Mark Galeotti - 21 Feb

Professor Mark Galeotti is one of the foremost Russia-watchers today, who travels there regularly to teach, lecture, talk to his contacts, and generally watch the unfolding story of the Putin era. Based in London, he is Senior Non-Resident Fellow at the Institute of International Relations Prague, having previously headed its Centre for European Security, and was before then Professor of Global Affairs at NYU. A prolific author on Russia and security affairs, he frequently acts as consultant to various government, commercial and law-enforcement agencies.

Putin is a nicer person than I am.
Donald Trump, 2015

Andropov, Yuri The formidable KGB chief and then Soviet leader, whom Putin appears to idolise but not understand.

FSB The Federal Security Service, the main internal counter-intelligence and security agency that succeeded the KGB.

FSO The Federal Protection Service, the small army of bodyguards, Kremlin riflemen, food tasters and phone tappers, whose job is to keep Putin and the rest of the government safe and happy.

Gorbachev, Mikhail The last Soviet leader, who reformed the USSR out of existence and appears in many ways to embody precisely what Putin is not.

GRU The Main Intelligence Directorate, the military intelligence agency.

Ivanov, Sergei The urbane KGB veteran who was Putins chief of staff and was regarded as a potential successor, but took semi-retirement in 2016.

Kabayeva, Alina The Olympic gold medal-winning rhythmic gymnast rumoured to be Putins current lover.

Kadyrov, Ramzan An unpredictable and violent man who professes loyalty to Putin while running the Chechen Republic as a virtually independent fiefdom.

KGB The Committee of State Security, the all-encompassing Soviet domestic security and foreign intelligence service.

Kudrin, Alexei A long-term associate of Putins, once a friend and token economic liberal in his government, now somewhat estranged.

Medvedev, Dmitry Putins long-suffering prime minister, less his colleague and more his gopher.

Navalny, Alexei The main opposition figure today, an anti-corruption campaigner who uses the Internet to bypass the Kremlins efforts to keep him off television.

Patrushev, Nikolai Secretary of the Security Council, former head of the FSB, and a man who makes Putin look like a moderate.

Presidential Administration The most powerful institution in Putins Russia, in effect his government-above-the-government.

Prigozhin, Yevgeny A man who has done well by doing whatever Putin needs doing. He is known as Putins chef because he came to know him when he ran a restaurant in St Petersburg; his companies still provide food for the Kremlin and many government agencies.

Roldugin, Sergei A cellist and childhood friend of Putins who is now thought to be worth hundreds of millions of pounds.

Rotenberg, Arkady and Boris Childhood friends and judo sparring partners of Putins, who have done very well in business under his rule.

Sechin, Igor Head of the oil firm Rosneft and Putins former deputy; the Western media calls him Russias Darth Vader, but no one there would dare.

Shoigu, Sergei Defence minister since 2012, and perhaps the most powerful and influential figure within the government who didnt get to that position by being a friend of Putins.

Sobchak, Anatoly Putins old professor at law school and the first democratically elected mayor of St Petersburg, who appointed him as his deputy.

Surkov, Vladislav Putins former political technologist and the impresario behind his fake political system, now unofficial boss of south-eastern Ukraine.

SVR The Foreign Intelligence Service, Russias main espionage agency.

Zolotov, Viktor Putins former chief bodyguard, now head of the National Guard, a thuggish loyalist through and through.

White Rabbit in Moscow is a quintessentially new Russian restaurant. Under a glass dome above a glitzy shopping centre close to the Stalinist Gothic tower of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it is the kind of place where special little chairs are placed next to female diners for their handbags, where the (hefty) bill arrives inside a matryoshka nesting doll and where the idea of a fusion of traditional Russian and international cuisine runs to pine-flavoured ice cream. Im too miserly and too plain in my tastes to be a fan, but its flamboyant and prestigious, a place at which to be seen. I shouldnt have been surprised that, when invited to choose a place for lunch, a former official of the Presidential Administration (Vladimir Putins chancery and the most powerful institution in Russia) would pick White Rabbit. Even an overpriced meal and lots of naturally Crimean wine was not enough to get him to be really indiscreet, but one of the more revealing parts of the conversation was when he launched into a lengthy and moderately profane diatribe about the Wests continued misunderstanding of the boss. Seriously, I read some of the shit in your newspapers, that your politicians say, that your experts write, and I just dont know where they get it. No wonder weve got into the mess were in now. And you know what? He waved an almost-empty glass and frowned at me as if I were a representative of the entire Western journalistic, political and pundit class. It made my job harder. How? What kind of relations can we have with you all, so long as you dont really see us, you dont hear us? So long as you read whatever you want into the presidents every word and his last fart. My job was to try and communicate, but it didnt matter what we said, what we put into the bosss speeches, everyone just assumed they knew what we really meant, whatever we actually said. Everyone thinks they know Vladimir Vladimirovich.