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In the aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet Union, state-owned assets and resources of the former world superpower were seized by a tiny group of smart, ruthless, and well-connected businessmen. The group, collectively dubbed the Russian oligarchs, rapidly joined the ranks of the world’s richest people -- and now battle Russian president Vladimir Putin for economic and political control of the country.

In a political climate in which journalists and other critics of the Kremlin face imprisonment and even assassination, Russian Godfathers is a thoroughly up-to-date investigation of the rise and fall of the Russian oligarchs and their ongoing war with Putin’s 21st Century Russian Democracy. Obtaining unprecedented on-camera access to the billionaires who are currently at war with Putin, the three-part series offers unique insight on the ruthless struggle for wealth, power and control over resources.

An Oxford Film & Television Production for the BBC, Russian Godfathers is airing as part of Link TV’s Spotlight series. It won the British Grierson Award for Best Documentary Series.

Part 1: The Fugitive
Meet the charismatic and determined billionaire Boris Berezovsky, who is waging his own Russian Revolution against President Putin -- from Surrey, England. He lives in exile, having fled Russia in 2000 upon facing fraud charges. Once Yeltsin's Cabinet Secretary, Berezovsky was instrumental in choosing Putin as Yeltsin's replacement, but now he feels that he has been stabbed in the back by Putin's charges. Motivated by revenge and a lust for wealth, Berezovsky wages a very personal, off-shore political war against Putin.

Kremlin expert Jonathan Sanders (author of Russia 1917: The Unpublished Revolution and, with Heidi Hollinger, The Face of Modern Russia’s Political Opposition) and Margarita Akhvlediani, Caucasus Program Director and regional editor at the Institute for War and Peace Reporting in Georgia, join Spotlight host Lakshmi Chaudhry to explore the issues raised in this program. Watch this exclusive in-studio commentary.

LEARN MORE:
Read a special report on Russia from the U.K.’s Guardian newspaper.
Boris Berezovsky tells the Guardian he is “plotting a new Russian revolution.”
The Guardian reviews Russian Godfathers.

ALSO ON LINK TV:
Russian Godfathers: The Prisoner
Russian Godfathers: The Politician
International Dateline: Who Killed Alexander Litvinenko?
DW In Focus: To Live and Die for Truth?
 
RELATED SITES:
Institute for War and Peace Reporting
Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law (CDDRL)
Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)
Carnegie Endowment