Russian President Vladimir Putin turns 70 today. He has been president since 2012 and has no one to challenge him in Russia. The whole world is feeling the power of Putin, who has been declared the world's most powerful person four times by Time magazine.
Putin, who studied law at St. Petersburg (Leningrad) State University, entered politics in 1991. Before this, he was an agent of the Russian intelligence agency KGB for 16 years. Worked as a spy in East Germany (Dresden) for 6 years. When the Soviet Union was in its last days, he was called back to Moscow.
Grown-up in gang culture, took martial arts training for strength
When Putin was born on 7 October 1952, his city was named Leningrad. The city, located on the western edge of the Soviet Union, had the deepest traces of the Second World War. One of the most fierce battles of this war was fought here. Its traces later left an imprint on Putin's personality as well.
When Putin was growing up, his city was surrounded by Leningrad gang culture. The urge to gain strength was inculcated in him in his childhood. This pulled him towards the martial art of the Russian army, Sembo. He then learned judo and got a black belt at the age of 18.
It can be said that Putin learned the most important lesson of life as soon as he was young. To say in his words- 'You should do the first injury yourself and inflict such a strong injury that the opponent becomes mind and then cannot get up.'
Putin may have thought the same way before the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the attack on Ukraine in February 2022. It is a different matter that this time his bet is going heavy for him himself.
Most of the information about Putin, who was a secret agent, is also secret
Except for the simple things of Putin's life, who was a secret agent, most of the information is also secret. Yes, there are some tales and stories, but no one knows where they came from. However, people do believe in them.
One such story is that when Putin was only 16 years old, he went to the KGB building in Leningrad to ask for a job as an agent. He told the officer sitting on the red carpet at the reception that he wanted to be an agent. The officer advised him to get a degree. Putin asked to what degree the answer was of law.
Putin then enrolled directly at Leningrad State University for a law degree and became a KGB intelligence agent upon receiving the degree in 1975.
After learning German, Putin was posted in the KGB office in Dresden, East Germany (then part of the Soviet Union) in 1985. Putin was here closely watching the diminishing influence of the Soviet Union in the world.
Another famous anecdote about Putin is that when the KGB office was surrounded by an anti-Soviet mob on December 5, 1989, Putin was repeatedly calling the nearest Red Army unit for help. No help reached them. The answer was, 'We cannot do anything without Moscow's orders and Moscow is still silent.'
learned politics from a law teacher
After the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991, Leningrad again became St. Petersburg. Putin arrived here in 1991 and became deputy to the vice-rector of the university. He later became an assistant to his professor at the university, Anatoly Sobchak, who left the university to become chairman of the Leningrad City Council.
Putin took over his election campaign and was successful. He also learned the tricks of politics from his law teacher.
In June 1991, Putin was elected deputy mayor of St. Petersburg. In August of this year, he officially broke away from KGB. When Sobchak lost the mayoral election in 1996, Putin moved to Moscow. Here he began working in the Kremlin in the department that looked after the properties of the president.
He held various responsibilities in the Kremlin before becoming head of the FSB (Federal Security Service), the Russian agency that replaced the Soviet KGB, in July 1998.
Rapidly emerged in politics, became President for the first time in 2000
Putin climbed the ladder of politics very fast. The then President Boris Yeltsin made him deputy PM in August 1999. In the same year, he also became the Prime Minister of Russia.
When Yeltsin resigned on 31 December 1999, Putin was considered his natural successor and became acting president. In March 2000, Putin was elected President of Russia. Since then they have been the center of power in Russia.
Putin became president again in 2004, but had to step down in 2008 because under Russia's constitution a person could not be president for three consecutive terms.
After assuming the post of Prime Minister from 2008 to 2012, he again became the President and is in this post till now. In 2008, President Dmitry Medvedev changed the Russian constitution to increase the presidential term from 4 years to 6 years. It was decided that Putin would be able to rule the country for a long time.
Corruption investigation suppressed, family away from headlines
Putin married Lyudmila in 1983 and divorced in 2014. They had two daughters Maria and Yekaterina born in 1985 and 1986. Putin's family has stayed away from the limelight. In the 1990s, Putin was embroiled in a food scandal in St. Petersburg. Now all the information about it is missing.
Putin is said to have been given the command of a program to provide food to the people of St. Petersburg in 1992 when Russia's economy was collapsing. For this, the city had made a provision of $100 million.
On investigation, it was found that no food items came. Putin and his friends digested this money. The inquiry into this was soon dismissed and the information was suppressed.
It is a mystery how a KGB agent of modest political standing in St. Petersburg managed to reach the Kremlin in just two and a half years and become one of the most powerful people in the country. What did he do that Yeltsin made him first Deputy PM and then Prime Minister within a few months? In the end, the post of President was also left for him.
espionage tricks implemented in politics
Putin, a KGB agent, has been understanding the impact of misleading information. Have been using it to their advantage. This is the reason why he has created such a web of mystery around him that no matter how much people know about him, little is known. This created an image of him who is sure of stubbornness and intentions and is ready to go to any extent to fulfill them.
Putin's personality is believed to bear the imprint of a weakening Soviet Union. They are committed to the extent of the craze to regain the old power of Russia. Putin believes in the centralization of power and that is why he has become the center of power in Russia. Russia, with a population of about 14 and a half million, revolves around his personality. His decisions are imprinted on every aspect of the lives of the people here.
Whenever Putin got the opportunity, he has shown the military might of Russia. Be it the invasion of Georgia in 2008 or the annexation of Crimea to Ukraine in 2014, bypassing threats from Western countries, to 'correct historical wrongs.
No one knows what's on Putin's mind
Putin attacked Ukraine in February 2022, ignoring all warnings from Western countries, NATO and America. created such conditions, which are sure to affect the entire population of Europe.
As winter approaches, Ukraine will feel the heat of Russia's military might. On the other hand, in the absence of Russian gas, Europe will shiver in the cold. Many people may feel that Putin has played all his cards by attacking Ukraine, but those who understand him believe that the trump card may be in his hands right now.
One thing everyone knows about Putin is that no one knows what is going on in his mind. One more thing that can be said with certainty about Putin is that he has written his destiny. Where he is on his own, like the rest of the successful people of the world, he also used people from time to time and increased his power with their strength.
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