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Quote by Andrei Soldatov

“In 1999 Putin was not a public figure accustomed to journalists and the free exchange of information. In the perestroika years Putin had been stationed in Germany as a KGB officer, and he missed everything that happened, including Gorbachev’s campaign of glasnost—or openness—when newspapers were competing to expose Stalinist crimes; Soviet apparatchiks argued with dissidents like Andrei Sakharov at Congress of People’s Deputies, broadcast in real-time on television; and the pages of democratic Moskovskie Novosti were read aloud by Muscovites on Pushkin Square. Putin had little idea of how the West functioned from his posting in East Germany, which was under total control of the secret services. He missed even the fall of the Berlin Wall, because he was serving in Dresden, 125 miles south of Berlin.”

Quote by Andrei Soldatov

Book:The Red Web: The Struggle Between Russia's Digital Dictators and the New Online Revolutionaries
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The Red Web: The Struggle Between Russia's Digital Dictators and the New Online Revolutionaries

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Andrei Soldatov

Andrei Soldatov is a Russian journalist known for his in-depth reporting on Russian government surveillance and national security agencies. Born on October 4, 1975, he has been active in the news industry since the 1990s. more

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