(CNN) Russia's cyber assault on the U.S. has become a politically charged topic, with President Vladimir Putin practically cast by his critics in the role of Bond villain. Leave it to PBS' Frontline to dissect the deeper motivations and roots of his animosity, lending welcome context to "Putin's Revenge," a documentary dish served over two parts.

Far from just resentment toward Hillary Clinton and efforts to destabilize a geopolitical foe, Putin has nursed "a lifetime of grievances" against America, the narrator intones during the latest soberly impressive production from director Michael Kirk and his team.

"Putin's Revenge" goes on to detail the Russian leader's history as a KGB officer when the Berlin Wall fell, and the psychic scars left by those events before he succeeded reformer Boris Yeltsin in 2000.

Foremost, Putin saw democratic movements rising around the globe in recent years, as well as dissent within Russia, as being fomented by the U.S. according to experts interviewed by Frontline. The Russian strongman -- described as being "obsessed with TV" -- was especially struck and alarmed by images of Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi being beaten and killed by an angry mob.

Meddling in the American election thus served not only as a means of undermining a rival but an equalizer, even if the cyber campaign's architects didn't expect it to actually sway the outcome.

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