moscow to discuss the forces that led to the Revolution, and to find out how far Russians today embrace or reject such a pivotal moment in their country's history. He talks to a senior member of President Putin's political party, Konstantin Kosachev. And he is joined by the journalists Mikhail Zygar and Arkady Ostrovsky and the Director of the Tretyakov Gallery, Zelfira Tregulova. Producer: Katy Hickman.

Richard McGregor is the former Washington and Beijing bureau chief of the Financial Times, and a notable writer on Chinese politics. His last book was The Party: The Secret World of China’s Communist Rulers. His new book, Asia's Reckoning: China, Japan, and the Fate of U.S. Power in the Pacific Century, tells the story of the triangle of the three most important powers in East Asia, none of which can be fully understood without some knowledge of the other two. Richard talked with Jeremy and Kaiser about the events and issues that have impacted relations between China, Japan, and the U.S. since World War II. These include: how the U.S. blindsided Japan by acknowledging Beijing as the Chinese capital with only a few hours of notice in 1971; how Japan’s leaders have refused to grapple with the reality of comfort women during the war; and how China’s leaders and media have comfortably settled into using anti-Japanese sentiment as a convenient political tool. Recommendations: Richard: The Invention of Russia: The Rise of Putin and the Age of Fake News, a book by journalist Arkady Ostrovsky, who has written for the Economist and the Financial Times. And Fauda, an Israeli TV series about the Israeli Special Forces and Hamas. Jeremy: The Twitter feed of Jorge Guajardo, former Mexican ambassador to China. Kaiser: The works of Alan Furst, specifically, his book Dark Star, which unpacks the mentality of the purge of the mid-1930s in Russia.

In October of 1939, Winston Churchill said of Russia that “I cannot forecast to you the actions of Russia. It is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma; but perhaps there is a key. That key is Russian national interest." Today, almost 25 years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, we could say exactly the same thing about Russia.  The Russia that Gorbachev ushered in as the Cold War ended is seemingly a far cry from the Russia today of Vladimir Putin. What happened?  Did the country change, the people change, or were the current tendencies there all along? Arkady Ostrovsky, the Russian-born journalist who has spent fifteen years reporting from Moscow, first for the Financial Times and then as bureau chief for The Economist, digs deep in his book The Invention of Russia: From Gorbachev's Freedom to Putin's War. My conversation with Arkady Ostrovsky: 

On Start the Week Andrew Marr looks at Russia from the heyday of the Soviet Empire to its transformation under Putin. The historian Simon Sebag Montefiore writes about the Romanovs, the most successful dynasty of modern times, while Amanda Vickery highlights a moment of defiance and triumph during WW2's siege of Leningrad. The journalist Arkady Ostrovsky charts the huge changes that have taken place, from Perestroika to corporate state. And David Aaronovitch explores the emotional pull of communism in Britain through the story of his family and their ties to The Party. Producer: Katy Hickman.

Arkady Ostrovsky, The Economist's Russia and East European editor, on how oligarchs, ideologues and television rebuilt Russia See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.