All the Kremlin's Men: Inside the Court of Vladimir Putin

Mikhail Zygar — former editor-in-chief of Dozhd, Russia's only independent television channel — produced in this book the most detailed available account of how power actually functions inside the Kremlin. Based on hundreds of interviews with senior Russian officials, advisers, and insiders conducted while Zygar still had access to those circles, the book maps the court politics, factional rivalries, and personal relationships that shape Russian decision-making. It is not primarily a book about information warfare, but it is essential context for understanding it.

Influence operations do not emerge from a monolithic, perfectly coordinated state apparatus — they emerge from specific institutional actors pursuing specific interests within a complex political environment. Understanding who the relevant players are, how they relate to one another, and what incentives shape their behaviour is prerequisite to accurate assessment of Russian information operations. Zygar shows that Putin's Russia is less a tightly controlled hierarchy than a court of competing factions whose intrigues the president manages by maintaining ambiguity and keeping subordinates uncertain. This structural insight has direct implications for how Russian IO should be assessed and attributed.