The Wizard of the Kremlin — Characters & Cast

Aesthetic mastery and testing the limits of psychological manipulation on a national stage.

Starts as an ambitious avant-garde theater director and cynical TV producer, ascends to the apex of Kremlin influence as Putin's chief propagandist, and ends as a reclusive, weary outcast haunted by the political leviathan he spawned.

Consolidating state dominance, restoring imperial dignity, and eliminating internal and external threats.

Introduced as a disciplined, seemingly unassuming former intelligence officer chosen by oligarchs for stability; gradually strips away all outside influence to become an absolute, unyielding ruler.

Autonomy, personal survival, and remaining free of state control.

Moves through the post-Soviet underground as an uncompromising punk performance artist, enters into an unstable romantic entanglement with Baranov and oligarch Dmitri, and serves as Baranov’s remaining tether to reality.

Unearthing the hidden architecture of Russian statecraft and understanding the origins of modern authoritarianism.

Arrives in Moscow as a foreign academic researching Russian literary dissent; becomes the captive listener to Baranov's exhaustive confession.

Wealth preservation, corporate dominion, and backstage political control.

The ultimate 1990s capitalist tycoon who orchestrates Putin's ascent assuming he can control him, only to be ruthlessly purged and exiled when the new regime asserts its primacy.