The Putin Interviews, Oliver Stone’s four hours of interviews with Russian president Vladimir Putin, will air on Russia’s state-run television network Channel One June 19-22.
A representative for Channel One told The Hollywood Reporter that the network purchased the rights to air the interviews from Showtime, which bought them for the U.S., but declined to comment on the price tag of the deal or competition from other Russian networks.
The interviews, filmed by the Oscar-winning director on four occasions over the last two years, is to air at 9:30 p.m. local time.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, following the premiere of the first installment on Showtime the previous night, Russian media heavily quoted from the interview, especially from parts related to Putin’s family and private life, which is rarely mentioned in the Russian media.
Putin has not yet watched the interviews and is waiting for the Russian premiere, his spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying by news agency Interfax on Tuesday.
Peskov added that because of “anti-Russian sentiment” in the United States and, partly, in Western Europe, the interviews won’t change Western perceptions of Putin, but it might be possible later, when the situation changes.
