"Grisha and I had made it a tradition to meet every year on 5 March and drink to the anniversary of Joseph Stalin’s death. Over the years, the Soviet tyrant’s ignoble passing, soaked in his own urine and surrounded by his political rivals, had become a symbol of hope for Russians who opposed Putin. ..
Excerpt From
The Descent
Marc Bennetts
#marcBennets #TheDescent #books #russia #nonfiction #bookstodon #stalin
“Later, a Ukrainian military source told me that Russia had been so confident of a swift victory that it had sent riot police across the border, apparently to carry out ‘crowd control’ in Kyiv. ‘They were just in ordinary police trucks,’ he said. ‘We blew them all up. That was when we realized that we might have a chance.”
Excerpt From
The Descent
Marc Bennetts
#marcBennets #TheDescent #books #russia #nonfiction #bookstodon
"In 1991, the Soviet hardliners who had tried unsuccessfully to resurrect the communist regime had been disorganized and inefficient. Nine years on, they had been avenged by Putin and his ruthless allies from the security services. The dragon, its wounds healed, would soon grow fat again on human suffering."
Excerpt From
The Descent
Marc Bennetts
“History comes at you fast in Russia, and often when you least expect it.”
Excerpt From
The Descent
Marc Bennetts
jackhutton 🇺🇸