Operation successor: the story behind the Russian president's mysterious rise to power. From bag carrier to the most powerful man in Russia. In just a few years Vladimir Putin went from working for the mayor of St Petersburg to being prime minister, then president.

To make sense of how he did it, Jonny Dymond is joined by:

Misha Glenny, former BBC correspondent and author of ‘McMafia’ Natalia Gevorkyan, co-writer of the first authorised biography of Vladimir Putin published in 2000, and of “The Prisoner of Putin” with Mikhail Khodorkovsky Oliver Bullough, writer, journalist. former Moscow correspondent for Reuters and author of “Butler to the world”

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