March 07, 2026

Putin and the Apartment Bombings


Putin and the Apartment Bombings

Few remember that Russian President Vladimir Putin, before he became president, was a wildly unpopular Prime Minister, serving in the final days of Boris Yeltsin's rule. Then came the 1999 apartment bombings throughout Russia, which killed hundreds and were publicly linked to Chechnya and led to the Second Chechnya War, which led to a rise in Putin's popularity, and his eventual reelection as president (having assumed the role at the end of 1999 when Yeltsin stepped down).

A new BBC podcast, The History Bureau, delves deeply into this important historical episode to ask a lot of questions and seek some answers, especially about the purported FSB involvement in the attacks. It's a daunting task, given the history of people investigating the bombings being murdered with poison, bullets, and more.

Pair this with the BBC's 2023 podcast that delved into Putin's biography and his unlikely rise, and you'll have hours of listening.

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