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Cautionary Tales · March 6, 2026 · 42m

Explosives or Sugar: The Deadly Art of Distraction in Putin's Russia

Cautionary Tales

In 1999, a series of apartment bombings across Russia killed hundreds and spread panic. The bombings were blamed on Chechen terrorists and used to justify the Second Chechen War — but one unexploded device raised troubling questions about who was really responsible.

Canon

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Falsehood spreads faster — and authoritarian states control the speed differential
Harford traces how the official narrative (Chechen terrorists) spread through state media while alternative explanations were suppressed through intimidation and murder of journalists.
ClaudeChatGPTGemini

Highlights

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Manufactured crises can be used to consolidate political power
Harford examines the evidence that the apartment bombings may have been orchestrated by the FSB (Russia's security service) to create the crisis that brought Putin to power and justified war in Chechnya.
ClaudeChatGPTGemini