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Downloaded from
YTS.MX

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Official YIFY movies site:
YTS.MX

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[wind howling]

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[flame roaring]

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[grandiose music]

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[foreboding music]

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[foreboding music]

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-[indistinct chatter]
-[camera shutters clicking]

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[camera shutters clicking]

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[reporter 1 in English]
The richest man in Russia,

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Mikhail Khodorkovsky

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seized at gunpoint
by Russian Special Forces...

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[reporter 2]
Khodorkovsky is locked up

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in an overcrowded
Russian prison.

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[camera shutter clicks]

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[interviewer]
So, to stay at a prison,

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why didn't you leave
the country?

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[tense music]

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[tense music continues]

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Out!

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-[indistinct chatter]
-[laughing]

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[Alex] To hear Vladimir Putin
tell it,

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Mikhail Khodorkovsky
is a villain

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in a real-life gangster movie.

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But to Putin's opponent's,

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Khodorkovsky's ten years
in a Siberian prison

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made him a hero for the cause
of human rights and democracy.

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Now out of prison,

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Khodorkovsky is looking
for a third act.

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That drew my interest

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at a time
when we all seem haunted

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by Russia's role in the world,

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so I started a film about it.

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[Alex]While I can go to Russia, he could not.

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He's wanted there for murder.

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So like many stories
about Russia these days,

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this one started in London.

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[tense music]

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[gloomy music]

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[Tatyana] Putin and Khodorkovsky
they are both very strong guy.

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-Everyone else, weaker.
-[Alex] Yes.

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But Putin...

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respects Khodorkovsky
as a rival.

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He really respects him,
because he is strong.

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[no audible dialogue]

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[audience clapping]

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[gloomy music]

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[chuckles]

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[Khodorkovsky laughing]

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[light music]

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[Alex] Just behind Red Square,
there's a shopping mall

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where actors get paid
for posing in tourist photos,

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playing Russia's past leaders.

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In the winter of 2018,

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I was told that the number
of Stalin's was multiplying.

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A local joked
was that this was a sign.

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Russia was nearing a pageantry
of election season.

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Well, there is
no election season.

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There's election theater.

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[Derk] The Kremlin has to create
their own counter candidates.

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Because no one wants to be
a candidate against Putin

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because you will lose anyway.

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[Alex]Today's election theatre

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is what has become of Russia's
experiment in democracy.

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A bold attempt to shift
from years of Communist rule

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to free market capitalism.

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[upbeat music]

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[crowd chanting]

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[Alex]In 1991, the Soviet Union has convulsed

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in a struggle of its future.

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But oligarch Communists
come to an empire

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in a system that centralized
government control.

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A new generation demanded economic and political freedoms.

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Their charismatic leader,
who was Boris Yeltsin.

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Yeltsin! Yeltsin! Yeltsin!

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[upbeat music]

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[Martin] Boris Yeltsin has
become the one rallying point

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for oppositions
and the hardliners.

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I was there as the BBC
Moscow correspondent

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from '88 to the end of '91.

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This is Martin Sixsmith.

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Martin Sixsmith.

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Martin Sixsmith.

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BBC News Moscow.

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[Martin] Yeltsin was a very,
very inspirational figure.

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Back in 1991, he was the man
for the moment.

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[crowd] Yeltsin! Yeltsin!

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[Martin] It just felt like,
you know,

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a sort of, see change
in the fortunes of a country.

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[Martin] I remember writing

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all these sort of,
great optimistic articles

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about how decades of communism
have come to an end

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and now we were going to have
a new Russia,

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a new Russia with democracy
and freedom, and openness.

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And looking back, I'm...

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a little ashamed
that I wrote all that,

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because the signs were there,
even then, I think,

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that, um,
it wasn't going to work out.

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[foreboding music]

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[Martin] He was a man of great
intelligence, and great vision.

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He was also a very decisive man.

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As soon as a door opened,
he was straight through it.

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He'd been a member of the young

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communist organization,
Komsomol.

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Not because he believed
in communism

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but because Gorbachev
and the Perestroika era

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started to relax the ban
on private enterprise

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starting with the Komsomol.

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By the time the collapse of the
Soviet Union happened at 1991,

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he had some cash in his pocket.

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He created the first
commercial bank in Russia.

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[foreboding music]

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[Alex] "The Holocaust", he said,

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"I thought of this all
as a game,

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and I was good
at playing the game."

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Exactly. He was good
at playing the game,

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but most people were very bad
at playing the game.

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[light music]

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[Derk] Moving from the Soviet
Union into capitalist Russia,

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most Russians
were completely naive.

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Because they had read
all these propaganda

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for all these years.

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With capitalists, where people
was, you know...

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big cigars, and money
coming out of their pockets.

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And they imagined that you
would get rich automatically.

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[Derk] Where they grew up,

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everything was taken care of
by the state.

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You know, free economy
sounds nice.

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But you have to make choices
every five minutes.

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[Alex] In the early '90s,
Russians face lots of choices

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they didn't really understand.

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Egged on by American
free market boosters,

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the Russian government
announced a program

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to hand out a chip worth around 40 dollars to every citizen.

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The chips were called
"vouchers."

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And could be traded sole
for cash,

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or exchanged for shares in small or state-owned enterprises.

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They were sold as golden tickets

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to escape the dead end
of communism.

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[man screaming]

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[rumbling]

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[snickers]

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[Martin] It was a time of great
economic hardship,

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and the ordinary people
didn't realize

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what this piece of paper
was worth.

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But the people who did,

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some type of people
with suitcases full of cash,

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and they said, "Look, you don't
need that piece of paper.

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Here, we'll give you
ten dollars.

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And you can go
and buy some bread."

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[Alex] The more
Khodorkovsky made,

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the more vouchers
and companies he could buy.

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Either on the open market
or in backroom deals.

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It was gangster capitalism,

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with the rule of laws weak
and bendy as a rubber band.

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[lively music]

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[Martin] Under communism,
the absence of personal wealth

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meant there were few targets
for violent criminals.

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Now, organized crime groups

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prey on the new rich
of the capitalist era.

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Moscow's become
the murder capital of Europe.

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If you were rich,
and people knew you were rich,

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you were a target.

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It's Wild West capitalism.

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[dog barking]

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[gunshot]

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[foreboding music]

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[Derk] In '92, we launched
The Moscow Times.

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And we had a lot of news.

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A lot of people got killed,

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and many, many companies
were looking for protection.

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The Moscow Times
developed pretty well.

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And then, two years later,
I launched Cosmopolitan.

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Which, from day one, was
an enormous commercial success.

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And it attracted a lot
of shady people.

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I thought, you know,
maybe it's better

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to get one of these rising
oligarchs as a shareholder.

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There was one guy in particular
that I got interested in.

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And it was Mikhail Khodorkovsky.

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They moved to a very
fancy castle in Moscow.

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Machine guns all over the place,

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he had former KGB colonels
running his security.

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This was not Russia, this was...

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Khodorkovsky land, you know,

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Medvedev has a nice house,

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Nevzlin was next door,

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and then,
there was Khodorkovsky.

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I said that, "Most of the times,

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it's a fiercely
independent newspaper.

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And if we sell ten percent
of our sales...

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we want to remain a fiercely
independent newspaper."

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And he thought about it,
and he said yes.

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[Derk] He was an extremely...

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intelligent person.

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But of course, using every trick
in the book available to him.

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And at that time,

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this transition from communism
to capitalism...

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uh, was so fast,

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that it was impossible for
the legal structure to keep up.

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[lively music]

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[lively music]

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[Martin] But it's Berezovsky,
who was one

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of the big seven oligarchs
very famously said...

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"The seven of us controlled
50 percent...

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of the whole Russian economy."

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[Alex] Two of the oligarchs
placed big bets

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on the future of television.

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Boris Berezovsky
bought a national network

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called Channel 1.

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He thought he'd cash in

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by turning
a Soviet propaganda vehicle

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into a selling machine.

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Vladimir Gusinsky set his sights on starting a new network

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called NTV.

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[radio static]

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The original concept of NTV
was a TV channel,

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which is not controlled
by the government.

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[Igor] An investor who was...
Vladimir Gusinsky.

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He didn't know anything
about TV at all, but...

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there was a benefit.

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He badly underestimated
how much it would cost.

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Bravo.

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[clapping]

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[Alex] Gusinsky spent hundreds
of millions of dollars

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buying movies,
launching game shows

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and building an independent
news division from scratch.

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Thanks to the Soviets,

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most everyone in Russia
had TV sets.

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So the money started rolling in.

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[Derk] The oligarchs organized
between themselves.

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"I do the oil, you do
the cable communications,

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you do the real estate."

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So, it was one big, uh, scam.

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[Alex] For the oligarchs,
the scam of Russian capitalism

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was only possible as long as there was a political system

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that protected private property
and individual rights.

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Call it "democracy."

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But if the communists returned
to power, well...

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that would have been bad
for business.

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[Derk] Yeltsin was up
for re-election.

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But the country was in a really,
really bad state.

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People looked around,
if this is...

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you know, capitalism
that they promised,

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we don't want anything
to do with it.

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[Martin] The government coffers
were empty,

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so people's salaries
weren't being paid,

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pensions weren't being paid.

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And if you imagine,
as a president

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who's not paying people's
pensions and people's salaries,

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you're not gonna be
very popular.

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It really did look
as if Gennady Zyuganov,

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the communist leader,
who's going to beat Yeltsin

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hands down at the election.

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00:25:57,164 --> 00:25:58,165
Spasiba!

255
00:26:21,580 --> 00:26:22,972
[Derk] The problem was that,
Yeltsin,

256
00:26:23,016 --> 00:26:24,974
at that point, was so weak.

257
00:26:25,018 --> 00:26:27,281
He was at the three percent
approval rate.

258
00:26:27,324 --> 00:26:30,371
He was sick,
he had all these heart attacks,

259
00:26:30,414 --> 00:26:31,894
he was down and out.

260
00:26:31,938 --> 00:26:34,375
[grandiose music]

261
00:26:40,511 --> 00:26:45,168
[Igor] One of the very new
things which NTV started doing,

262
00:26:45,212 --> 00:26:47,954
was a puppet show calledKukly.

263
00:26:47,997 --> 00:26:52,654
It was a really...
a satirical, satirical show.

264
00:26:52,698 --> 00:26:56,484
♪ Besame

265
00:26:56,527 --> 00:27:00,836
♪ Besame mucho

266
00:27:00,880 --> 00:27:02,490
[Igor] In one of the show,

267
00:27:02,533 --> 00:27:05,667
Mr. Yeltsin was portrayed
as Don Quijote.

268
00:27:05,711 --> 00:27:07,669
And the head of his security

269
00:27:07,713 --> 00:27:11,934
was portrayed
as his, uh, Sancho Panza.

270
00:27:11,978 --> 00:27:16,635
It's not Russian tradition
to laugh at the president,

271
00:27:16,678 --> 00:27:21,901
so laughing at... at a czar,
so to say, at an emperor...

272
00:27:21,944 --> 00:27:24,643
was something unheard...
unheard of.

273
00:27:34,522 --> 00:27:37,351
[Martin] Yeltsin was in a very
difficult situation.

274
00:27:37,394 --> 00:27:39,614
We'd film him, and he'd be...

275
00:27:39,658 --> 00:27:43,792
staggering across the room,
barely able to stand upright.

276
00:27:46,229 --> 00:27:49,929
[Igor] It was clear
that he was quite ill.

277
00:27:49,972 --> 00:27:52,627
But of course,
there was a natural...

278
00:27:52,671 --> 00:27:57,545
sympathy and support for Yeltsin
from a Russian TV.

279
00:27:57,588 --> 00:27:59,634
Yes, probably,
it was not very fair

280
00:27:59,678 --> 00:28:02,202
but his opponent
was a communist.

281
00:28:02,245 --> 00:28:04,117
Who, openly, was saying that,

282
00:28:04,160 --> 00:28:07,903
"No such thing as freedom of...
of the press, or of this...

283
00:28:07,947 --> 00:28:10,427
under his rule.

284
00:28:10,471 --> 00:28:11,907
[Alex]
Openly supporting Yeltsin,

285
00:28:11,951 --> 00:28:13,953
NTV hatched an elaborate plan

286
00:28:13,996 --> 00:28:16,390
to hide the president's
ill health.

287
00:28:16,433 --> 00:28:19,262
Malashenko sent a crew
to Yeltsin's country home

288
00:28:19,306 --> 00:28:21,612
where he was secretly confined
to bedrest,

289
00:28:21,656 --> 00:28:23,963
after a major heart attack.

290
00:28:24,006 --> 00:28:26,748
[Igor] We had to demonstrate
that Yeltsin

291
00:28:26,792 --> 00:28:29,446
is still alive, at least.

292
00:28:29,490 --> 00:28:32,711
He was too seriously ill
to travel to Moscow.

293
00:28:32,754 --> 00:28:37,063
So we took some furniture
from his Kremlin office

294
00:28:37,106 --> 00:28:41,067
and we reproduced it
at his country house.

295
00:28:41,110 --> 00:28:46,594
So at this set, he was visited
by Prime Minister Chernomyrdin

296
00:28:46,637 --> 00:28:50,337
And Yeltsin spoke with him
for 30 seconds,

297
00:28:50,380 --> 00:28:56,343
signed some paper,
and it was shown on TV.

298
00:28:56,386 --> 00:29:00,651
Many times I was told that
it's a thing I shouldn't do.

299
00:29:00,695 --> 00:29:04,655
My response is very simple.
It was and it is

300
00:29:04,699 --> 00:29:07,441
that I would rather elect
the corpse of Yeltsin

301
00:29:07,484 --> 00:29:08,790
than elect Zyuganov.

302
00:29:08,834 --> 00:29:11,750
[upbeat music]

303
00:29:17,190 --> 00:29:20,019
[Martin] We had suddenly,
this amazing, new Yeltsin.

304
00:29:20,062 --> 00:29:21,890
And, you know, maybe the doctors

305
00:29:21,934 --> 00:29:24,197
have given him a shot
of adrenaline or something.

306
00:29:24,240 --> 00:29:26,329
But I think what had really
re-invigorated him

307
00:29:26,373 --> 00:29:28,027
was the deal he'd cut
with the oligarchs.

308
00:29:29,855 --> 00:29:33,815
They struck a Faustian bargain.

309
00:29:33,859 --> 00:29:36,165
Which has become known
as loans for shares.

310
00:29:37,384 --> 00:29:39,125
[Alex]
In every Faustian bargain,

311
00:29:39,168 --> 00:29:41,823
the devil is in the details.

312
00:29:41,867 --> 00:29:43,172
On the verge of collapse,

313
00:29:43,216 --> 00:29:45,261
Yeltsin's government
desperately needed cash

314
00:29:45,305 --> 00:29:47,394
to pay salaries and pensions.

315
00:29:47,437 --> 00:29:49,831
The oligarchs agreed
to funnel money to the state

316
00:29:49,875 --> 00:29:51,485
by making a series of loans

317
00:29:51,528 --> 00:29:53,530
the government couldn't afford
to pay.

318
00:29:54,575 --> 00:29:56,098
When the loans did default,

319
00:29:56,142 --> 00:29:57,883
the oligarchs got the right
to buy

320
00:29:57,926 --> 00:30:00,102
Russia's biggest
state enterprises.

321
00:30:00,146 --> 00:30:03,192
And sham auctions run by the oligarchs themselves.

322
00:30:04,193 --> 00:30:05,978
On TV, the deals played like

323
00:30:06,021 --> 00:30:08,371
arms-length
banking transactions.

324
00:30:08,415 --> 00:30:11,853
In reality, the oligarchs
have cut inside deals

325
00:30:11,897 --> 00:30:13,899
to pay bargain basement prices

326
00:30:13,942 --> 00:30:16,031
for Russia's
most valuable assets.

327
00:30:21,732 --> 00:30:23,996
Khodorkovsky was interested
in a massive state

328
00:30:24,039 --> 00:30:25,780
oil company called Yukos.

329
00:30:25,824 --> 00:30:28,739
His bank Menatep, was the only
bettor at the auction,

330
00:30:28,783 --> 00:30:32,265
which was run by... Menatep.

331
00:30:32,308 --> 00:30:36,095
At the time, Yukos was valued
at five billion dollars.

332
00:30:36,138 --> 00:30:39,098
Menatep offered and paid
what it had on-hand,

333
00:30:39,141 --> 00:30:42,841
three hundred and ten million.
A steal.

334
00:30:42,884 --> 00:30:45,452
[Derk] It was all conflict
of interest.

335
00:30:45,495 --> 00:30:50,326
There was no transparency,
it was just one big mess.

336
00:30:50,370 --> 00:30:52,328
You know, we wrote
about this stuff.

337
00:30:52,372 --> 00:30:56,376
And Menatep was a shareholder
of The Moscow Times.

338
00:30:56,419 --> 00:30:59,727
Khodorkovsky himself
was not sitting on our board,

339
00:30:59,770 --> 00:31:02,599
but Leonid Nevzlin,
his right hand man.

340
00:31:02,643 --> 00:31:05,994
So this Nevzlin, was,
you know, fuming.

341
00:31:06,038 --> 00:31:08,040
[Alex] Was there ever
any pressure on you

342
00:31:08,083 --> 00:31:10,694
to write something
that was kind of, pro-Yukos?

343
00:31:10,738 --> 00:31:12,218
[laughing]

344
00:32:44,963 --> 00:32:46,877
[audience cheering]

345
00:32:46,921 --> 00:32:49,793
[Derk] This was the biggest
mistake of the oligarchs

346
00:32:49,837 --> 00:32:52,883
and the journalists,
and the liberals.

347
00:32:52,927 --> 00:32:55,669
I blame them as much
as the communists

348
00:32:55,712 --> 00:32:58,802
and the other forces, even more.

349
00:32:58,846 --> 00:33:01,196
Because they were the people
who has the vision

350
00:33:01,240 --> 00:33:04,025
and, and the will
to change, and...

351
00:33:04,069 --> 00:33:07,420
and they were going to create
a new Russia.

352
00:33:07,463 --> 00:33:10,031
And what do they do the first
time they get into trouble

353
00:33:10,075 --> 00:33:12,120
in, you know, in '96...

354
00:33:12,164 --> 00:33:14,427
their candidate may lose.

355
00:33:14,470 --> 00:33:16,516
They just throw out
the whole idea

356
00:33:16,559 --> 00:33:19,562
of a normal democratic process.

357
00:33:58,297 --> 00:34:00,690
Putin is also a product
of the '90s.

358
00:34:05,260 --> 00:34:07,001
[Martin] Vladimir Putin came
from nowhere.

359
00:34:07,045 --> 00:34:09,743
He's been a minor official
in the KGB

360
00:34:09,786 --> 00:34:12,615
in East Germany
when the war collapsed.

361
00:34:12,659 --> 00:34:14,226
And found himself out of a job.

362
00:34:15,401 --> 00:34:18,143
He found a post up in Leningrad

363
00:34:18,186 --> 00:34:21,320
with...
a man called Anatoly Sobchak.

364
00:34:26,281 --> 00:34:29,197
[Derk] If you worked
your whole life with Sobchak,

365
00:34:29,241 --> 00:34:31,808
the most liberal man in Russia,

366
00:34:31,852 --> 00:34:34,159
you must be an okay guy.

367
00:34:34,202 --> 00:34:35,290
That's what I thought.

368
00:34:38,685 --> 00:34:40,513
[Alex] In fact,
Putin was accused

369
00:34:40,556 --> 00:34:42,123
of launching a kickback scheme

370
00:34:42,167 --> 00:34:45,779
to embezzle money meant
for food for St. Petersburg,

371
00:34:45,822 --> 00:34:47,433
which was facing a famine.

372
00:34:50,088 --> 00:34:52,742
When members of the city council raised the issue,

373
00:34:52,786 --> 00:34:54,875
Sobchak did not fire Putin.

374
00:34:54,918 --> 00:34:57,007
He promoted him to deputy mayor.

375
00:34:58,661 --> 00:35:00,576
As if to commemorate the moment,

376
00:35:00,620 --> 00:35:03,449
Putin commissioned this documentary about himself.

377
00:35:03,492 --> 00:35:04,972
He kept the title simple.

378
00:35:11,370 --> 00:35:12,371
[thuds]

379
00:35:37,091 --> 00:35:39,267
[foreboding music]

380
00:35:41,791 --> 00:35:45,621
[Alex]When Putin's boss failed to win re-election in 1996,

381
00:35:45,665 --> 00:35:47,710
Putin and some friends
flew to Moscow

382
00:35:47,754 --> 00:35:49,973
where they landed low-level jobs for the Kremlin.

383
00:35:53,107 --> 00:35:56,023
Putin held six jobs
in three years.

384
00:35:56,066 --> 00:35:58,982
By 1999, he was Prime minister,

385
00:35:59,026 --> 00:36:01,550
and Yeltsin's likely successor.

386
00:36:01,594 --> 00:36:05,119
But Putin didn't get to the top all by himself.

387
00:36:05,163 --> 00:36:07,730
[Arkady] The oligarchs,
were in fact, the force,

388
00:36:07,774 --> 00:36:10,385
that in many ways,
brought Vladimir Putin to power.

389
00:36:14,955 --> 00:36:18,306
Putin was put there, very much,
to carry on Yeltsin's rule.

390
00:36:18,350 --> 00:36:21,091
With the help
of ultimately, four people.

391
00:36:22,180 --> 00:36:23,746
Yeltsin's daughter
and her husband,

392
00:36:23,790 --> 00:36:26,706
and two of the oligarchs
who were close to Yeltsin,

393
00:36:26,749 --> 00:36:29,622
Boris Berezovsky
and Roman Abramovich.

394
00:36:29,665 --> 00:36:30,884
They were looking
for a successor

395
00:36:30,927 --> 00:36:33,626
who would, basically guarantee
their safety

396
00:36:33,669 --> 00:36:34,931
and guarantee their wealth.

397
00:36:34,975 --> 00:36:37,020
[foreboding music]

398
00:36:45,290 --> 00:36:46,900
[Alex] One of the so-called
oligarchs

399
00:36:46,943 --> 00:36:49,250
set about selling Putin
to the public.

400
00:36:49,294 --> 00:36:51,383
Boris Berezovsky
used his TV channel

401
00:36:51,426 --> 00:36:53,515
to mock Putin's
political rivals,

402
00:36:53,559 --> 00:36:55,822
and promote his image
as a tough leader.

403
00:36:55,865 --> 00:36:57,171
[explosion]

404
00:36:57,215 --> 00:36:58,520
[Alex] When a series
of explosions

405
00:36:58,564 --> 00:37:00,261
killed hundreds in Moscow,

406
00:37:00,305 --> 00:37:03,786
some suspect that Putin himself might have been involved.

407
00:37:03,830 --> 00:37:05,484
But at the time, TV news footage

408
00:37:05,527 --> 00:37:08,574
highlighted Putin's tough
response to the bombings,

409
00:37:08,617 --> 00:37:10,315
which he blamed
on Chechen terrorists.

410
00:37:24,329 --> 00:37:25,373
[gunshot]

411
00:37:25,417 --> 00:37:26,940
[explosion]

412
00:37:28,942 --> 00:37:30,204
[woman 1] He's tough.

413
00:37:30,248 --> 00:37:33,599
And I think this is the thing
that we need

414
00:37:33,642 --> 00:37:36,515
in this country at the moment.
Some toughness.

415
00:37:48,962 --> 00:37:53,445
[Alex] Yeltsin left office
on December 31st, 1999.

416
00:37:53,488 --> 00:37:56,578
And appointed Putin
acting president.

417
00:37:56,622 --> 00:37:59,189
Putin, in turn, promised
to forgive Yeltsin

418
00:37:59,233 --> 00:38:01,801
for any sins or crimes
he may have committed.

419
00:38:02,845 --> 00:38:04,543
It was another inside deal,

420
00:38:04,586 --> 00:38:08,111
sealed by a new election
a few months later.

421
00:38:08,155 --> 00:38:11,332
Putin running as an incumbent,
won easily.

422
00:38:11,376 --> 00:38:14,422
Eighteen years later,
he's still in the same office.

423
00:38:30,525 --> 00:38:32,005
[phone clanking]

424
00:38:36,183 --> 00:38:38,403
[light music]

425
00:38:44,713 --> 00:38:47,368
[Derk] Putinism is a way
to restore...

426
00:38:48,195 --> 00:38:49,414
pride in your country.

427
00:38:51,633 --> 00:38:53,243
Putinism in itself...

428
00:38:54,984 --> 00:38:56,072
there's nothing wrong with it.

429
00:38:58,248 --> 00:39:00,468
Uh, when Putin started...

430
00:39:00,512 --> 00:39:02,644
he did a lot of good things
for the country.

431
00:39:03,471 --> 00:39:06,561
Because it was a mess.

432
00:39:06,605 --> 00:39:09,085
People were completely
dispirited.

433
00:39:09,956 --> 00:39:12,001
Um, people longed...

434
00:39:13,176 --> 00:39:16,310
to, to be part of something.

435
00:39:16,354 --> 00:39:19,008
You know, if you grew up
in a world power,

436
00:39:19,052 --> 00:39:21,141
and then the rest of the world

437
00:39:21,184 --> 00:39:24,231
faced you as a joke,
as a Banana Republic,

438
00:39:24,274 --> 00:39:26,625
it's very humiliating.

439
00:39:26,668 --> 00:39:29,584
So people really needed
such a fable.

440
00:40:31,211 --> 00:40:33,126
[Martin] Putin has declared
that he supported

441
00:40:33,169 --> 00:40:35,302
the liberal views of Yeltsin,

442
00:40:35,345 --> 00:40:36,564
and that he was going
to keep Russia

443
00:40:36,608 --> 00:40:39,306
on the course of liberty
and openness.

444
00:40:39,349 --> 00:40:41,743
But even then, you could see
that Putin was looking for a way

445
00:40:41,787 --> 00:40:45,268
to recalibrate this relationship

446
00:40:45,312 --> 00:40:48,358
between political barrier
and the oligarchs.

447
00:40:58,499 --> 00:41:00,327
[Martin] At first he said,
"Look, we'll do a deal,

448
00:41:00,370 --> 00:41:02,460
uh, I'm not gonna question

449
00:41:02,503 --> 00:41:04,679
the results
of the privatization process,

450
00:41:04,723 --> 00:41:06,159
which meant I'm not gonna try
and take back

451
00:41:06,202 --> 00:41:08,509
your business empires
that you've...

452
00:41:08,553 --> 00:41:11,817
got through the, uh,
loans for shares auctions.

453
00:41:11,860 --> 00:41:13,906
As long as you keep out
of politics."

454
00:41:15,864 --> 00:41:17,257
[Alex] For the moment,

455
00:41:17,300 --> 00:41:18,737
that separation
of business and politics

456
00:41:18,780 --> 00:41:20,913
served Khodorkovsky's interests.

457
00:41:20,956 --> 00:41:24,046
For Khodorkovsky, business
had been hard enough.

458
00:41:24,090 --> 00:41:26,309
He left banking
to focus on Yukos.

459
00:41:26,353 --> 00:41:28,921
He travelled to remote regions
of Siberia

460
00:41:28,964 --> 00:41:31,097
to learn how to pool oil
out of the ground,

461
00:41:31,140 --> 00:41:33,099
move it and sell it.

462
00:41:33,142 --> 00:41:35,405
And he had to motivate workers
and managers.

463
00:41:35,449 --> 00:41:38,408
He never needed to care
for efficiency or competition.

464
00:41:44,589 --> 00:41:47,287
[Derk] All these shady
global oil companies

465
00:41:47,330 --> 00:41:48,941
that, you know, just lost money,

466
00:41:48,984 --> 00:41:51,552
and were totally inefficient.

467
00:41:51,596 --> 00:41:55,904
He turned it around, he started
streamlining these companies.

468
00:41:55,948 --> 00:41:58,951
Khodorkovsky,
from a business perspective,

469
00:41:58,994 --> 00:42:01,170
did an amazing job.

470
00:42:01,214 --> 00:42:03,825
But you know, small towns
in Siberia,

471
00:42:03,869 --> 00:42:07,176
a lot of the people who worked
there, they lost their job.

472
00:42:07,220 --> 00:42:09,701
Many local mayors
were very unhappy.

473
00:42:10,484 --> 00:42:12,486
And some mayors...

474
00:42:13,226 --> 00:42:15,054
died.

475
00:42:15,097 --> 00:42:17,622
[Alex] One of those mayors
was Vladimir Petukhov,

476
00:42:17,665 --> 00:42:21,103
of Nefteyugansk,
a major Yukos hub.

477
00:42:21,147 --> 00:42:23,192
Petukhov was furious
with Khodorkovsky

478
00:42:23,236 --> 00:42:25,978
for laying off
nearly 15,000 workers.

479
00:42:26,021 --> 00:42:30,243
Delays in payroll, and battles
over paying local taxers.

480
00:42:30,286 --> 00:42:31,810
Khodorkovsky claimed
that Petukhov

481
00:42:31,853 --> 00:42:33,942
was in the grip
of Chechen gangsters.

482
00:42:33,986 --> 00:42:37,119
And using taxes
to pay for bribes.

483
00:42:37,163 --> 00:42:40,383
So Khodorkovsky flew to
Nefteyugansk with bags of cash

484
00:42:40,427 --> 00:42:42,385
to make direct payments
to teachers,

485
00:42:42,429 --> 00:42:44,431
nurses and city workers.

486
00:42:44,474 --> 00:42:47,608
In protest, the mayor embarked
on a hunger strike.

487
00:42:47,652 --> 00:42:50,611
Until finally, a deal was cut.

488
00:42:50,655 --> 00:42:52,874
Four days later,
the mayor was shot.

489
00:43:28,475 --> 00:43:30,520
[Arkady] At first, we went
to Nefteyugansk

490
00:43:30,564 --> 00:43:32,044
to look at the oil industry

491
00:43:32,087 --> 00:43:34,742
weeks after the murder
of the mayor.

492
00:43:36,265 --> 00:43:38,311
And Khodorkovsky
was hated there,

493
00:43:38,354 --> 00:43:40,487
because Khodorkovsky at that
time was already a billionaire,

494
00:43:40,530 --> 00:43:41,967
and these were the people
who were,

495
00:43:42,010 --> 00:43:44,926
basically, unable to get food.

496
00:43:44,970 --> 00:43:46,885
I got angry
as a young journalist

497
00:43:46,928 --> 00:43:48,321
and I wrote what I saw.

498
00:43:49,278 --> 00:43:51,237
I don't know whether...

499
00:43:51,280 --> 00:43:52,673
Khodorkovsky's man,

500
00:43:52,717 --> 00:43:56,024
or himself was involved
in the death of the mayor.

501
00:43:56,068 --> 00:43:57,635
I wouldn't put it past them.

502
00:43:59,419 --> 00:44:00,594
[Martin] Petukhov, the mayor,

503
00:44:00,638 --> 00:44:02,988
was murdered
on Khodorkovsky's birthday.

504
00:44:03,031 --> 00:44:06,469
Birthdays have been interesting.

505
00:44:06,513 --> 00:44:09,168
The other famous case
is Ana Politkovskaya.

506
00:44:09,211 --> 00:44:12,519
The crusading journalist
who was investigating

507
00:44:12,562 --> 00:44:15,000
lots of Kremlin corruptions.

508
00:44:15,043 --> 00:44:17,567
And she was murdered
on Putin's birthday.

509
00:44:42,331 --> 00:44:44,725
[reporter 2] Some observers
called it a meltdown.

510
00:44:44,769 --> 00:44:46,727
Russian stocks are
at their lowest levels

511
00:44:46,771 --> 00:44:50,818
since President Boris Yeltsin
had heart surgery in 1996.

512
00:44:50,862 --> 00:44:53,038
The biggest concern now
is that the Russian government

513
00:44:53,081 --> 00:44:55,867
will be forced
to devalue the ruble.

514
00:47:21,099 --> 00:47:23,275
[gloomy music]

515
00:47:30,325 --> 00:47:32,066
[Derk] He was opening schools,

516
00:47:32,110 --> 00:47:34,112
you know, his foundation
was doing the work.

517
00:47:34,155 --> 00:47:37,898
He was the entrepreneur
with the vision.

518
00:47:37,942 --> 00:47:40,901
The type of entrepreneur
that Russia needed,

519
00:47:40,945 --> 00:47:44,165
to create this new economy.

520
00:47:44,209 --> 00:47:47,821
And he immediately
brought in Western

521
00:47:47,865 --> 00:47:49,954
know-how, new technology,

522
00:47:49,997 --> 00:47:52,173
And in a few years built,

523
00:47:52,217 --> 00:47:54,915
you know, one of the best
oil companies in the world.

524
00:47:58,440 --> 00:48:00,573
[light music]

525
00:48:21,899 --> 00:48:24,423
[Alex] Khodorkovsky's work
at Yukos paid off.

526
00:48:24,466 --> 00:48:27,339
When the ruble rose
along with the oil prices,

527
00:48:27,382 --> 00:48:28,949
Just after the turn
of the century,

528
00:48:28,993 --> 00:48:31,169
the Russian economy was booming.

529
00:48:31,212 --> 00:48:33,867
Powered in large part by oil.

530
00:48:33,911 --> 00:48:35,521
That was a business victory...

531
00:48:35,564 --> 00:48:38,741
but it was also a moment
of political opportunity.

532
00:48:38,785 --> 00:48:41,266
Who would take credit
for the turnaround?

533
00:48:41,309 --> 00:48:44,008
Former KGB agent
turned politician?

534
00:48:44,051 --> 00:48:45,444
Or the ruthless oligarch

535
00:48:45,487 --> 00:48:48,229
whose attention was quickly turning to politics?

536
00:49:27,225 --> 00:49:29,575
[Derk] Khodorkovsky's
an interesting man.

537
00:49:29,618 --> 00:49:31,707
Because, now,
he has all these money.

538
00:49:33,883 --> 00:49:37,017
He started thinking
about, you know,

539
00:49:37,061 --> 00:49:40,020
"What's next?
What is my role in society?"

540
00:49:40,064 --> 00:49:41,935
And this is why
he clashes with Putin.

541
00:50:16,100 --> 00:50:18,102
[Igor] There are rumors
that Putin in particular,

542
00:50:18,145 --> 00:50:21,192
didn't like one program...

543
00:50:21,235 --> 00:50:23,672
where he was portrayed as a...

544
00:50:23,716 --> 00:50:27,807
midget man, who became
a ruler of the country.

545
00:50:27,850 --> 00:50:31,898
Due to his power of magic.

546
00:50:31,941 --> 00:50:34,292
At some point,
magic disappeared,

547
00:50:34,335 --> 00:50:38,122
and people see this midget man
for what he is.

548
00:50:41,951 --> 00:50:45,694
Yeltsin could be angry
at some program,

549
00:50:45,738 --> 00:50:47,957
but, uh, were no reprises.

550
00:50:48,001 --> 00:50:51,570
Putin and his people had
an entirely different attitude

551
00:50:51,613 --> 00:50:53,180
towards TV.

552
00:50:54,616 --> 00:50:56,662
[Arkady] Putin was the product
of television.

553
00:50:56,705 --> 00:50:57,793
They made him.

554
00:50:58,751 --> 00:51:00,100
He was absolutely nobody.

555
00:51:00,144 --> 00:51:02,363
I mean, nobody ever heard
of Vladimir Putin.

556
00:51:04,278 --> 00:51:07,325
The fact that television
could actually help

557
00:51:07,368 --> 00:51:11,416
make him into president,
within six months.

558
00:51:11,459 --> 00:51:15,028
I think was enough for him
to understand the real power.

559
00:51:18,162 --> 00:51:20,120
[Alex] If TV could make
his reputation...

560
00:51:21,078 --> 00:51:22,079
it could also break him.

561
00:51:24,907 --> 00:51:26,953
[foreboding music]

562
00:51:32,306 --> 00:51:34,830
[Alex]Seven months after Putin became president,

563
00:51:34,874 --> 00:51:38,051
a terrible underwater explosion ripped apart the Kursk,

564
00:51:38,095 --> 00:51:40,227
a Russian nuclear submarine.

565
00:51:40,271 --> 00:51:41,924
As the nation anxiously watched

566
00:51:41,968 --> 00:51:45,014
the efforts to rescue
a few survivors...

567
00:51:45,058 --> 00:51:47,365
Putin was photographed
hosting a barbecue

568
00:51:47,408 --> 00:51:49,149
at the seaside resort.

569
00:51:49,193 --> 00:51:51,630
For ten days,
relentless TV news reports

570
00:51:51,673 --> 00:51:53,284
shredded Putin's reputation,

571
00:51:53,327 --> 00:51:54,981
by chronicling the incompetence

572
00:51:55,024 --> 00:51:56,678
and dishonesty
of the government.

573
00:51:59,681 --> 00:52:04,077
To recover, Putin rushed to talk to the widows of the sailors.

574
00:52:04,121 --> 00:52:06,297
But rather
than take responsibility,

575
00:52:06,340 --> 00:52:09,474
he looked to administer blame
on television.

576
00:52:22,139 --> 00:52:24,793
[Arkady] Putin, as somebody
who was both

577
00:52:24,837 --> 00:52:25,925
born and bred
in the Soviet Union

578
00:52:25,968 --> 00:52:28,014
but more importantly,
bred by the KGB,

579
00:52:28,057 --> 00:52:31,583
has this very conspiratorial
view of the world.

580
00:52:31,626 --> 00:52:34,281
And that view of the world
suggests that people don't have

581
00:52:34,325 --> 00:52:36,762
any free will, um, and history,

582
00:52:36,805 --> 00:52:38,633
therefore, doesn't have
any free will.

583
00:52:38,677 --> 00:52:41,636
That everything is pre-planned,
plotted by somebody else.

584
00:52:41,680 --> 00:52:45,074
So he immediately assumed
that this was a plot...

585
00:52:45,118 --> 00:52:48,121
uh, to subvert him.

586
00:52:48,165 --> 00:52:50,819
There was a very emotional,
I think, genuine outburst.

587
00:52:51,951 --> 00:52:54,954
Vladimir Putin,
president of Russia.

588
00:53:01,265 --> 00:53:02,962
What happened
with the submarine?

589
00:53:28,205 --> 00:53:31,512
-Thank you, Mr. President.
-Thank you.

590
00:53:31,556 --> 00:53:34,602
[Alex] Putin's command of
the media was quickly evident.

591
00:53:34,646 --> 00:53:37,649
Even in the TV images of one
of the grieving relatives,

592
00:53:37,692 --> 00:53:40,652
whose voice was silenced,
with eerie efficiency.

593
00:54:01,368 --> 00:54:05,329
Putin and his people
have KGB background.

594
00:54:05,372 --> 00:54:07,331
I'm talking about control.

595
00:54:07,374 --> 00:54:10,812
What you don't control,
is a potential threat.

596
00:54:10,856 --> 00:54:12,901
What you control is safe.

597
00:54:15,077 --> 00:54:16,383
Everything should be controlled.

598
00:54:18,255 --> 00:54:21,823
So those things they did
was to establish control,

599
00:54:21,867 --> 00:54:25,784
over TV, because uncontrolled TV
was a threat.

600
00:54:27,394 --> 00:54:29,178
[Alex]After the Kursk episode,

601
00:54:29,222 --> 00:54:31,833
Putin's government took over
the two major TV networks

602
00:54:31,877 --> 00:54:33,226
controlled by oligarchs.

603
00:54:34,662 --> 00:54:36,229
Facing the prospect of prison,

604
00:54:36,273 --> 00:54:40,102
Gusinsky and his chief executive Malashenko, fled the country.

605
00:54:40,146 --> 00:54:41,669
Berezovsky soon followed.

606
00:54:43,628 --> 00:54:45,717
[Martin] When Boris Berezovsky
fell out with Putin

607
00:54:45,760 --> 00:54:48,241
in such a spectacular
and public way,

608
00:54:48,285 --> 00:54:50,374
uh, he fled to London, and I had
quite lots to do with him.

609
00:54:50,417 --> 00:54:53,028
He asked me
if I could write his...

610
00:54:53,072 --> 00:54:54,160
biography for him.

611
00:54:54,203 --> 00:54:55,509
So I spoke to him
over the years,

612
00:54:55,553 --> 00:54:57,598
and you know, socially, and, uh,

613
00:54:57,642 --> 00:55:01,298
at times, I recorded
the conversations as well.

614
00:55:03,865 --> 00:55:06,346
[inaudible]

615
00:55:06,390 --> 00:55:09,001
[Berezovsky on recording]
...has led Putin after

616
00:55:09,044 --> 00:55:10,698
the tragedy of

617
00:55:10,742 --> 00:55:14,354
Kursk submarine, and the most...

618
00:55:14,398 --> 00:55:18,358
During our meeting,
he told me that...

619
00:55:18,402 --> 00:55:21,187
uh, I tried to destroy him.

620
00:55:21,230 --> 00:55:25,234
After that... he's really
not good well.

621
00:55:26,671 --> 00:55:30,370
At this time,
I need to see my friend...

622
00:55:30,414 --> 00:55:32,633
-[Martin] Yes.
-[Boris] As a wronged man.

623
00:55:40,075 --> 00:55:42,034
[Derk] You know,
he kicked Berezovsky out

624
00:55:42,077 --> 00:55:43,731
to control of the first channel.

625
00:55:43,775 --> 00:55:46,212
He kicked Gusinsky out
of the country,

626
00:55:46,255 --> 00:55:47,822
and... to control of NTV.

627
00:55:49,476 --> 00:55:50,608
He had the airwaves.

628
00:55:51,870 --> 00:55:54,394
[fireworks popping]

629
00:56:08,495 --> 00:56:10,541
Once he controlled
the narrative and the image,

630
00:56:10,584 --> 00:56:12,281
which is everything in Russia,

631
00:56:12,325 --> 00:56:13,587
uh, he could take then control

632
00:56:13,631 --> 00:56:15,023
of the commanded hearts
of the economy,

633
00:56:15,067 --> 00:56:17,722
the oil, uh, and take on
the biggest tycoon.

634
00:56:20,202 --> 00:56:22,727
[Derk] Putin had a very
valid point.

635
00:56:22,770 --> 00:56:26,295
Half of the parliament is on
the payroll of Khodorkovsky,

636
00:56:26,339 --> 00:56:29,603
many of the top people
in the oil ministry

637
00:56:29,647 --> 00:56:32,214
are people appointed
by the oligarchs.

638
00:56:32,258 --> 00:56:34,173
And you think, you know,
"What is this?"

639
00:56:34,216 --> 00:56:37,394
If I want to be a real president
I need to have my own people

640
00:56:37,437 --> 00:56:40,005
and I need to get these people
out of politics.

641
00:56:42,355 --> 00:56:45,097
[Alex] It was said at the time
that you were busy courting

642
00:56:45,140 --> 00:56:48,013
or even buying influence
in the Duma.

643
00:57:35,539 --> 00:57:37,366
[flame roars]

644
00:58:09,790 --> 00:58:11,792
♪ Exxon

645
00:58:11,836 --> 00:58:15,013
[Martin] Khodorkovsky invited
the head of Exxon mobile,

646
00:58:15,056 --> 00:58:18,016
and said, "Look, my company
is open, transparent,

647
00:58:18,059 --> 00:58:19,800
why don't we have a partnership?

648
00:58:19,844 --> 00:58:22,629
We can be a massive player
on the world market."

649
00:58:22,673 --> 00:58:23,848
If you are Vladimir Putin

650
00:58:23,891 --> 00:58:26,154
sitting in the Kremlin,
at a time when...

651
00:58:26,198 --> 00:58:29,331
the world is going to war
over oil,

652
00:58:29,375 --> 00:58:31,638
and you have your
least favorite oligarch...

653
00:58:32,596 --> 00:58:34,162
saying to the Americans,

654
00:58:34,206 --> 00:58:35,468
"I've got lots of oil. Do you
want to come and share it?"

655
00:58:35,512 --> 00:58:37,383
You know, it's like
a slap in the face.

656
00:58:54,618 --> 00:58:56,663
[gloomy music]

657
00:58:59,623 --> 00:59:02,234
[Alex] The struggle for power
surfaced with an oil deal.

658
00:59:03,365 --> 00:59:05,150
Small company Northern Oil,

659
00:59:05,193 --> 00:59:08,457
paid seven million dollars for the rights to an oil field.

660
00:59:08,501 --> 00:59:10,024
Which had sold soon after,

661
00:59:10,068 --> 00:59:11,678
for 600 million dollars.

662
00:59:12,940 --> 00:59:15,595
to a government company,
Rosneft.

663
00:59:15,639 --> 00:59:18,467
The man at the center of the
deal was Igor Sechin,

664
00:59:18,511 --> 00:59:20,295
a close friend
of Vladimir Putin.

665
00:59:21,253 --> 00:59:23,516
Were kickbacks involved?

666
00:59:23,560 --> 00:59:25,649
Khodorkovsky wanted to make
an issue of the deal

667
00:59:25,692 --> 00:59:29,087
at an upcoming nationally
televised forum on corruption.

668
01:00:18,484 --> 01:00:20,486
[tense music]

669
01:00:28,973 --> 01:00:31,671
[Martin] Putin had asked
Russia's biggest businessmen

670
01:00:31,715 --> 01:00:34,326
to a round table discussion
on television on the theme

671
01:00:34,369 --> 01:00:35,980
on the theme of corruption.

672
01:00:36,023 --> 01:00:38,330
Most of the guys who took part

673
01:00:38,373 --> 01:00:40,201
had the wisdom to figure out

674
01:00:40,245 --> 01:00:42,116
that it was a little bit
of a fig leaf.

675
01:00:50,385 --> 01:00:51,517
[Martin] But Khodorkovsky,
he came

676
01:00:51,560 --> 01:00:53,258
under the whole pile of slides

677
01:00:53,301 --> 01:00:57,131
which reported that Russians
felt that corruption existed

678
01:00:57,175 --> 01:00:59,481
at the highest levels
of government.

679
01:01:24,376 --> 01:01:26,117
And they then got
into the discussion

680
01:01:26,160 --> 01:01:28,685
what Khodorkovsky thought was a
dodgy deal.

681
01:01:33,690 --> 01:01:35,517
[Alex] This Northern oil deal,

682
01:01:35,561 --> 01:01:36,693
was Putin happy
that you mentioned it?

683
01:02:41,540 --> 01:02:44,848
[Derk] You saw it from the
facial expression of Putin,

684
01:02:44,891 --> 01:02:47,981
he was really, really angry.

685
01:02:48,025 --> 01:02:50,984
Especially coming
from Khodorkovsky.

686
01:03:27,238 --> 01:03:29,153
[Derk] There were all these
warning signs.

687
01:03:29,196 --> 01:03:31,111
Many of his people
were arrested.

688
01:03:44,603 --> 01:03:46,126
[Alex] It was hard for me
to understand

689
01:03:46,170 --> 01:03:48,259
why Khodorkovsky was smiling

690
01:03:48,302 --> 01:03:49,956
or how he could say
that what was happening

691
01:03:50,000 --> 01:03:52,698
is standard practice.

692
01:03:52,741 --> 01:03:55,483
Just four months after the TV battle with Putin,

693
01:03:55,527 --> 01:03:57,659
the top security
official of Yukos,

694
01:03:57,703 --> 01:04:00,924
Alexey Pichugin, was arrested
and tried in secret

695
01:04:00,967 --> 01:04:03,883
in connection with the series
of contract killings.

696
01:04:03,927 --> 01:04:06,668
Which would include the murder of Mayor Petukhov

697
01:04:08,235 --> 01:04:09,802
That was strange,

698
01:04:09,846 --> 01:04:11,630
because five years earlier,
the case have been dropped

699
01:04:11,673 --> 01:04:14,807
when the likely killers,
two Chechen gangsters,

700
01:04:14,851 --> 01:04:15,852
have been murdered.

701
01:04:17,679 --> 01:04:21,335
Now the Kremlin was pushing
a fresh story.

702
01:04:21,379 --> 01:04:23,685
The Chechens were replaced
with new killers

703
01:04:23,729 --> 01:04:25,731
who suddenly confessed
and testified

704
01:04:25,774 --> 01:04:27,559
that Pichugin ordered the hit.

705
01:04:27,602 --> 01:04:30,562
When Pichugin refused
to implicate Khodorkovsky,

706
01:04:30,605 --> 01:04:34,131
Pechugan claimed he was dosed
psychotropic drugs.

707
01:04:34,174 --> 01:04:36,089
When that didn't work,
the new triggerman

708
01:04:36,133 --> 01:04:37,917
claimed that the
order to kill the mayor

709
01:04:37,961 --> 01:04:40,964
come from Pichugin's boss,
Leonid Nevzlin.

710
01:07:56,898 --> 01:08:00,467
[indistinct chattering]

711
01:08:02,208 --> 01:08:04,645
-[clamoring]
-[camera shutters clicking]

712
01:08:12,914 --> 01:08:15,656
[reporter1] The richest man in Russia, Mikhail Khodorkovsky

713
01:08:15,700 --> 01:08:18,572
seized at gunpoint
by Russian Special Forces.

714
01:08:18,616 --> 01:08:19,791
[reporter 2]
Khodorkovsky is locked up

715
01:08:19,834 --> 01:08:21,445
in an overcrowded
Russian prison.

716
01:09:15,194 --> 01:09:16,848
[Alex] Did your
hunger strike succeed?

717
01:09:16,891 --> 01:09:19,024
Was Lebedev
let out of the dungeon?

718
01:09:34,909 --> 01:09:36,433
[Arkady]
I remember calling my editor.

719
01:09:36,476 --> 01:09:38,739
I said, "They just arrested
Khodorkovsky."

720
01:09:38,783 --> 01:09:41,089
And the response
from London was,

721
01:09:41,133 --> 01:09:43,440
"Well, it couldn't have happened
to a better man."

722
01:09:43,483 --> 01:09:45,659
I don't want
to paint Khodorkovsky

723
01:09:45,703 --> 01:09:47,226
as an angel if he wasn't.

724
01:09:47,270 --> 01:09:49,402
But I was rather horrified

725
01:09:49,446 --> 01:09:52,884
when I saw Vladimir Putin
holding a copy of my stories,

726
01:09:52,927 --> 01:09:56,366
saying, "Look, even
the Western press outside,

727
01:09:56,409 --> 01:09:57,671
he was a terrible man."

728
01:10:00,108 --> 01:10:04,374
It was very clear that this is
not about finding the truth,

729
01:10:04,417 --> 01:10:06,637
or finding what happened.

730
01:10:06,680 --> 01:10:08,247
It was about
putting papers together,

731
01:10:08,291 --> 01:10:11,511
so that it looks like
it's a real case.

732
01:10:11,555 --> 01:10:13,252
But, in fact,
it's not a real case.

733
01:10:23,219 --> 01:10:25,395
[Maria] As someone with a legal
background in Russia,

734
01:10:25,438 --> 01:10:26,918
I had to try to interpret

735
01:10:26,961 --> 01:10:29,790
and explain this
to American lawyers.

736
01:10:29,834 --> 01:10:32,402
Khodorkovsky and Lebedev
were put in a cage

737
01:10:32,445 --> 01:10:36,623
to show everyone
who is the boss here.

738
01:10:36,667 --> 01:10:37,972
[Martin] Khodorkovsky
was accused

739
01:10:38,016 --> 01:10:39,757
of tax evasion, embezzlement.

740
01:10:39,800 --> 01:10:40,975
All these things.

741
01:10:41,019 --> 01:10:44,675
But it's this
particularly hard to say

742
01:10:44,718 --> 01:10:46,285
whether or not he's guilty.

743
01:10:46,329 --> 01:10:49,767
Because the law was in such
a fluid state in those years.

744
01:10:49,810 --> 01:10:53,161
All the other oligarchs did
exactly the same things.

745
01:10:53,205 --> 01:10:56,034
And they were free
to keep doing it.

746
01:10:57,992 --> 01:11:00,299
[Maria]During the first trial, the Russian attorneys

747
01:11:00,343 --> 01:11:01,909
were trying to pretend like

748
01:11:01,953 --> 01:11:03,476
they're defending
an ordinary case.

749
01:11:17,360 --> 01:11:18,665
[Maria] The Russian
prosecutors think

750
01:11:18,709 --> 01:11:20,319
the more papers
they put together,

751
01:11:20,363 --> 01:11:21,973
the more it looks legitimate.

752
01:11:22,016 --> 01:11:24,976
They wrote like hundreds
of volume of material

753
01:11:25,019 --> 01:11:27,065
of basically nothing.

754
01:11:27,108 --> 01:11:30,286
For example, the used company
telephone directory.

755
01:11:30,329 --> 01:11:32,853
As an evidence
of the criminal enterprise.

756
01:11:53,831 --> 01:11:57,051
[Maria] Yukos as a company
was accused of not paying taxes

757
01:11:57,095 --> 01:11:59,140
for six years.

758
01:11:59,184 --> 01:12:02,361
[Martin] Khodorkovsky was
discussing payment of back taxes

759
01:12:02,405 --> 01:12:05,495
that would settle Yukos's

760
01:12:05,538 --> 01:12:07,584
debts to the State.

761
01:12:07,627 --> 01:12:09,194
And when Yukos agreed to that,

762
01:12:09,237 --> 01:12:10,369
then another demand
would come in.

763
01:12:10,413 --> 01:12:12,284
A new demand
will be higher this time.

764
01:12:12,328 --> 01:12:14,417
So it wasn't a case of wanting

765
01:12:14,460 --> 01:12:16,549
to recoup the taxes
that haven't been paid.

766
01:12:16,593 --> 01:12:19,552
It was a case of wanting
to destroy Yukos.

767
01:12:22,555 --> 01:12:24,470
[Maria] There was a bankruptcy auction.

768
01:12:25,558 --> 01:12:28,039
And I was denied access to it

769
01:12:28,082 --> 01:12:30,041
with no basic or any
legitimate reason.

770
01:12:41,574 --> 01:12:43,837
[Alex] A mysterious,
newly-created company

771
01:12:43,881 --> 01:12:45,622
Baikal Finance Group

772
01:12:45,665 --> 01:12:47,363
suddenly emerged
to bid for Yukos.

773
01:12:48,668 --> 01:12:50,322
But Baikal had no assets.

774
01:12:50,366 --> 01:12:52,803
And its headquarters turned out to be a vodka bar.

775
01:12:52,846 --> 01:12:54,805
Two hours outside of Moscow.

776
01:12:54,848 --> 01:12:56,284
[audience laughs]

777
01:12:59,331 --> 01:13:00,767
When Baikal won the auction,

778
01:13:00,811 --> 01:13:03,727
it sold Yukos to the
government-controlled Rosneft.

779
01:13:04,858 --> 01:13:07,426
Rosneft is the state
oil company,

780
01:13:07,470 --> 01:13:11,387
and it is run by one of Putin's
closest friends,

781
01:13:11,430 --> 01:13:12,475
Igor Sechin.

782
01:13:14,259 --> 01:13:16,522
[Derk] Sechin was Putin's man.

783
01:13:16,566 --> 01:13:20,439
And when Putin renationalized
a lot of companies,

784
01:13:20,483 --> 01:13:22,049
he created a new clause.

785
01:13:23,137 --> 01:13:25,575
Oligarch 2.0.

786
01:14:13,753 --> 01:14:15,451
[Derk] In most countries
in the world,

787
01:14:15,494 --> 01:14:17,496
oil companies are owned
by the state.

788
01:14:17,540 --> 01:14:21,631
Nothing wrong with that.
Good news for the Russians.

789
01:14:21,674 --> 01:14:24,329
You know? That's how 99 percent
of the people saw it.

790
01:14:25,548 --> 01:14:27,550
[grandiose music]

791
01:14:56,579 --> 01:15:00,931
The fact that the oligarchs
were so reviled and resented

792
01:15:00,974 --> 01:15:03,281
by the Russian people

793
01:15:03,324 --> 01:15:07,633
was a fantastically useful tool
for Putin.

794
01:15:07,677 --> 01:15:10,114
[Martin] Putin very famously
and publicly declared

795
01:15:10,157 --> 01:15:13,813
"I'm going to destroy
the oligarchs as a class."

796
01:15:13,857 --> 01:15:16,642
And every Russian would know
where the quotation came from.

797
01:15:16,686 --> 01:15:18,949
Because Stalin said
very famously,

798
01:15:18,992 --> 01:15:23,649
"I'm going to destroy the rich,
peasants as a class."

799
01:15:23,693 --> 01:15:26,478
And when he did bring
the oligarchs to heel,

800
01:15:26,522 --> 01:15:27,871
it was incredibly popular.

801
01:15:33,485 --> 01:15:36,270
[Arkady] What he says to
Khodorkovsky and to the country

802
01:15:36,314 --> 01:15:38,490
is that nothing belongs you.

803
01:15:38,534 --> 01:15:41,580
That you have
no legitimate rights to it.

804
01:15:41,624 --> 01:15:44,583
We control everything and we can
take away everything from you

805
01:15:44,627 --> 01:15:46,542
if you cross us.

806
01:15:46,585 --> 01:15:48,544
[camera shutter clicking]

807
01:16:46,471 --> 01:16:48,473
[light music]

808
01:17:19,722 --> 01:17:21,680
[light music]

809
01:19:17,578 --> 01:19:20,016
[Alex]Do you think that being in prison

810
01:19:20,059 --> 01:19:22,932
gave you special insight to Putin and the people around him?

811
01:22:18,150 --> 01:22:20,674
[reporter 3]Former oil tycoon,
Mikhail Khodorkovsky

812
01:22:20,718 --> 01:22:24,156
who was jailed for embezzlement and tax evasion in 2003

813
01:22:24,200 --> 01:22:25,810
is back in court.

814
01:22:25,853 --> 01:22:28,204
New charges brought against him, could see his term extended

815
01:22:28,247 --> 01:22:29,945
until 2017.

816
01:22:37,039 --> 01:22:38,344
[Alex]
The second trial was announced

817
01:22:38,388 --> 01:22:40,825
when Khodorkovsky was coming up

818
01:22:40,868 --> 01:22:42,392
to the point
that he might get through.

819
01:22:42,435 --> 01:22:44,960
It seems very clear,
Putin did not want him

820
01:22:45,003 --> 01:22:46,483
to get through.

821
01:23:10,463 --> 01:23:12,770
[Alex] The second trial was
a sequel in black comedy.

822
01:23:13,684 --> 01:23:14,902
In the first trial,

823
01:23:14,946 --> 01:23:16,774
the government convicted
Khodorkovsky

824
01:23:16,817 --> 01:23:19,429
for not paying taxes
on the oil HE sold.

825
01:23:19,472 --> 01:23:20,952
In the second,

826
01:23:20,996 --> 01:23:22,606
the government claimed he had
never sold the oil.

827
01:23:22,649 --> 01:23:24,434
He'd stolen it.

828
01:23:24,477 --> 01:23:27,219
But if he had stolen it,
where did he put it?

829
01:23:27,263 --> 01:23:30,353
And if he never sold it,
why did he owe the taxes?

830
01:24:12,786 --> 01:24:14,614
Is it not clear?

831
01:25:22,943 --> 01:25:24,945
[grandiose music]

832
01:25:52,973 --> 01:25:57,761
It's very important for me how
this trial will finish because

833
01:25:57,804 --> 01:26:00,590
according to that, I'll know
which country in the end

834
01:26:00,633 --> 01:26:02,461
my children will live in.

835
01:26:02,505 --> 01:26:06,552
Putin is very afraid
of Khodorkovsky.

836
01:26:06,596 --> 01:26:09,555
And he wants him
to be in the prison forever.

837
01:26:10,643 --> 01:26:13,211
This is against Russia.

838
01:26:13,255 --> 01:26:15,605
This is against Russia's future.

839
01:26:15,648 --> 01:26:20,349
And it means that
this is not a country of law.

840
01:26:20,392 --> 01:26:22,133
This is a country
of dictatorship.

841
01:27:34,988 --> 01:27:36,990
[Arkady] When he was in jail,
he suddenly gained

842
01:27:37,034 --> 01:27:39,297
through his stamina,
through his calm,

843
01:27:39,341 --> 01:27:40,777
through his resolution

844
01:27:40,820 --> 01:27:43,301
that moral authority
and respect of people.

845
01:27:43,345 --> 01:27:44,650
I wouldn't say he has legitimacy

846
01:27:45,521 --> 01:27:46,957
as a political figure.

847
01:27:47,000 --> 01:27:48,611
But I think
the perception of him

848
01:27:49,264 --> 01:27:51,309
has...

849
01:27:51,353 --> 01:27:53,355
made sort of a 180 degree turn.

850
01:29:47,077 --> 01:29:51,777
♪ I found my thrill

851
01:29:51,821 --> 01:29:55,128
♪ On blueberry hill

852
01:29:55,172 --> 01:29:57,087
[Martin]
There was a period when Putin

853
01:29:57,130 --> 01:29:59,132
because of the constitution
had to step down as president

854
01:29:59,176 --> 01:30:01,265
and become prime minister.

855
01:30:01,308 --> 01:30:02,919
And his colleague,
Dmitry Medvedev

856
01:30:02,962 --> 01:30:04,181
became president.

857
01:30:04,224 --> 01:30:05,617
There was a lot of talk
at that time

858
01:30:05,661 --> 01:30:09,404
that perhaps Medvedev
might be a rival

859
01:30:09,447 --> 01:30:12,711
power base to Putin's.

860
01:30:12,755 --> 01:30:14,452
Turned out to be
completely incorrect.

861
01:30:14,496 --> 01:30:17,499
Because at the end of Medvedev's
term as president,

862
01:30:17,542 --> 01:30:21,590
he simply stepped down
and Putin came back into power.

863
01:30:21,633 --> 01:30:24,941
♪ My dream came true

864
01:30:27,030 --> 01:30:31,904
♪ The wind
In the willow played ♪

865
01:30:31,948 --> 01:30:34,777
♪ Love's sweet melody

866
01:30:36,561 --> 01:30:41,044
[Derk] Till 2008, I think
Russia was on the right track.

867
01:30:41,087 --> 01:30:42,437
And Putin was okay.

868
01:30:43,960 --> 01:30:49,574
Then Putin decided to become
more authoritarian.

869
01:30:49,618 --> 01:30:53,056
He also decided that the country
could not live without him.

870
01:30:54,492 --> 01:30:56,494
That's what power does to you.

871
01:30:56,538 --> 01:30:59,628
You think you are the country,
and the country thinks

872
01:30:59,671 --> 01:31:03,066
without Putin,
there is no Russia.

873
01:31:03,109 --> 01:31:05,285
[clamoring]

874
01:31:07,592 --> 01:31:09,638
[Alex] More than
a 100 thousand protesters

875
01:31:09,681 --> 01:31:11,727
flooded Moscow's
Bolotnaya Square

876
01:31:11,770 --> 01:31:15,426
to protest Putin's return
to the presidency.

877
01:31:15,470 --> 01:31:19,474
The protesters at least could
imagine Russia without Putin.

878
01:32:03,213 --> 01:32:06,564
[Maria] The only way we could
potentially get him out of jail

879
01:32:06,608 --> 01:32:09,567
is not through judicial system
in Russia.

880
01:32:09,611 --> 01:32:12,309
But through some sort
of negotiations

881
01:32:12,352 --> 01:32:15,704
involving Western leaders
putting pressure on Putin.

882
01:32:40,859 --> 01:32:42,513
The host nation of Russia

883
01:32:42,557 --> 01:32:45,168
is continuing
a well-timed release

884
01:32:45,211 --> 01:32:47,997
of high profile prisoners.

885
01:32:48,040 --> 01:32:49,781
[reporter 4] We see
a riot band member,

886
01:32:49,825 --> 01:32:52,218
Nadezhda Tolokonnikova
has been freed

887
01:32:52,262 --> 01:32:54,569
as part of president
Putin's amnesty.

888
01:32:56,353 --> 01:32:57,876
[Maria] Putin really wanted
to see

889
01:32:57,920 --> 01:33:00,444
Western leadership coming
to Sochi

890
01:33:00,487 --> 01:33:03,447
and the pardon was his gesture

891
01:33:03,490 --> 01:33:05,667
in anticipation of

892
01:33:05,710 --> 01:33:07,712
gesture back
from the Western leaders.

893
01:33:10,889 --> 01:33:13,022
[Alex] How did you find out that
you were going to be released?

894
01:34:48,508 --> 01:34:50,510
[dramatic music]

895
01:35:28,113 --> 01:35:30,768
[Maria] I haven't met him until
he was released from prison.

896
01:35:32,552 --> 01:35:35,033
-We had some vodka.
-[Alex chuckles]

897
01:35:35,077 --> 01:35:37,993
Um, it was really unreal.

898
01:36:03,366 --> 01:36:04,541
[sighs]

899
01:36:29,392 --> 01:36:32,351
[Maria] He was really thinking
what his next public step

900
01:36:32,395 --> 01:36:33,918
in that fight should be.

901
01:36:33,962 --> 01:36:37,052
And then he said that "I'm ready
to make the public move."

902
01:36:37,095 --> 01:36:39,968
And he wanted to go to Kyiv.

903
01:36:40,011 --> 01:36:43,145
[Alex] In Kyiv, hundreds
of thousands of demonstrators

904
01:36:43,188 --> 01:36:44,842
demanded the government resign

905
01:36:44,886 --> 01:36:47,366
for rejecting closer ties
with the EU

906
01:36:47,410 --> 01:36:49,760
in favor of better relations
with Russia.

907
01:36:51,893 --> 01:36:53,633
Demonstrators pulled back

908
01:36:53,677 --> 01:36:56,985
under a hail of bullets fired
by government forces.

909
01:37:02,904 --> 01:37:05,036
[clapping]

910
01:37:39,984 --> 01:37:42,552
[cheers, applause]

911
01:37:51,343 --> 01:37:54,520
[Alex] In 2014, Khodorkovsky
moved to London

912
01:37:54,564 --> 01:37:56,218
and founded Open Russia.

913
01:37:56,261 --> 01:37:58,481
An umbrella group that funds
anti-Putin efforts

914
01:37:58,524 --> 01:38:02,877
and invests in long-range visions for democracy in Russia.

915
01:38:02,920 --> 01:38:06,097
The money for Open Russia
comes from Khodorkovsky.

916
01:38:06,141 --> 01:38:09,796
Somehow, even while serving
hard time in Siberia,

917
01:38:09,840 --> 01:38:13,061
he or his friends managed to protect some of his fortune.

918
01:38:31,775 --> 01:38:35,300
[Alex]While in Moscow, I spent a bit of time with Open Russia.

919
01:38:35,344 --> 01:38:39,217
On the ground, their efforts
were less than effective.

920
01:38:39,261 --> 01:38:41,480
Volunteers didn't have
strong enough glue

921
01:38:41,524 --> 01:38:43,308
to paste up their posters.

922
01:38:43,352 --> 01:38:45,397
And open Russia teleconferences

923
01:38:45,441 --> 01:38:48,183
in which Khodorkovsky beamed
himself into Moscow

924
01:38:48,226 --> 01:38:51,751
only attracted the interest of
a few dozen supporters.

925
01:38:51,795 --> 01:38:55,103
[Igor] Khodorkovsky is not
a forgotten figure.

926
01:38:55,146 --> 01:38:57,322
But you can't touch him

927
01:38:57,366 --> 01:39:01,805
so he becomes more and more
TV image.

928
01:39:01,848 --> 01:39:04,286
Okay, not TV,
he's not shown on TV.

929
01:39:04,329 --> 01:39:06,897
Computer generated image, okay?

930
01:39:06,941 --> 01:39:08,681
And it's not good, of course...

931
01:39:10,683 --> 01:39:13,469
-for a politician....
-[Alex] Virtual Khodorkovsky.

932
01:39:13,512 --> 01:39:15,166
Virtual Khodorkovsky. Exactly.

933
01:39:16,298 --> 01:39:18,169
[Derk] Being outside of Russia,

934
01:39:18,213 --> 01:39:22,913
he really cannot
influence situations here.

935
01:39:22,957 --> 01:39:25,785
He wants to be Jesus Christ,
but, you know, he has a past.

936
01:39:34,055 --> 01:39:38,276
[Alex] Over time, complicated
stories become more simple.

937
01:39:38,320 --> 01:39:42,193
Shades of gray separate in the pools of black and white.

938
01:39:42,237 --> 01:39:45,196
That simplicity can
serve a political purpose.

939
01:39:46,371 --> 01:39:48,721
In 1998,
there were many suspects

940
01:39:48,765 --> 01:39:51,246
in the brutal killing
of Mayor Luzhkov.

941
01:39:51,289 --> 01:39:55,032
From Chechen gangsters,
to Mayor's wife.

942
01:39:55,076 --> 01:39:57,817
Today in Nefteyugansk,
there is only one.

943
01:41:39,223 --> 01:41:43,923
[Arkady] Khodorkovsky's story
marks the beginning of a journey

944
01:41:43,967 --> 01:41:46,404
which ultimately will result

945
01:41:46,448 --> 01:41:47,927
in violence.

946
01:41:47,971 --> 01:41:49,755
And this is where we are today.

947
01:41:49,799 --> 01:41:52,584
Where violence
is the only truth.

948
01:41:52,628 --> 01:41:57,285
At your disposal for resolving
social contradictions

949
01:41:57,328 --> 01:41:58,460
or political conflicts.

950
01:42:32,058 --> 01:42:34,235
[Alex] In England,
over the past 15 years,

951
01:42:34,278 --> 01:42:35,671
there have been a growing

952
01:42:35,714 --> 01:42:38,761
number of mysterious deaths
related to Russia.

953
01:42:38,804 --> 01:42:42,156
Khodokovsky's lawyer was killed in a helicopter crash.

954
01:42:42,199 --> 01:42:45,507
The anti-Putin Russian spy,
Alexander Litvinenko

955
01:42:45,550 --> 01:42:46,899
was poisoned to death.

956
01:42:46,943 --> 01:42:49,554
Six months after
he delivered an affidavit,

957
01:42:49,598 --> 01:42:51,208
the Russian's Secret Services

958
01:42:51,252 --> 01:42:53,645
have paid for the murder of the mayor of Nefteyugansk

959
01:42:54,864 --> 01:42:57,171
Boris Berezovsky was found dead.

960
01:42:57,214 --> 01:43:00,913
His neck suspended by his own
cashmere scarf.

961
01:43:00,957 --> 01:43:03,177
But the coroner
was unable to conclude

962
01:43:03,220 --> 01:43:06,832
whether the hanging was
a suicide or a murder.

963
01:43:06,876 --> 01:43:10,836
Berezovsky became
consumed by this obsession

964
01:43:10,880 --> 01:43:13,012
that he was gonna
bring down Putin

965
01:43:13,056 --> 01:43:14,492
from London.

966
01:43:16,059 --> 01:43:17,408
I would be very sad

967
01:43:17,452 --> 01:43:20,194
if Khodorkovsky went
the same way Berezovsky did.

968
01:43:23,980 --> 01:43:27,331
I mean your life may be
at risk in London.

969
01:43:27,375 --> 01:43:29,333
[Alex] Did you have
a conversation with your wife

970
01:43:29,377 --> 01:43:31,205
about continuing to speak out?

971
01:44:08,633 --> 01:44:10,635
[light music]

972
01:44:37,488 --> 01:44:39,055
[Vladimir] I can't speak
of Russia too much.

973
01:44:39,098 --> 01:44:41,144
One of the top Kremlin
political aids,

974
01:44:41,187 --> 01:44:44,365
uh, said publicly, "There's
no Russia without Putin."

975
01:44:44,408 --> 01:44:45,888
End of quote.

976
01:44:45,931 --> 01:44:48,456
Probably the most insulting
thing I've ever heard said

977
01:44:48,499 --> 01:44:50,545
about my country.

978
01:44:50,588 --> 01:44:53,199
[Alex] Vladimir Kara-Murza
is a former journalist

979
01:44:53,243 --> 01:44:54,940
and anti-Putin
political warrior.

980
01:44:56,290 --> 01:44:57,943
He was close to John McCain

981
01:44:57,987 --> 01:45:01,033
who asked him to be among those who carried his coffin.

982
01:45:01,077 --> 01:45:03,819
Kara-Murza was poisoned twice
while on assignment

983
01:45:03,862 --> 01:45:05,908
for Khodorkovsky and Russia.

984
01:45:05,951 --> 01:45:09,346
He played a key role in passing the Magnitsky act

985
01:45:09,390 --> 01:45:11,261
which sanctions
certain Russian individuals

986
01:45:11,305 --> 01:45:13,524
for human rights abuses.

987
01:45:13,568 --> 01:45:15,483
Kara-Murza now works
with Khodorkovsky

988
01:45:15,526 --> 01:45:17,746
to provide research
and offer advice

989
01:45:17,789 --> 01:45:19,530
to those considering sanctions

990
01:45:19,574 --> 01:45:21,315
on members
of Putin's inner circle.

991
01:46:44,398 --> 01:46:48,184
[Maria] We do have a new project
of Open Russia called Dossier.

992
01:46:48,227 --> 01:46:51,317
It takes the
investigative journalist

993
01:46:51,361 --> 01:46:55,496
down in Russia or outside
of Russia and builds on that.

994
01:46:55,539 --> 01:46:58,063
[Alex]A key focus is the circle of new oligarchs

995
01:46:58,107 --> 01:46:59,804
surrounding Putin.

996
01:46:59,848 --> 01:47:02,067
One of them
is Yevgeny Prigozhin,

997
01:47:02,111 --> 01:47:04,592
nicknamed Putin's chef.

998
01:47:04,635 --> 01:47:06,507
Following a recipe
of covert ops,

999
01:47:06,550 --> 01:47:09,988
the chef cooks up missions
for Putin all over the world.

1000
01:47:10,032 --> 01:47:12,730
Special Counsel Robert Mueller
accused Prigozhin

1001
01:47:12,774 --> 01:47:14,384
of launching cyberattacks

1002
01:47:14,428 --> 01:47:17,474
during the 2016
presidential election.

1003
01:47:17,518 --> 01:47:18,867
Others accused him

1004
01:47:18,910 --> 01:47:20,738
of running off-the-books
military operations

1005
01:47:20,782 --> 01:47:23,045
from Ukraine to Africa.

1006
01:47:23,088 --> 01:47:25,351
When Khodorkovsky funded
a group of journalists

1007
01:47:25,395 --> 01:47:27,963
to look into the matter,
they were murdered.

1008
01:47:28,006 --> 01:47:30,356
Reportedly by people working
for the chef..

1009
01:47:39,670 --> 01:47:41,933
[Alex] Back in Russia,
state-controlled TV

1010
01:47:41,977 --> 01:47:43,413
turns the story upside down,

1011
01:47:43,457 --> 01:47:45,763
blaming Khodorkovsky
for not doing more

1012
01:47:45,807 --> 01:47:47,112
to protect the journalists.

1013
01:47:56,382 --> 01:47:58,515
Open Russia also helped
to expose a plot

1014
01:47:58,559 --> 01:48:02,301
to kill a Russian double agent
in Salisbury, England.

1015
01:48:02,345 --> 01:48:05,043
The attack deployed a military chemical weapon

1016
01:48:05,087 --> 01:48:06,697
which badly poisoned two people

1017
01:48:06,741 --> 01:48:09,526
and killed
an innocent bystander.

1018
01:48:09,570 --> 01:48:11,746
Two members of the
assassination team

1019
01:48:11,789 --> 01:48:13,748
were spotted by British
surveillance cameras

1020
01:48:13,791 --> 01:48:15,706
and traced back through their
driver's licenses

1021
01:48:15,750 --> 01:48:17,795
to the GRU.

1022
01:48:17,839 --> 01:48:19,971
Russian military intelligence.

1023
01:48:20,015 --> 01:48:22,234
With a perfume bottle
full of Novichok,

1024
01:48:22,278 --> 01:48:23,975
a deadly nerve agent,

1025
01:48:24,019 --> 01:48:26,674
they travelled to Salisbury
on the day of the attack

1026
01:48:26,717 --> 01:48:28,502
and then fled quickly
back to Russia.

1027
01:49:35,438 --> 01:49:36,831
[Arkady] That interview

1028
01:49:36,874 --> 01:49:39,790
was sort of a double message
saying, nothing is true.

1029
01:49:41,531 --> 01:49:43,446
And of course we're lying.

1030
01:49:43,489 --> 01:49:45,970
And two fingers up to the West.

1031
01:49:46,014 --> 01:49:47,624
But we're still doing it.

1032
01:49:47,668 --> 01:49:49,713
And it's okay to lie.

1033
01:49:49,757 --> 01:49:52,498
It's negation of facts
and negation of truth.

1034
01:49:52,542 --> 01:49:53,761
Negation of reality.

1035
01:50:06,121 --> 01:50:07,992
[Alex] What kind of campaign
is Sobchak running?

1036
01:50:08,036 --> 01:50:09,341
Have you met her?
And what do you think of her?

1037
01:50:39,720 --> 01:50:41,983
How's the campaign going?

1038
01:50:42,026 --> 01:50:44,855
-Smooth as it can be.
-I understand.

1039
01:50:44,899 --> 01:50:49,773
Miss Sobchak just advises me
to take part in her campaign.

1040
01:50:53,429 --> 01:50:54,778
[Igor] She's doing things

1041
01:50:54,822 --> 01:50:58,173
which make her a very few
friends in the Krem,

1042
01:50:58,216 --> 01:51:00,697
When there's a fence,
we should understand,

1043
01:51:00,741 --> 01:51:02,612
that all we see

1044
01:51:02,656 --> 01:51:05,049
all this so-called campaign

1045
01:51:05,093 --> 01:51:07,312
is a, is a criminal game.

1046
01:51:36,777 --> 01:51:39,301
[Alex] After years in prison,
Khodorkovsky had learned

1047
01:51:39,344 --> 01:51:40,563
how to play the long game.

1048
01:51:43,653 --> 01:51:45,568
During the run
of election theater,

1049
01:51:45,611 --> 01:51:48,310
he wasn't trying to

1050
01:51:48,353 --> 01:51:51,748
He was offering support to a
number of political actors

1051
01:51:51,792 --> 01:51:54,838
who could amplify democratic
principles over time.

1052
01:52:10,724 --> 01:52:12,595
[Alex] Khodorkovsky wanted
to speak by proxy

1053
01:52:12,638 --> 01:52:14,162
to a younger generation

1054
01:52:14,205 --> 01:52:16,991
and be ready
for Russia after Putin.

1055
01:52:17,034 --> 01:52:19,036
They don't watch so much TV.

1056
01:52:19,080 --> 01:52:22,387
They surf the web, a domain the State is either been unwilling

1057
01:52:22,431 --> 01:52:24,433
or unable to control.

1058
01:52:24,476 --> 01:52:26,827
One web warrior, Alexei Navalny

1059
01:52:26,870 --> 01:52:28,785
is supported by Khodorkovsky.

1060
01:52:28,829 --> 01:52:32,267
Navalny is banned from TV
or running for office.

1061
01:52:32,310 --> 01:52:34,269
But he can get
more than 20 million views

1062
01:52:34,312 --> 01:52:35,444
on his YouTube channel.

1063
01:52:48,022 --> 01:52:49,458
[Alex] Why do you think

1064
01:52:49,501 --> 01:52:51,416
that Putin finds you
so dangerous or threatening?

1065
01:53:35,983 --> 01:53:37,419
[Alex] During election season,

1066
01:53:37,462 --> 01:53:39,769
there is a march in honor
of Boris Nemtsov,

1067
01:53:39,813 --> 01:53:41,858
an opposition politician
who'd been murdered

1068
01:53:41,902 --> 01:53:44,730
by mysterious gunmen
in front of the Kremlin.

1069
01:53:44,774 --> 01:53:47,821
Just a few days before he was
to release evidence

1070
01:53:47,864 --> 01:53:50,214
of Russia's involvement
in violence in Ukraine.

1071
01:54:15,065 --> 01:54:17,198
[Alex] Preparations in
government rules for the march

1072
01:54:17,241 --> 01:54:20,027
made it more protest theater
than protest.

1073
01:54:20,070 --> 01:54:21,985
Only certain signs were allowed.

1074
01:54:22,029 --> 01:54:24,161
And the tiny contention
from Open Russia

1075
01:54:24,205 --> 01:54:26,250
is not permitted to bring along it's posters.

1076
01:54:36,391 --> 01:54:39,394
[Alex] All the politicians
showed up in the bitter cold.

1077
01:55:18,912 --> 01:55:22,480
[Alex] Ksenia Sobchak's family
history haunted her campaign.

1078
01:55:22,524 --> 01:55:24,439
Her father was the mayor
of St. Petersburg

1079
01:55:24,482 --> 01:55:26,136
who first hired Putin.

1080
01:55:26,180 --> 01:55:29,270
Many believe Ksenia is a secret agent of the Kremlin.

1081
01:55:29,313 --> 01:55:31,098
Maybe even Putin's goddaughter.

1082
01:55:33,883 --> 01:55:35,798
In Russia, where visions of the future are blocked

1083
01:55:35,841 --> 01:55:38,932
by an unchanging present
under Putin,

1084
01:55:38,975 --> 01:55:41,499
conversations turn quickly
to the past.

1085
01:55:41,543 --> 01:55:44,024
Putin looks back
to days of empire

1086
01:55:44,067 --> 01:55:45,764
and wants to make Russia
great again.

1087
01:55:47,418 --> 01:55:49,029
Russian liberals are nostalgic

1088
01:55:49,072 --> 01:55:52,032
for the democratic freedoms
of the 90s.

1089
01:55:52,075 --> 01:55:54,599
But it's hard for them to argue in favor of the time

1090
01:55:54,643 --> 01:55:57,341
when a handful of men
control the economy

1091
01:55:57,385 --> 01:55:59,256
and so many lived
in fear of hunger,

1092
01:55:59,300 --> 01:56:01,345
violence, and economic chaos.

1093
01:56:02,129 --> 01:56:03,782
In such a past,

1094
01:56:03,826 --> 01:56:07,047
wouldn't most people settle for a present under Vladimir Putin?

1095
01:58:35,369 --> 01:58:37,197
[Alex] In Russia's
election theater,

1096
01:58:37,240 --> 01:58:39,895
everyone knows
how the story will end.

1097
01:58:39,938 --> 01:58:43,116
Some actors play along and
others improvise off a script.

1098
01:58:44,552 --> 01:58:47,207
But for now,
outside of the big cities,

1099
01:58:47,250 --> 01:58:49,078
audiences seem happy enough

1100
01:58:49,122 --> 01:58:51,167
with the fairytale
promoted by Putin.

1101
01:59:17,324 --> 01:59:18,977
[Alex]And far off Krasnokamensk

1102
01:59:19,021 --> 01:59:21,502
where Khodorkovsky spent so many years in prison, election

1103
01:59:21,545 --> 01:59:24,505
theater has the folksy flair of a high school musical.

1104
01:59:25,941 --> 01:59:28,117
Everyone roots
for a happy ending.

1105
01:59:28,161 --> 01:59:31,381
In a story scripted by the self-appointed man of the moment

1106
01:59:31,425 --> 01:59:33,862
who claims to have saved them
from the villains of the past.

1107
02:00:31,572 --> 02:00:32,660
[Alex] After Putin's next term,

1108
02:00:32,703 --> 02:00:34,923
can you imagine
that he will step down?

1109
02:00:34,966 --> 02:00:36,838
Or do you think he will just
keep going forever?

1110
02:00:37,708 --> 02:00:38,753
Who knows?

1111
02:00:42,974 --> 02:00:50,068
-Russia! Russia! Russia!
-Russia! Russia! Russia!

1112
02:00:50,112 --> 02:00:53,071
[Derk] Putin is now 18 years
in power.

1113
02:00:53,115 --> 02:00:55,813
He has this group of friends
around him

1114
02:00:55,857 --> 02:00:57,946
who are now feverously rich

1115
02:00:57,989 --> 02:01:00,253
and of course
they don't wanna see him go.

1116
02:01:01,341 --> 02:01:03,647
Their whole wealth

1117
02:01:03,691 --> 02:01:05,432
comes only from him.

1118
02:01:08,043 --> 02:01:09,523
It's very hard
to get out of this.

1119
02:01:17,357 --> 02:01:18,836
[Alex] What do you think is
Putin's worst nightmare?

1120
02:02:22,160 --> 02:02:23,423
[gunshots]

1121
02:02:29,646 --> 02:02:31,431
[Alex] I wondered how
Khodorkovsky could think

1122
02:02:31,474 --> 02:02:34,695
that Putin was weak or fearful.

1123
02:02:34,738 --> 02:02:36,653
After all, on the struggle
between the two men,

1124
02:02:37,611 --> 02:02:38,829
Khodorkovsky had lost.

1125
02:02:40,614 --> 02:02:42,746
But while in prison,
Khodorkovsky learned

1126
02:02:42,790 --> 02:02:44,269
that you can sometimes win

1127
02:02:44,313 --> 02:02:46,010
when you're willing
to lose everything.

1128
02:02:47,447 --> 02:02:49,144
The darker the night,

1129
02:02:49,187 --> 02:02:50,450
the brighter the stars.