"'Western leaders should be aware that when they shake hands with Putin, they shake hands with a murderer.'--Leonid Martyniuk. In Russia, the twenty-first century belongs to Vladimir Putin. His political dominance has lasted two presidential terms, an appointment to prime minister, and a controversial election to a third presidential term. And like the violent tsars and Soviet revolutionaries who came before him, he maintains his grip on power through coercion and intimidation. As journalists, activists, and political opponents in the Putin era continue to fall victim to suspicious illnesses and outright murder, a pattern has emerged. No matter who is charged with a specific death, the order to kill appears to come from above. Amy Knight, whom The New York Times called the West's foremost scholar of the KGB, presents a thorough and provocative examination of murders under the Putin regime. Knight offers new information about the most famous victims, such as Alexander Litvinenko, the former FSB officer poisoned while living in London, and the statesman Boris Nemtsov, murdered outside the Kremlin in 2015. She puts faces on many others forgotten or less well-known in the West. And she links Putin to acts of terrorism--including the Boston Marathon bombing. She also explores what these murders mean for Putin's future, for Russia, and for the West, where Donald Trump has claimed, 'Nobody has proven that he's killed anyone .... He's always denied it .... It has not been proven that he's killed reporters.' Orders to Kill is a timely and chilling read in a world increasingly subject to one man's thirst for revenge."--Jacket.

Covert violence as a Kremlin tradition -- How the system works : Putin and his security services -- Galina Starovoitova : Putin's first victim? -- Terror in Russia : September 1999 -- Silencing critics -- Mafia-style killings in Moscow : Kozlov and Politkovskaya -- The Litvinenko story -- The poisoning -- Continued onslaught against Kremlin challengers -- Boris Berezovsky : suicide or murder? -- The Boston Marathon bombings : Russia's footprint -- Another democrat falls victim : the Nemtsov muder and its aftermath -- Kadyrov, Putin, and power in the Kremlin.