• Director(s):

    JOHNSON (Thomas)

  • Producer(s):

    ARTLINE FILMS, ARTE FRANCE

  • Territories:

    Worldwide.

  • Production year:

    2025

  • Language(s):

    German, English, French

  • Rights:

    TV, NON-THEATRICAL, INTERNET, VOD

A geopolitical journey to the heart of a monumental project, the “Five Seas System”, a network of Russian waterways designed by Putin on the basis of Russian imperialism, linking Russia to five seas: the Black Sea, the Sea of Azov, the Caspian Sea, the Baltic Sea and the White Sea.

Since coming to power, Vladimir Putin has pursued an ambitious yet little-known goal: restoring Russia’s greatness by reclaiming control over the “Five Seas.” Inspired by Peter the Great and Stalin, this vision aims to make Moscow a maritime empire. 
 
From the 2008 war in Georgia to the 2014 annexation of Crimea, the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, and recent tensions in Nagorno-Karabakh, each conflict follows the same pattern: using maritime regions as tools of reconquest and influence. Putin wages a hybrid war — blending military action, political and economic control, and digital interference.
 
With exclusive archives, expert testimony, and on-the-ground footage from Georgia, Estonia, and Finland, Putin and the War of the Five Seas unveils a neo-imperial project long underestimated by the West.
 
A crucial documentary for understanding a geopolitical strategy driven by nationalism, trade routes, energy ambitions, and imperial memory.