麻豆社

Former 麻豆社 Moscow Correspondent Tim Whewell examines how the tumult in Russia in the 1990s forged much of the system we see today. He charts the dramatic and sometimes absurd rise and fall of Boris Yeltsin amidst dubious elections. He recalls the hopes of the reformists who foresaw the creation of a democratic and open society, and the economists who thought shock therapy would create rapid growth. Instead, there was a dramatic economic collapse and a sense of disorientation for many ordinary Russians. The oligarchs grabbed the commanding heights of the economy at knock-down prices. Meanwhile there were other shifts - such as the explosion of a vigorous and initially free-ish media, alongside a state-backed revival for the Orthodox Church. The Russian military was depleted and ill-equipped and was humiliated in a civil war in the republic of Chechnya. The decade ended with the seemingly off-the-cuff decision to hand power to Vladimir Putin - starting a radically different direction for Russia. This programme is part of Radio 4's season looking back at the 1990s.
Producer: Lucinda Borrell