My Russia: What I Saw Inside the Kremlin

Jill Dougherty

Book cover for My Russia: What I Saw Inside the Kremlin
Book cover for My Russia: What I Saw Inside the Kremlin

My Russia: What I Saw Inside the Kremlin

My Russia: What I Saw Inside the Kremlin

Jill Dougherty

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Description

My Russia reveals CNN's Jill Dougherty's transformative journey from a Cold War-era obsession with Russia to witnessing firsthand the rise of Vladimir Putin and the unraveling of a nation she grew to love

At the height of the Cold War, as a high school freshman, CNN's Jill Dougherty developed an obsession with Russia. Over the next half-century, she studied in Leningrad, traveled across the Soviet Union, lived in Moscow, and reported on the presidencies of Mikhail Gorbachev, Boris Yeltsin, and Vladimir Putin. Jill's life, and Putin's, intersected. They studied at the same Russian university; Jill was named CNN Moscow Bureau Chief just as Putin began his rise to power. She knew he was a former KGB officer, but she also believed he was an economic reformer. As Putin tightened his grip on the media, she changed her mind. In 2022, reporting from Moscow as Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine, she was convinced the leader with whom she once had sympathized was a tyrant threatening to destroy a country she had come to love.

My Russia charts Russia's evolution through the eyes of an American with rare insight into Russia, its people, and its leaders.

About the Author

Jill Dougherty was a CNN Correspondent for over thirty years. She now is a CNN on-air Contributor, reporting and analyzing events in Russia and the region. She was CNN's Moscow Bureau Chief for almost a decade and served as CNN's White House Correspondent, US Affairs Editor, Managing Editor for the Asia/Pacific Region, and Foreign Affairs Correspondent covering the US State Department.

She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and is a Global Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. She teaches at Georgetown University's Center for Eurasian, Russian, and East European Studies and has pursued research on Russia and the media as a fellow at the Shorenstein Center at Harvard's Kennedy School and at the International Centre for Defence and Security in Estonia. She writes regularly for CNN.com, and her work has been published in The Atlantic, Politico, the Washington Post, and elsewhere. She lives in Washington, DC and speaks fluent Russian.

Critical Reviews

"In My Russia, esteemed journalist Jill Dougherty takes readers on an intimate journey through the heart of a nation she has spent more than five decades studying and covering. Weaving together gripping stories of her experiences with deep insights and observations, Dougherty explores the complexities of Russia's rich culture, tumultuous history, and ever-evolving identity. A fantastic read." --Clarissa Ward, CNN Chief International Correspondent

"We know CNN reporter Jill Dougherty from her penetrating Russia reporting and astute analysis. In this great read, Dougherty takes us behind the camera, providing insights beyond the headlines on Russia, Putin, and the Russians themselves. In this highly personal memoir, we also learn a lot about the inspiring woman who broke the news. A must-read for anyone interested in contemporary Russia."--Marie Yovanovitch, former US Ambassador to Ukraine, Armenia, and Kyrgyzstan

"Jill Dougherty has spent more than 20 years covering the rise of Vladimir Putin. Based in Moscow for CNN, she described herself as a Russophile, but her time covering the Kremlin exposed the barbaric underbelly of an authoritarian system that uses propaganda and violence to suppress dissent and crush the journalists and dissidents who stand in its way. My Russia is required reading for those who want to understand how a strongman can take complete control of a country as vast as Russia in less than a generation and the consequences of ignoring the danger the Kremlin still poses to the world today."--Jennifer Griffin, Chief National Security Correspondent, Fox News

"My Russia is the extraordinary memoir of a remarkable woman who has focused her professional life on Russia, from her high school days mastering the challenging Russian language, through her years of service as CNN's Moscow bureau chief. Writing with the grace and passion of the Russian poets and authors she so admires, Dougherty applies her formidable skills as a foreign correspondent to narrate her decades of experience in the Soviet Union and Russia. She was a witness to many tumultuous moments in history, which she describes in rich, personal detail, including the Kremlin's brutal invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Her insights on Putin and the system that produced him could not be more timely or compelling."--John J. Sullivan, U.S. Ambassador to the Russian Federation, 2019-2022

"Jill Dougherty's memoir takes us through one stunning scene after another into those people and events that made the Russia we see today--and made Jill the acclaimed observer that she is. My Russia: What I Saw Inside the Kremlin is absorbing, compelling, personal and insightful. Jill is clear-eyed about Vladimir Putin and other leaders she has seen close-up. But she is also filled with regard for so many of the Russian people she has gotten to know so well."--Scott Simon, host of NPR's "Weekend Edition Saturday" and one of the hosts of NPR's morning news podcast "Up First"

Publishing Information

Publisher: Lyons Press
Pub date: 2025-04-15
Length: 368 pages

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