In the book I detail the many cases that I investigated in Saint Petersburg of Putin's involvement with illicit activities, illicit groups. - Karen Dawisha

2014... U.S. government’s sanctions... claimed a direct connection between Putin, Timchenko, and : "Timchenko’s activities in the energy sector have been directly linked to Putin. Putin has investments in Gunvor and may have access to Gunvor funds."

Spanish... officials... having intercepted ..."hundreds" of phone calls ...about [Gennady Nikolaevich] Petrov's "immense power... political connections... [and] criminal activity in Russia ...directed from Spain....Troika mafia leaders invoked ...names of senior ...[Russian] officials to assure ...illicit deals would proceed ..." ...[I]n 1990 with the purchase ...of ...[a] Hotel in , Majorca ...with Leningrad Communist Party and funds ...Petrov was able to host ...notables, including ...mayor , Putin'’s boss. Reznik... and... wife... were co-owners of... companies with... Petrov and , also arrested on suspicion of , , and the establishment of a criminal structure that traded in , , and murder ...traced back to ...the monopoly ...given by the St. Petersburg government to the Tambov criminal organization in ...gasoline in the 1990s.

I had published six books already with Cambridge.