The History Bureau - Putin and the Apartment Bombs: 5. The Investigator

Download Putin and the Apartment Bombs: 5. The Investigator

A former KGB investigator steps forward, risking everything to get to the truth.

As Putin’s power grows, American journalist Scott Anderson returns to the story of the 1999 apartment bombings. Only one man will speak to him: Mikhail Trepashkin. Once KGB, then FSB, Trepashkin used to believe fiercely in the system he served. Now, drawn into the mystery surrounding the bombings, he follows the evidence into the shadows where police sketches don’t match suspects, allies end up dead and the cost of digging deeper into the FSB’s activities keeps rising. In this episode, Helena speaks to Scott about the investigator turned whistleblower who refused to give up.

In Season 1 of The History Bureau, presenter Helena Merriman returns to one of the most contested - and consequential - stories in modern Russia. In September 1999, just weeks after Vladimir Putin became Prime Minister, four bombs blew up four apartment bulidings across Russia. The bombs exploded in the middle of the night, killing hundreds of people while they slept. In this season, Merriman returns to the story with the reporters who were there on the ground. What did they get right first time around? And, in the chaos and confusion of unfolding events, what did they miss?

Presenter: Helena Merriman
Series Producer: Sarah Shebbeare
Executive Editor: Annie Brown

Published on Wednesday, 14th January 2026.

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