Kleptoscope- What next for Putin? And what next for Russia?

In 2020, Vladimir Putin had hoped to alter the Russian constitution, secure his tenure as President and ensure any future transition would maintain his effective power. The Covid-19 pandemic and its resulting global recession has put this long-term strategy in jeopardy. Russia now faces its most uncertain period since Putin returned to the Presidency in 2012. The global economy is heading towards a worse recession than the financial crisis of 2008, and active planning for presidential succession in 2024 has been put on hold. It is a period of maximum concern for those whose wealth, power and security depend on the outcome. What next for Putin? And what next for Russia?

Please join our panel for the Frontline Club’s regular Kleptoscope series:

Catherine Belton is a former Moscow Correspondent for the Financial Times. Her highly acclaimed first book, Putin’s People, how the KGB took back Russia and took on the West, was published last month.

Joshua Yaffa writes for The New Yorker from Moscow. His book Between Two Fires, Truth, Ambition, and Compromise in Putin’s Russia, was published in January.

Shaun Walker was for many years Moscow Correspondent for the Guardian and is now based in Budapest as the paper’s Central and Eastern European Correspondent. His book The Long Hangover: Putin’s New Russia and the Ghosts of the Past was published amid much acclaim in 2018.

Moderated by Oliver Bullough