These podcasts by Preet Bharara provide some great insight into how Putin operates.
Preet Bharara is an American lawyer who served as the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York from 2009 to 2017. As a U.S. Attorney, Bharara earned a reputation of a "crusader" prosecutor. According to The New York Times, during his tenure he was one of "the nation's most aggressive and outspoken prosecutors of public corruption and Wall Street crime." Under Bharara, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York prosecuted nearly 100 Wall Street executives for insider trading and other offenses. He reached historic settlements and fines with the four largest banks in the United States, and closed multi billion dollar hedge funds for activities including insider trading.
The Death of Sergei Magnitsky (with Bill Browder) | Stay Tuned with Preet | WNYC Studios
They discuss the massive corruption Browder revealed that led to his lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky, being tortured and dying in a Russian prison and Browder's ongoing battle with the man who, as he puts it, "wants to destroy me."
Breakfast with Putin (with Michael McFaul) | Stay Tuned with Preet | WNYC Studios
Stay Tuned Transcript: Breakfast with Putin (with Michael McFaul)
McFaul is a former United States Ambassador to Russia. Putin systematically harassed McFaul, had people follow him around, show up at his kids soccer game, broke into his apartment and use the bathroom. Only safe places to have a conversation were the SCIFs at the embassy.
Putin, Pawns and Propaganda (with Garry Kasparov) | Stay Tuned with Preet | WNYC Studios
STAY TUNED: Garry Kasparov Transcript
"Putin’s propaganda is different. It’s more like cult of death. It’s not about positive future. Actually, there’s no future at all. It’s all about Russia being the besieged fortress surrounded by the global evil, and he, Vladimir Putin, is the only savior of Mother Russia from its multiple enemies. It’s poisonous. It’s totally brainwashing. And it has no positive substance." -Kasparov