Virtual Program with Mikhail Zygar, independent Russian journalist
Prominent independent Russian journalist Mikhail Zygar circulated a Facebook petition when the Russian invasion of Ukraine began. Signed first by hundreds of his cultural and journalistic contacts and then by thousands of others, this act led to a new law in Russia criminalizing criticism of the war and Zygar fled Russia. As a journalist, Zygar has interviewed President Zelensky and had access to many of the major players—from politicians to oligarchs. An expert on Putin’s moods and behavior, he has spent years studying the Kremlin’s plan regarding Ukraine, and here, in clear, chronological order he explains how we got here. Authoritative, timely, and vitally important, this is a unique overview of the war that continues to threaten the future of the entire world as we know it.
Join us for a conversation with “one of Russia’s smartest and best-sourced young journalists.” (The New York Times) — War and Punishment is the first work by a Russian author to reveal his country’s history of oppressing Ukraine, providing an unprecedented overview of the war for Ukrainian independence that affects us all.
The program was moderated by Joel Westphal, Deputy Director of the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and Museum.
Mikhail Zygar worked for Newsweek Russia and the business daily Kommersant, covering the conflicts in Palestine, Lebanon, Iraq, Serbia, and Kosovo before becoming founding editor in chief of Russia’s only independent news TV channel, Dozhd, which provided an alternative to Kremlin-controlled federal TV channels and gave a platform to opposition voices. He won the International Press Freedom Award in 2014. He is the author of All the Kremlin’s Men, a #1 bestseller in Russia that has been translated into over twenty languages and was called one of “nine books that can help you understand Russia right now” by Time magazine, and The Empire Must Die, a Kirkus Reviews Best Nonfiction Book of the Year.
