|
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Putin’s kleptocracy has come under scrutiny like never before. But a key piece of the picture has so far been missing: how Putin and his oli- garchs have used an entire country as a proxy to undermine the West from within the heart of the European Union. This is the story of how Cyprus, a nation that has been under Russian influence since the 1960s, evolved into a client state after Vladimir Putin assumed the presidency. Today, from this small island in the Mediterranean, Russia and its oligarchs hide and transfer assets, buy EU citizen- ship and influence Western liberal democracies. Putin’s Island is the account of a man who was on the front- line of Russia’s co-opting of the Cypriot elite. Makarios Drousiotis is one of Cyprus’ best-known investigative jour- nalists and authors and a former presidential advisor. Through his own first-hand experience and a trove of never- before-seen documents and transcripts, Makarios tells the story of Russia’s long history of influencing Cyprus dating back to the Soviet Union’s role in bringing about the Turk- ish invasion of Cyprus in 1974, uncovering how Cyprus’ president became the middleman between the bankers and the oligarchs, helping to move dark Russian money into Eu- rope and turn Cyprus into a vehicle for Putin’s interests.
