The Godfather of St. Petersburg

Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation, has been in power for a quarter of a century. But how did he get there? The Godfather of St. Petersburg tells the story of Putin’s rise in one of the world’s most dangerous cities of the 1990s. As deputy mayor and power broker, he became the second most powerful man in the city. In a time of brutal feuds between rival criminal gangs, he forged a network of intelligence and mafia connections: a foundation for Russia’s future power elite, which left a clear trail of corruption and violence on its way to the top. 

The two-part series is based on exclusive access and sources, eyewitness accounts, and previously unseen film footage. It reveals how Vladimir Putin wove a dense web that was later able to permeate and control an entire state.