The Briefing: Putin’s Pit Bull

January 19, 2016
Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov | RFE/RL

Is Ramzan Kadyrov going rogue? Or is he launching a Kremlin trial balloon by calling for opposition figures to be tried as traitors and enemies of the people?

On the new Power Vertical Briefing, I discuss this issue with Pavel Butorin, editor in chief of RFE/RL’s Russian-language television program Current Time.

Also on the Briefing, Pavel and I discuss Russia’s deepening economic crisis and the impact the lifting of sanctions on Iran will have.

Enjoy…

NOTE: The Power Vertical Briefing is a short look ahead to the stories expected to make news in Russia in the coming week. It is hosted by RFE/RL’s Brian Whitmore, author of the Power Vertical blog, and appears every Monday.