Downfall by Anna Arutunyan

Downfall by Anna Arutunyan

In the early years of Vladmir Putin’s Russia, Yevgeny Prigozhin emerged as one of the President’s most trusted assets. By 2023, he had become a dangerous warlord – and also one of Putin’s chief rivals in Russia’s tumultuous political climate, exiled after leading an attempted coup, and shortly after killed in a mysterious plane crash.

But what is the truth about this enigmatic figure, his role in the war with Ukraine, and the chaos unleashed across Russia by his turn against Putin? And, in the aftermath of his death, what is next for Russia in the new stage of late Putinism that Prigozhin’s life forged?

In a compelling tale that unravels a complex web of power, betrayal and recrimination, Downfall delves into the profound impact of Prigozhin on the heart and soul of a nation at a crossroads. Drawing on years of research, this book traces the rise of Russia's most prominent non-state actor and examines the political climate that propelled a convicted gangster with no government office to the formidable role he came to occupy. An essential story of Russia's recent history, Downfall is also a compelling insight into its likely future.

[Mark Galeotti and Anna Arutunyan] have penned not only a deeply interesting biography of Prigozhin, but also a penetrating account of Russia under PutinDownfall is as much a biography of a system as a biography of a man. * Joshua Huminski, Diplomatic Courier *
A year after the failed uprising of Yevgeny Prigozhin and the mercenaries of the Wagner Company against the regime led by President Vladimir Putin, a book written by two of the greatest experts on Russia makes the biography of this character as violent as it is complex. * Radio France Internationale *

Anna Arutunyan is a Russia-American journalist, analyst and author. Born in Moscow, she was raised and educated in the United States before returning to Russia as a journalist. She covered two decades of Russian politics, first as reporter and editor at The Moscow News, then as a correspondent and analyst. She has served as Russia's senior analyst for the International Crisis Group, and only left Russia after the February 2022 invasion. She has a wide range of contacts in Russian politics and business and worked on the ground in both Crimea and the Donbas after the outbreak of the undeclared conflict in 2014. She is now Associate Director of the consultancy Mayak Intelligence and a Global Fellow at the Wilson Center. Her articles have appeared regularly in USA Today, Foreign Affairs, and other publications worldwide. She is the author of several books on Russia, including The Putin Mystique (Skyscraper), translated into over a dozen languages, and the latest on Russia's war in Ukraine, Hybrid Warriors: Proxies, Freelancers and Moscow's Struggle for Ukraine (Hurst). Mark Galeotti is one of the world’s leading experts on Russian crime and security (which are often one and the same), which may explain why Moscow banned him in 2022. After a stint with the Foreign Office, he has been a scholar and think-tanker in London, New York, Moscow, Prague and Florence. He now heads the consultancy Mayak Intelligence and is an honorary professor at University College London and a senior fellow with RUSI and the Council on Geostrategy. A prolific author, he frequently acts as consultant to various government, commercial and law-enforcement agencies and has briefed everyone from prime ministers to CEOs.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781529927382
ISBN 10	1529927382
Title	Downfall
Author	Anna Arutunyan
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Ebury Publishing
Year published	2025-06-12
Number of pages	272
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.