Yevgenia Albats is an investigative journalist and editor-in-chief of The New Times, a Moscow-based independent political weekly. She is the author of four books, including The State Within a State: The KGB and Its Hold on Russia—Past, Present and Future.
The following interview was conducted by the Kirk Documentary Group’s Michael Wiser for FRONTLINE on Sept. 29, 2022. It has been edited for clarity and length.
This interview is being published as part of FRONTLINE’s Transparency Project, an effort to open up the source material behind our documentaries. Explore the transcript of this interview, and others, on the FRONTLINE website: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/interview-collection/putin-and-the-presidents/
#Putin #YevgeniaAlbats #FrontlineInterview
Subscribe on YouTube: http://bit.ly/1BycsJW
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frontlinepbs
Twitter: https://twitter.com/frontlinepbs
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/frontline
FRONTLINE is streaming more than 300 documentaries online, for free, here: http://to.pbs.org/hxRvQP
Funding for FRONTLINE is provided through the support of PBS viewers and by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Additional funding is provided by the Abrams Foundation; the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation; Park Foundation; the Heising-Simons Foundation; and the FRONTLINE Journalism Fund with major support from Jon and Jo Ann Hagler on behalf of the Jon L. Hagler Foundation, and additional support from Koo and Patricia Yuen.
I've listened to this interview three times over the last two years. Each time I have been riveted to every word. Ms Albat is both articulate and passionate. Her insight into Putin behavior, and his regime is unnerving and ominous. This interview is very important — especially now as Trump V. 2.0 seems to be cozying up to Putin in his attempt to get the war stopped in Ukraine. I expect that I will listen to this interview a fourth time; there is so much to think about.
Who's watching in 2025?
Wow!!I watched it twice in a row – it was an excellent interview. Will send it in to friends as the message is so important. This leaves me so angry and frustrated … a year later and still Russian bombs are falling on Ukraine. I think everyone should watch this video, her rightful anger, directness & frustration are contageous and we need courage to take a stand against the evil in our world.
She's embodies what good and noble is left of Russia.
Possessing huge knowledge is not the first thing that comes to my mind when i talk to u.s. citizens
Russia suffers from low self esteem. It has a history of humiliation since the Bolshevik revolution. Even now the GDP per capita is very low compared to the West. That is why they are backward looking to the glory days of empire.
Unfortunately some of the same old Cold War attitudes are still alive in the US too.
America an enemy that want's to destroy Russian culture ? Absolutely correct, but only because the Western Culture is inimicable to Russian " culture" which is that a very small number of the " elites" own and control not only all the resources of the country but also have the population enslaved by ignorancre and poverty to serve them as slaves and provide them with anything they want. The elites are terrified that the Russian people will find out and then it will be all over for them.
A lot could have – and should have been done – about it, alas, the administration that was in charge during that period was both, utterly incompetent and ineffably cowardly, so much so that they had decided to to do virtually nothing to stop Russia.
They Europeans never cared about Ukraine in the first place – the only things they care about is leisure and living the good life.
Little do they know, Russia has both, the capabilities and the intentions to put a decisive end to their good life and their leisure.
Political science and political philosophy as majors don't exist in China either.
Young Paul Williams George Wilson Charles
From all of the Putin and the presidents series, which are all magnificient, this one left me in awe… fantastic deep and knowledgable… amazing interview
Waste of time following her
This woman is such a dishonest ignorant liar if she does not believe the US is eyeing Russian resources if she does not see the poverty levels in the United States and how the average American is living she's obviously a very wealthy and privileged traitor if she doesn't see how the rich are getting richer in America on the poor are getting poorer
Traitor.
wonderful, brave, courageous woman!!!! Yevgenia Albats for Russian president!!!!!!!!!!!
Just watched this documentary, what a load of biased crap! Anti Putin & Anti Trump! The USA wage war on multiple countries meanwhile Trump and Putin try to stay out of wars and create peace by talking for hours. PBS America should be ashamed of this reporting.
I always thought the MAIN reason Putin invaded Ukraine was he feared the Russian people would see their moves to democracy as a threat – same with all the ex-Soviet republics moving there also.
One real benefit of the internet! Losing Putin, and other dictators, their total control of information…
I am, however, doubtful Putin has the resources to go further than smaller incursions into the edges. And not into a NATO country. But he WOULD, if he thought he could, for sure. 😞
And, incredibly, he has "friends" apologists all over the west – too busy pointing out our "many" faults, enthusiastically cheered by masses in our streets.
Ukraine was created by the Romanov dynasty in 1783 out of Ottoman lands. Romanov queen Katherine the great sent troops into the Ottoman lands up to Lviv city. Problem was, in 1783, troops of Imperial Russia entered from Donbass and marched all the way to Lviv (Lemberg city). so, in 1783 – 1784, the Romanov dynasty should have stopped in Kyiv, where a small Cossack garrison was already entrenched from 1667 onwards. The Imperial Russian army advancing to Lviv city from Kviv city was a big mistake, I found out upon doing Google research. Kyiv itself was a small land under Cossack rule from 1667, when the local Ottoman garrison was defeated by Cossacks from nearby villages. Original plan of the was of 2022 was to invade Kyiv and replace the government in Kyiv with a new government led by deposed president Victor Yanukovitch. After the fall of communism, NATO shouldn't expand into Kyiv, the original town which was the capital of Rus. Russians believe they are originally from Kyiv. Who controls the world after the fall of communism. I came to this conclusion while driving through a food bank in SE Oklahoma City, months ago. The world is indirectly controlled by the virtual umbrella of vested interest groups known as the Deep State in Washington DC as well as controlled by four nations after the fall of communism. Who controls the Deep State? The Deep State controls the President of the US and policy makers of the NATO group. The Deep State is controlled by the four nations of Lithuania and Latvia and Estonia and Poland. So, the leaders of Lithuania and Latvia and Estonia of north Europe., and Poland control NATO and control the President of the US. These four anti-Russian nations control NATO groups and are the sworn enemies of the post communist elected governments of the Russian Federation after the fall of communism. These four nations manipulate the Deep State group of Washington DC and the President of the US and the NATO group of nations. Few average members of the Deep State whether civilians or soldiers have travelled to north Europe and East Europe. They say, "I love it here. Our forefathers had unnecessarily conquered the western hemisphere from native Americans for no reason. The US is now full of criminals. We Americans can conquer north Europe and East Europe. These four countries are welcoming us with open arms. I like the pretty landscapes here."
0:43: 🇷🇺 Vladimir Putin sees the United States as the enemy and believes it wants to occupy Russia.
6:09: 🌠Putin and his people believe that the West is trying to conquer Russian culture and replace it with its own, while the West sees Putin as a threat due to his KGB background and his claustrophobic view of the world.
13:17: 🇺🇦 Putin viewed Ukraine as a threat to his power and saw any success in Ukraine as a bad example for Russians.
20:26: 💔 The speaker expresses their hatred for Putin and their fear of his actions in Ukraine, describing him as a 21st-century monster.
27:07: 🌠The speaker questions why the rest of the world did not see Putin's actions and intentions earlier, leading to concerns about nuclear war.
33:22: 🇬🇪 Putin's actions in Georgia were driven by his desire to maintain Russian interests and prevent US control in the region.
39:11: 😔 Putin's elite in Russia saw Donald Trump's presidency as a return to 'normal' and a representation of the 'real America' they believed in.
45:23: 😔 The speaker criticizes the lack of decisive steps taken by the US to impose sanctions on Russia, allowing them to finance their military operation in Ukraine.
50:28: 😱 The speaker believes that Putin and his government are stealing from the Russian budget and are not ready to give up their wealth, and fears that Putin will continue to destroy Ukraine and potentially other countries in Eastern Europe.
Recap by Tammy AI
21:47 Thank you indeed for mentioning the genius that was the Ukrainian Nikolai Gogol – perhaps my favorite Russian-language writer ever, a genuine monument, combining the wit, sense of tragicomedy and the absurd, paralleled perhaps by Kafka, Nabokov and Faulkner, in a different time, in a different space.
Sorry, had to get that out. And thanks as well for this caustic erudite voice that is Yevgenia Albats.
NATO AND EUROPEAN 🇪🇺 IS A CRIMINAL ORGANISATION NOT DEMOCRACY HUMAN RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS
IS ALL BS AFTER BS
IN WEST IS MORE FASCISM COMUNISM THAN EAST
NATO COUNTRIES WANTS NATURAL RESOURCES OF RUSSIA 🇷🇺
THIS IS ALL ABOUT
WHEN A COUNTRY DOESN'T WANT TO PLAY USA GAMES THEY INVADED THE COUNTRY FOR REGIME CHANGE TO INSTALL THE PUPPET WHO OBEY ELITE AGENDA
WHEN MY COUNTRY PAID FULL DEBT TO USA 🇺🇸
MY PRESIDENT WAS KILLED BECAUSE AMERICA 🇺🇸 ENJOY LIFE FROM DOLLARS DOMINO AROUND THE WORLD COUNTRIES WHO BORROWED MONEY FROM USA 🇺🇸 IMF FED
NATO IS MODERN CRIMINAL ORGANISATION
NATO IS NOT ALLIANCE OF DEFENSE WHEN NOBODY ATTACK NATO COUNTRIES FROM WW2
WHEN NATO INVADED ILLEGAL IUGOSLAVIA IRAQ SYRIA LIBYA AFGHANISTAN THERE ARE NOT SANCTIONS AND CONSEQUENCES
WEST WANTS TO DISTROY RUSSIA 🇷🇺 WITH ALL THE MEANS
IMF ECB FED GIVE UKRAINE LOANS TO USE UKRAINE 🇺🇦 LATER AGAINST RUSSIA 🇷🇺
SLAVA RUSSIA 🇷🇺
She said that Alexander III was one of the worst tsars, but this is the first time I have heard this fact. Who has any information or who can share some resources/titles of films/articles/books. I just want to figure it out a bit myself, this is an interesting point. Thanks
The Russians are here on American soil, in bed with the Indian mafia and their thousands of hackers and scammers. Also, Google has been infiltrated, reportedly, from the janitorial service to the boardrooms. They need to go back to Russia.
They are threatening to kill the owners of Google and yours truly.
The FBI agent running the investigation was taking bribes.
The case needs to move forward with honest decent people who are skilled at their jobs.
Anyone with a reasonably high level of security clearance can get the information the military, the CIA, and the Air Force have on the satellite deployed FDA approved medical lasers these Russians and Indians are using as a tool for Coersive Control on American citizens on US soil.
The mafia aligned FBI agent needs to go.
They fired one, but he replicated himself through bribes.
There's a court date pending.
Lobby your law makers to very quickly outlaw laser activity by foreign entities on US soil and shoot down the mafia controlled satellites.
The medical lasers are invisible to the naked eye, can kill, maim, start fires, overheat metal, our guns are powerless against them.
Legitimate medical professionals are being used to act as hitmen.
EXCELLENT INTERVIEW ðŸ‘
THANK YOU.
Huhu
Chauvinistic content through and through. Russian empire has to be torn down and the peoples of Caucasus and Siberia liberated. Their aggression against Ukraine with all the inhuman tortures, rape and massive massacres and destruction has only exposed to the world the essence of the sick russian nature (soul). Ukraine now sends the world the messages that it is a time of the final battle of good against evil and that evil has to be burned to ashes so that it can't disperse its venomous spores any longer. It is only surprising how and why nobody confronts Albats, but on the contrary continue giving her floor for propagating imperial ideas under the covers of peacemaking. Get a Ukrainian to that panel and see Albats stripped of disguise. Masha is seeing her to the core and still does not oppose – why??
Western urine media is the most dangerous weapon the west has coz they use it to demonize their opponents and tell evil intention