The Documentary Podcast Bonus: Introducing: The History Bureau
Jan 21, 2026
Andrew Harding, a long-serving BBC foreign correspondent who reported from Russia during the tumultuous 1990s, shares gripping insights on the 1999 apartment bombings. He reflects on how these tragic events fueled Vladimir Putin's rise to power and the unfolding chaos in Russia. Harding discusses the early assumptions about Chechen militants, the brutal Chechen wars, and the chilling discovery of an unexploded fifth bomb that led to suspicions around the FSB's involvement. His firsthand experience adds depth to the unsettling mysteries of that era.
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Bombings Catalysed A Political Shift
- The 1999 apartment bombings transformed Russia's political landscape and accelerated Vladimir Putin's rise.
- The attacks created national panic and opened space for hardline security responses.
A Young Correspondent In Tumultuous 1991
- Andrew Harding arrived in Moscow in 1991 at 24 to work as a foreign correspondent amid the Soviet collapse.
- He remembers the surreal mix of Soviet grey buildings and sudden Western consumerism like McDonald's and Snickers.
Economic Turmoil Created Political Vacuum
- Yeltsin's shock-therapy reforms destroyed savings and fuelled deep social discontent across Russia.
- Economic collapse and oligarch enrichment left a political vacuum and widespread anger by the late 1990s.