It sounds like some dystopian fairy story; the ruler who believes he is immortal and who lives by his own set of values, steadily strengthening a vice-like grip on his country.

However this is no story, rather history being made.

Masha Gessen, journalist and activist, lectured on the transformation of Russia into a totalitarian state by Vladimir Putin, and the narrative she weaved was a terrifying one.

Extremely well-versed in Russian politics, names and dates rolled off Gessen’s tongue during the hour-long talk.

The confusion in Russian media when Putin vanished without explanation for several days in March of this year illustrated, said Gessen, the point that the only way information leaves The Kremlin was through Putin or his press secretary.

The fact that Putin hates the West was more about his own ideology than as a response to actions by Western nations, this being a man one cannot reason with.

Gessen also highlighted the desperate plight of Russian LGBT people, both within Russia and as refugees.

It was a bleak picture she painted, but as she said: “I am a journalist not a policy-maker, it is my job to criticise, not provide solutions.”

Three stars