Podcast Summary: The Rise Of Putin: Becoming President

Podcast: The Rest Is Classified
Episode Date: November 28, 2025
Hosts: David McCloskey (former CIA analyst, novelist), Gordon Corera (security correspondent)
Special Guest: Mark Galeotti (Russian security and crime expert)

Overview:

This episode, the finale in a three-part miniseries for club members, delves into Vladimir Putin’s enigmatic ascent from KGB functionary in St. Petersburg to President of Russia. The conversation paints a nuanced portrait of 1990s Russia—a world of political chaos, organized crime, and oligarchic intrigue—while exploring Putin’s rise through loyalty, discretion, and opportunistic power-brokering.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Putin’s Transition from St. Petersburg to Moscow

Reputation as a Loyal Operator:
After his mentor Anatoly Sobchak loses his mayoral re-election in St. Petersburg, Putin (then a deputy mayor) is forced to seek new opportunities.
- Quote (Mark Galeotti, 02:08): “He’s made a reputation for himself as a loyal and efficient and discreet bagman...the sort of person you want as your deputy—to do all the dirty work that needs to be done.”
Old Boy Network and the Sobchak Connection:
Putin's next steps are enabled by KGB contacts and Sobchak himself.
- Putin’s loyalty is demonstrated by arranging Sobchak’s escape when an arrest warrant is issued.
- Quote (Mark Galeotti, 02:48): “He understands that loyalties are important things.”

2. Managing Presidential Property—Corruption as Currency

Appointment to Presidential Property Management Agency:
Putin is given a job that, while seemingly mundane, is central to the era’s endemic corruption.
- Quote (Mark Galeotti, 03:00): “By golly, it is lucrative...one of the most extraordinarily corrupt elements of what is already an extraordinarily corrupt system.”
Developing a Reputation in Moscow:
In the Russian capital, Putin is seen as boring but reliable—a rare trait in a city teeming with intrigue.
- Quote (Mark Galeotti, 04:00): “Everyone is keenly aware of who the rising stars are...Putin seems to be trustworthy, and that is actually quite a talent.”

3. From Trusted Functionary to Head of the FSB (Federal Security Service)

Why Putin?:
Boris Yeltsin and “the Family” (a circle of relatives, associates, and oligarchs) are searching for a loyalist to head the FSB.
- Quote (Mark Galeotti, 05:43): “He was there to make sure that it was politically controlled, that he was loyal to Yeltsin and that mattered.”
Not a Hands-On Manager:
Putin delegates much of the FSB’s actual running. His main function is political control and loyalty, not operational expertise.
Method of Rule:
- Quote (Mark Galeotti, 05:47): “Putin...encourages everyone to be corrupt because you want everyone to have a skeleton in their closet when you get to decide whose closet gets rummaged through.”

4. Political Climate of 1990s Moscow: Oligarchs and Power Plays

The Oligarch Network:
Hosts discuss the symbiotic relationship between the Kremlin and an emerging class of oligarchs—created largely through dubious “shares-for-loans” deals during Yeltsin’s tenure (especially around 1996).
- Powerful figures like Boris Berezovsky gain both commercial and political prominence.
Security and Insecurity:
Putin leverages the organs of state to provide “security for some people and insecurity for others”—the start of a transactional, often menacing, governance style.
- Quote (Mark Galeotti, 07:09): “He’s in some ways collecting favours, he’s collecting clients, rather than just simply wads of cash...Politics is the new currency at that level.”

5. Was Putin Always Ambitious for Power?

Calculated Opportunist, Not a Mastermind:
The view is that Putin’s ascent is more a product of circumstance and loyal service than of explicit ambition.
- Quote (Mark Galeotti, 08:03): “It seems to have come as much as a surprise to him as to everyone else when he's then made Prime Minister...he was one of many potential candidates who had been picked.”
Yeltsin’s Weakness and the Family’s Search:
As Yeltsin’s health declines, the search for a “loyal factotum” leads to Putin’s selection as Prime Minister—effectively a surprise both to the political class and to Putin himself.
- Quote (Mark Galeotti, 08:40): “This time the family decided, okay, this is the guy...And it’s only at that point, really, that they started to actually tell Putin what they had in mind for him.”

6. Putin’s Personal Habits and Discipline

Unlike Yeltsin, Putin Is Not a Drinker:
In a lighter moment, the hosts ask about Putin’s relationship with alcohol.
- Quote (Mark Galeotti, 10:18): “No, he’s essentially teetotal...his vices seem to be much more about power and ego.”

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

“He understands that loyalties are important things.” (Mark Galeotti, 02:48)
“Putin, frankly, encourages everyone to be corrupt because you want everyone to have a skeleton in their closet when you get to decide whose closet gets rummaged through.” (Mark Galeotti, 05:47)
“Politics is the new currency at that level.” (Mark Galeotti, 07:09)
“It seems to have come as much as a surprise to him as to everyone else when he’s then made Prime Minister after his year at the FSB.” (Mark Galeotti, 08:03)
“His vices seem to be much more about power and ego rather than...sauce.” (Mark Galeotti, 10:18)

Important Timestamps

02:08: Galeotti explains Putin’s leap from St. Petersburg to Moscow and his loyalty to Sobchak.
03:00: The corrupt property management agency position and what it meant.
04:00: Putin’s growing Moscow reputation as “the trustworthy one.”
05:43: The logic behind Putin’s promotion to head of the FSB.
05:47: The origin of Putin’s method: making corruption a political tool.
07:09: The shift from cash to political power as currency in Moscow’s elite.
08:03: The contingent, almost accidental way Putin became prime minister.
10:18: Putin’s personal habits—his teetotaler reputation.

Tone and Style

Throughout, the conversation is accessible yet incisive. Gordon Corera adds dry asides (“Shame on you, Gordon, shame on you”, 00:35), while David McCloskey’s probing questions prompt detailed, sometimes wry responses from Galeotti. The episode manages both depth and entertainment, with the expert guest bringing granular, colorful insight into a period widely acknowledged as mysterious and pivotal.

For listeners seeking a revealing, context-rich analysis of how Putin’s unique mix of loyalty, competence, and opportunism set the stage for his rise—and how the chaos and personalities of 1990s Russia made it possible—this episode is indispensable.

Transcript

A (0:03)

For exclusive interviews, bonus episodes, ad free listening, early access to series first look at live show tickets, a weekly newsletter and discounted books. Join the Declassified club@the restisclassified.com.

B (0:25)

Welcome club members. Secret squirrels. We discovered that it really is called a scurry of squirrels, which I hadn't realized was the collective noun for squirrels. But that is. That is what.

A (0:35)

Shame on you, Gordon. Shame on you.

B (0:37)

Now I know.

A (0:38)

Add that to your nut file, Gordon, on top of your many other crimes.

B (0:41)

Yes, welcome, whatever you want to be called to the last of our three part miniseries, exclusively for club members. Looking at the rise of Vladimir Putin and his time from the KGB up to becoming leader of Russia. In parallel, of course, to our series on Evgeny Prigozhin, Putin's chef, caterer, mercenary, warlord. We're kind of really focusing on that period, particularly in the 1990s, when these different forces come together. And again, we have our very special guest with us, Mark Galeotti. And we left, didn't we, with Putin in St. Petersburg in this murky world of organized crime and government, didn't we? Which I guess begs the question, doesn't it, David, what happens next?

A (1:31)

Yes, and it is, I think even after having, you know, over the years read many histories of Vladimir Putin's rise in the 1990s, it is still, as we say, it kind of astounding to think that the deputy mayor of St. Petersburg, this guy who had just come out of the KGB within a few short years time, will be running essentially the successor to the KGB and then eventually become the president of Russia. So, I mean, Mark, how does this journey begin out of St. Petersburg with Vladimir Putin on his way to Moscow?

C (2:08)

Well, it begins with an end, the end of Sobchak's period as mayor. He stands for re election and he loses. And all of a sudden all of his people are out of work and certainly there's no room for Putin. However, he has made a reputation for himself. He's made a reputation for himself as a loyal and efficient and discreet bagman, as the sort of person you want as your deputy, to do all the things, all the dirty work that needs to be done and to ensure that you live an easy and highly solvent life. So at this point, obviously, Putin is desperately putting out feelers and in this respect, he's helped by the old boy network of the ex KGB officers, but also Sobchak himself, maybe because of affection for his deputy mayor, maybe because he realises it will be useful. And it's worth noting that Putin's loyalty to Sobchak is such that when there's eventually an arrest warrant that is put out for him, it's Putin who arranges a private flight to spirit him away to Switzerland ahead of that arrest warrant. So, you know, he understands that loyalties are important things. But anyway, so such is his reputation that he's actually offered the job of deputy head of the Presidential Property Management Agency. Now, that may not sound like the most exciting position, and it's not, but what it is is, by golly, it is lucrative. This is one of the most extraordinarily corrupt elements of what is already an extraordinarily corrupt system. And the head of the agency sees in Putin someone who precisely can basically act as a firebreak, can make sure that all the dirty deals get done, but that they're not actually involving him. And this is precisely what Putin does. And in the process, because he suddenly now moved to the big city, you know, Moscow is a very different kind of political environment from St. Petersburg, but it is also one in which everyone is keenly aware of who the rising stars are. And so what happens is people start to think of Putin as an interesting character, not because he's actually interesting, he continues to be a rather boring, grey individual, but that he performs a very interesting function at a time when no one knows who they can trust. Putin seems to be trustworthy, and that is actually quite a talent, quite an attribute in this particular environment. So likewise, when they're looking for a new head of the fsb, the Federal Security Service, Putin's name comes into the frame, because from the point of view of Yeltsin and the group known as the Family, who are the people around Yeltsin, some of whom actually are related, but many are not various oligarchs and the like, there is that sense of this is a really powerful institution and you want to have someone in there who above all is loyal. And the interesting thing is, I mean, obviously, yes, Putin has an ex KGB background. He was never involved in management. And what I've heard from people who were in the FSB at that time is that he wasn't a particularly effective manager. Shock, horror, because he didn't really understand how the institution worked. He didn't really understand what, what it meant to be the director of such an agency. So to a large extent, his deputies were able to basically run the agency for him. But the main thing is he was there to make sure that it was politically controlled, that he was loyal to Yeltsin and that mattered.