On this episode of Russia Rising, we’ll take a closer look at the man who has ruled over the world’s largest country for nearly two decades: Vladimir Putin was a poor kid from a tough neighbourhood who became a Russian KGB agent, a billionaire and the country’s longest-serving leader since Stalin. Along the way, he’s also been accused of committing a laundry list of atrocities. To truly understand what motivates Putin — why he does what he does — we need to know where he came from. To that end, we’ll speak with Arkady Ostrovsky, the Russian editor for the Economist magazine and Steven Lee Myers, a Putin Biographer and veteran journalist with the New York Times. We’ll explore Putin’s rapid rise to power in an interview with Jeremy Kinsman, Canada’s former ambassador to Russia. We'll also attempt to answer the question "what is Putin's motivation?" by speaking with a former KGB agent named Alexander Vassiliev. Vassiliev who was recruited by the KGB in the 1980s and attended the same spy training school at around the same time as Putin. If you enjoy Russia Rising, please take a minute to rate it on Apple Podcasts or Google Podcasts, tell us what you think and share the show with your friends. Contact: Twitter: @JeffSempleGN E-mail: RussiaRising@Curiouscast.ca Guests: Arkady Ostrovsky, Russian editor for the Economist magazine, Author of ‘The Invention of Russia’ @ArkadyOstrovsky Steven Lee Myers, New York Times Correspondent, Author of ‘The New Tsar: The Rise and Reign of Vladimir Putin’ @stevenleemyers Jeremy Kinsman, Former Canadian Ambassador to the Russian Federation Alexander Vassiliev, Former KGB Agent, Co-author of ‘Spies: The Rise and Fall of the KGB in America’  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices