Putin's Secret Past Has Just Been Exposed - And It Changes Everything | Satter & Smart

After the 1999 apartment explosions shocked the country, Vladimir Putin rose from a little-known security official to national leader during a period of fear, war and political upheaval. Jason Jay Smart speaks with David Satter about the unanswered questions surrounding those events, the collapse of the Soviet system, and the political order that emerged from the chaos that followed. Western leaders spent decades treating Moscow as a conventional state even as power narrowed around the Kremlin and military force became a recurring tool abroad. Their conversation follows the road from Chechnya and Georgia to Crimea and the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, examining how repeated misreadings gave Putin more room to escalate and eventually left Europe confronting a much larger war. Defeat in Ukraine could force choices the Kremlin has avoided for years because the war is now tied closely to the survival of the system around Putin. This discussion examines what keeps that system together, what could make continuing the war more dangerous than ending it, what Ukrainian victory could mean beyond the battlefield, and why Western unity still shapes what happens next. CHAPTERS: 00:00 - Intro: David Satter on Putin's True Nature 00:57 - The 1999 Apartment Bombings & Putin's Rise 02:43 - Western Willful Ignorance & the Albright Cover-Up 06:28 - Deceiving the Public into a War Pretext 09:35 - Why Western Leaders Misunderstand Putin 10:56 - Total Disregard for Life from Kursk to Ukraine 13:48 - Post-Soviet Criminality & the Moral Vacuum 16:10 - Personal Power over National Ideology 18:02 - Self-Preservation: How Putin Can Be Stopped 21:00 - Why Russian Defeat Is a Blessing for Russia 25:20 - The War Economy & Limits of Russian Revenue 28:10 - The Psychology Behind Russian Imperial Mindset 31:07 - Historical Roots: From the Mongol Yoke to FSB Rule 36:00 - Western Elections & Moral Stakes for Ukraine 👏 Become a Channel Member: @jasonjaysmart ⚡⚡Connect with Jason for real-time analysis & verified updates: Substack: https://jasonjaysmart.substack.com Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2ZHxXDQ... Tiktok: TikTok: jasonjsmart X (Twitter): https://x.com/OfficeJJSmart Facebook Personal: Facebook: JasonJaySmart Facebook Professional: Facebook: OfficeJJSmart LinkedIn: LinkedIn: JasonJaySmart Mastodon: https://defenseofliberty.social/@Offi... BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/JJSmart.bsky... Website: https://JasonJaySmart.com Dr. Jason Jay Smart, also known as Jason Smart and Jason J Smart, is a political adviser who has lived and worked in Ukraine, Moldova, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Latin America. In 2010, he was banned for life by the Kremlin for supporting Russia’s democratic opposition to Vladimir Putin. #ukraine #putin #geopolitics