Podcast Summary

Podcast: New Books Network
Episode: Irina Borogan and Andrei Soldatov, "Our Dear Friends in Moscow: The Inside Story of a Broken Generation" (PublicAffairs, 2025)
Date: November 18, 2025
Host: Erica Monahan
Guests: Irina Borogan and Andrei Soldatov

Episode Overview

This episode features a riveting discussion with Russian investigative journalists Irina Borogan and Andrei Soldatov about their new book, Our Dear Friends in Moscow: The Inside Story of a Broken Generation. The conversation delves into their motivations for writing the book, their personal journeys from Russian newsroom colleagues to exiled journalists in London, and the tragic, complex ideological transformations of their friends who now form the book’s central “broken generation.” Through the lens of these six protagonists, Borogan and Soldatov reflect on the fracturing of Russian society, the seductive power of propaganda, and the haunting costs of opposing an increasingly repressive regime.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Motivation Behind the Book

• Personal Shock and Disillusionment ([03:26])
  • The invasion of Ukraine in 2022 devastated Borogan and Soldatov, both emotionally and personally, given their deep ties to Ukraine.
  • The catalyst for the book was reading a pro-war article by their old friend, Petya Akopov, which called for the "final solution of the Ukrainian question"—a phrase chillingly reminiscent of Nazi rhetoric.
    • Irina Borogan: “I was literally just, I was speechless when I read that. ...His article hit me so, so hard that we decided to write the book about that and understand what is he thinking?” ([03:26])
• Reconciliation With Old Friendships
  • The book investigates how former friends and colleagues—people who once shared the same ideals and careers—could diverge so fundamentally, with some embracing the Putin regime and its propaganda.

2. Origins of Their Journalism and Investigation

• Founding “Agentura.ru” ([08:05])
  • Launched in 2000 at the birth of the Russian internet, their website became a key watchdog on Russian security services—a rarity given the climate of secrecy and lack of transparency in Russia.
  • Inspired by American models but forced to adopt more investigative methods due to the lack of Freedom of Information mechanisms in Russia.
  • “We decided to launch the website, which would be a collection of information... and create some sort of watchdog of the Russian security services.” —Andrei Soldatov ([08:05])
• Connection to Izvestia Newspaper
  • Working at the prominent newspaper Izvestia provided access to the political elite and led to the formation of the core group of protagonists in their book.

3. Early Warning Signs of Authoritarianism

• Putin’s Rapid Crackdown on Independent Media ([17:39])
  • The transition to outright control of media happened almost immediately after Putin rose to power, beginning with the attack on oligarch Gusinsky’s independent media empire.
    • Irina Borogan: “When Putin came to power...we understood that things went wrong because they didn’t have any illusions about the guy who came from the KGB.” ([17:39])
• Public Complicity and “The Arrangement” ([20:07])
  • Society and journalists largely acquiesced to media repression in hopes that Putin’s promise of order and prosperity would be delivered.
    • Andrei Soldatov: “If that means that you need to give up your public freedoms, that’s okay, because you would be safe and you would be given an opportunity to make money.” ([20:07])

4. Confronting Conspiracy and the Security State

• Classmates Becoming Agents of Power ([33:18] - [44:43])
  • Friends differed in motivations: personal trauma, nostalgia, ambition, and Soviet legacy.
  • The breakdown of liberal ideals and the allure of status, power, and national greatness lured them to become active agents of propaganda or even government operatives.
    • Example: Yevgeny Krutykov, former liberal editor, gradually abandoned journalistic principles to work as a disinformation officer for Russian intelligence.
• Conspiratorial Worldviews Within Institutions ([25:55])
  • Their early investigative reporting revealed mainstream belief in outlandish conspiracy theories within the Russian security services—all the way up to the drafting of government strategy.
  • Andrei Soldatov: “One particular conspiracy theory became extremely popular...that under the mountains of Ural there were hidden treasures of a lost civilization of Hyperboreans.” ([25:55])
  • Attempts to expose this led to professional retaliation and their first firing.

5. Portraits of a Broken Generation

• Yevgeny Krutykov ([33:18] - [40:54])
  • Came from a high-ranking Soviet family that experienced loss and trauma.
  • Initially a fair and liberal-minded boss, but became disillusioned and began working with security services, eventually abandoning journalism for intelligence work.
    • Andrei Soldatov: “He helped the Russian security services, FSB, in at least one disinformation campaign...he participated in this campaign willingly.” ([37:59])
• Petya Akopov ([41:26] - [46:06])
  • Eccentric, brilliant, and ideologically extreme, he openly called himself a “Russian fascist.”
  • His identity and career reflect the tension between cosmopolitan cultural experiences and deep nationalist convictions.
    • Irina Borogan: “He told me that he's in internal exile, so he works for liberal media, but he doesn't support these ideas.” ([41:26])
  • Devotee of Russian exceptionalism—attracted to political philosophy that placed Russia as a “sacred place” with a unique, misunderstood destiny.
• Svetlana Babaeva ([14:49])
  • Once a respected journalist, she became so marginalized after being expelled from Putin’s inner circle that she pursued military training and died in friendly fire, attempting to physically fight in Ukraine.

6. Dangers of Intellectual Complicity and Erosion of Institutions

• Echoes for the West ([48:12])
  • The authors warn that intellectuals’ willingness to undermine institutions for proximity to power can lead to disaster—a lesson with relevance outside Russia.
    • Andrei Soldatov: “My biggest fear, that some public intellectuals who now think it’s okay to support very questionable things...because they would have this access...they actually might be in the wrong. At least that is what our example of Putin’s Russia tells us.” ([48:12])

7. Exile and the Personal Cost of Truth

• Choosing to Leave Russia ([52:10])
  • Despite years of intimidation, interrogations, and surveillance, they persisted in their journalism until a chilling bureaucratic threat in 2020—a notice stating the editor (Soldatov) was officially “dead”—forced them to flee within two weeks.
    • Irina Borogan: “I got it right. I said, we have to go, we have to go away, we have to run.” ([54:41])
• Family Sacrifices ([55:32])
  • Soldatov’s father, once celebrated as a pioneer of the Russian internet and former Deputy Minister of Communications, was later imprisoned as part of the regime’s escalation against those connected to independent networks.
    • Andrei Soldatov: “At some point he was forced to spend the night on the floor in a cell with 40 other people...but he was released in August, so now he feels okay.” ([55:32])

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “It was like a blow. We expected that something could happen, but when it happened, it was such a tragedy. It's like the whole world just collapsed.”
  — Irina Borogan ([03:26])

• “How had he become so bloodthirsty?”
  — Erica Monahan, quoting the book’s reflection on Petya ([06:42])

• “We decided to launch the website, which would be a collection of information you can find online and you can collect across the country by talking to other journalists and create some sort of watchdog of the Russian security services.”
  — Andrei Soldatov ([08:05])

• “To be honest, it was also ... a happy moment for us because for us, it was a time when we could, well, actually become journalists. But of course, for many, many people in the country, it was a terrible time because people lost their savings, they lost their jobs, they lost their identity, and they didn't know what to do about their lives.”
  — Andrei Soldatov ([48:12])

• “You have to oppose the authorities when you want to, because that's media power. That's power of journalism. And all of them understood this. But of course, these people, they. They were nostalgic for the Soviet Union. ...They loved the Soviet Union as a Russian empire. They loved the superpower status of this empire.”
  — Irina Borogan ([36:41])

• “We had only two weeks to pack and leave and we left in ... September 2020.”
  — Andrei Soldatov ([55:18])

• “It is chilling to contemplate the sacrifices and the costs that so many in Russia have had to pay for trying to, you know, for proceeding according to conscience or for, in your case, doing independent journalism.”
  — Erica Monahan ([58:56])

Suggested Timestamps for Key Sections

• [03:26] — The emotional impact of the Ukraine invasion; catalyst for writing the book
• [08:05] — Launching Agentura.ru; early internet activism
• [17:39] — Putin takes power; signals of media crackdown
• [20:07] — “The Arrangement”: why Russian society acquiesced
• [25:55] — Investigating beliefs and conspiracy theories in Russian security
• [33:18] — Yevgeny Krutykov: example of career drift and political transformation
• [37:59] — Krutykov’s shift from editor to intelligence operative
• [41:26] — Petya Akopov: character profile of a radical nationalist
• [48:12] — Reflections on institutional decay and warnings for the West
• [52:10] — Decision to flee to exile
• [55:32] — The fate of Soldatov’s father and personal consequences

Tone and Language

Throughout the episode, Borogan and Soldatov speak with clarity, urgency, and honesty—blunt about the costs, emotionally evocative regarding their lost friendships and shattered ideals, and grimly sardonic about the “arrangement” so many in Russia accepted for security and material prosperity. Their language is reflective, sometimes pained, often insightful, and deeply personal. Host Erica Monahan maintains a tone of empathy, thoughtfulness, and academic curiosity, weaving in her own stories to elucidate the stakes for listeners both inside and outside Russia.

Final Recommendation

Anyone interested in Russia, authoritarianism, the dangers of unchecked power, or the lived costs of speaking the truth under repression should read Our Dear Friends in Moscow. The episode provides not only an account of a generation’s broken dreams but also a wider warning against complacency, complicity, and the fragility of democratic institutions worldwide.