From street thug to spy – what the Russian president did before he came to power.

To understand what Vladimir Putin might do in the future, you need to understand his past; where he’s come from, what he’s lived through, what he’s done. Jonny Dymond hears tales of secret agents, gangsters and the time a young Putin faced off a rat.

He’s joined by:

Nina Khrushcheva, Professor of International Affairs at The New School in New York and the great-granddaughter of former Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev Tim Whewell, who watched the rise of the man who’s changing the world as Moscow correspondent for the BBC in the 1990s Dr Mark Galeotti, author of "We need to talk about Putin" and an expert in global crime and Senior Associate Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute.

Production coordinators: Sophie Hill and Siobhan Reed

Sound engineer: James Beard Producers: Caroline Bayley, Sandra Kanthal, Joe Kent Series Editor: Emma Rippon Commissioning Editor: Richard Knight