Known for being photographed shirtless and
alongside wild animals (perhaps at the same
time), Vladimir Putin has cultivated an image
as an intimidating and fearless figure on
the world stage.
He’s a martial arts expert, a fearless political
actor, and a former spy...
His resume holds a certain cachet in the West...
As a former KGB agent he’s automatically
associated with secrecy, intimidation, and
the old fears Americans had of the Soviet
Union for much of the 21st Century.
Putin has said of himself that he lived for
a long time as an ordinary person, and ordinary
is all he wishes to be.
For decades though, he has been anything but
ordinary, as he has spent his life climbing
the ranks of the Russian government, moving
farther and farther away from his “ordinary”
roots.
[INTRO]
Early Life
He was born in St. Petersburg in 1952, in
the midst of the Cold War.
Putin had two older brothers, but both died
during childhood, so Putin was raised essentially
as an only child.
He was an atheist as a child, but now is an
Eastern Orthodox Christian.
During Putin’s childhood, his mother stayed
at home, and his father, a veteran of World
War II, worked in a factory.
As an interesting aside, his grandfather was
a cook who worked for Vladimir Lenin and even
prepared meals for Stalin a few times!
The Putin family lived in a communal apartment
shared by three families, a home where Putin
says he used to hunt rats in the stairwell,
perhaps a precursor to his later fascination
with hunting (and with wild animals in general).
Growing up, Putin didn’t prove himself to
be anything special in his early years.
But then, at the age of 12, he discovered
athletic competition…
It was in the midst of a competition that
Putin began to set himself apart.
Martial arts was his chosen sport - particularly
Sambo and Judo.
Though his mother did not initially approve
of his participation in these sports, Putin
proved himself to be a worthy and skilled
competitor in both.
At one point, his coach even showed up at
the Putin home to speak with his mother about
how much promise he showed.
Well, that did the trick, and his parents
began to support his athletic pursuits.
Putin now holds a black belt in Judo, and
has continued to compete in both Sambo and
Judo, establishing himself as the first world
leader to be at an advanced level in this
sports.
He also remains the President of the same
Dojo he practiced in while growing up.
Though he established himself as athletically
talented, Putin did not excel academically
during his childhood.
He attended a local school for his early years,
and then attended a magnet school focused
on chemistry.
He didn’t push himself, but his teachers
saw that he had potential and encouraged him
to focus as much on his schoolwork as he did
on his martial arts practice.
In the sixth grade, Putin began to push himself
and it showed in his grades.
He was welcomed into the Young Pioneers, the
youth group run by the Communist Party.
This was a mark of honor, as Putin had previously
been one of only a few from the class not
to be welcomed into the organization…
From 1970 to 1975, Putin continued his studies
at Saint Petersburg State University.
While there he studied law, and was required
to join the Communist Party.
He later left the Party, denouncing communism
in 1991 when he said of Marxism-Leninism that:
“it became more and more obvious for me,
more obvious truth that it was nothing more
than a beautiful and harmful fairy tale.“
At Saint Petersburg State University Putin
met Anatoly Sobchak, who would become a key
figure in Putin’s political success...
Sobchak was an assistant professor at the
school, but he actually went on to co-author
the Constitution of the Russian Federation
and was also the first democratically-elected
mayor of St. Petersburg.
KGB Agent
Putin graduated from Saint Petersburg State
University in 1975 and it was then that he
joined the KGB.
The KGB was the Soviet Union’s security
agency for much of the twentieth century.
It was created in 1954 and continued to operate
until 1991 when the Soviet Union itself was
dismantled.
Translated to English, KGB stands for State
Security Committee.
It had a reputation for oppression and monitoring
the actions and opinions of Soviet citizens.
The KGB was a truly frightening organization
for democracy, and an indication of the dangers
of Communism to westerners.
The organization quelled rebellions, and kept
a close eye on anyone suspected to be in opposition
to the Soviet regime.
Putin started his career with the KGB in Leningrad,
but later he was moved to Dresden, Germany.
Before his transfer to Germany, Putin married.
To this day he keeps his home life very private
and information about his family is closely
guarded.
He and his wife Lyudmila were married from
1983 until their divorce in 2013.
Their divorce was seemingly amicable, with
no specific reason given for it, though Lyudmila
made reference to Putin’s dedication to
his work and the time investment required
to serve as a world leader.
They have two daughters together, Maria and
Yekatarina, both of whose lives remain incredibly
secretive.
They both used fake names to register for
college, and it’s not entirely known in
which country either of the Putin daughters
currently lives.
In 2016, European newspapers even described
Maria as a ‘secret’ daughter - noting
that she had not been known to be photographed
during the entire length of Putin’s time
in power.
For a former spy and a powerful man with many
enemies, it is perhaps sensible that his daughters
have maintained this secret life...
Putin has stated:
“I have a private life in which I do not
permit interference.
It must be respected.”
Putin moved with his family to Dresden, where
he served with the KGB for five years.
He was fluent in German, and still speaks
the language today, and has stated that he
feels more comfortable using German than English.
Putin served in the Dresden post from 1985
to 1990, working as an undercover agent.
playing the part of a translator...
The work, though not all of what Putin did
is known, wasn’t necessarily particularly
exciting.
Much of it was simply amassing information
on people, ensuring they were remained loyal
to the Soviets and were not plotting any kind
of rebellion...
In 1989, the situation became more dicey for
Soviets stationed in Dresden...
During one incident, as it became more clear
that East Germany was falling out of Soviet
control, Putin and his colleagues feared for
their lives as crowds stormed the KGB headquarters
in Dresden.
Putin called in the Soviet military for help,
but was told nothing could be done to help
them unless Moscow gave the order.
Something Moscow never did.
While Putin and his colleagues survived that
day, it had become increasingly clear that
the situation was unstable.
During this time, Putin and other KGB agents
began burning files so that when the day came
and their headquarters was overtaken or abandoned,
or both, no files would be left in the hands
of their enemies.
Post-KGB Life
The Berlin Wall fell in November of 1989,
and soon after Putin and his family returned
to Russia.
By this point Putin held the rank of Lieutenant
Colonel in the KGB.
However, the KGB was nearing the end of its
existence, and Putin was able to find work
at the State University of Saint Petersburg.
He was no ordinary professor though... he
was still working with the KGB.
Part of his job included keeping an eye out
for students who showed promise as potential
new KGB recruits.
Through this job, Putin was also able to reconnect
with his former professor Anatoly Sobchak.
Sobchak was elected the Mayor of St. Petersburg
in 1991, and Putin joined his team as an adviser.
He worked for Sobchak until 1996.
When Sobchak lost re-election Putin could
have opted to continue working for his successor,
but Putin believed that taking a job with
Sobchak’s political opponent would be disloyal,
and he instead chose to move to Moscow to
begin working with the Yeltsin Administration.
Politics
During Boris Yeltsin’s presidency, Putin
quickly rose through the ranks, first serving
as Deputy Chief Administrator for the Kremlin
(Russia’s version of the White House) and
by 1999 he was named the Secretary of the
Security Council and became Yeltsin’s chief
advisor on matters of foreign relations and
intelligence.
Then, Putin’s career really got a boost…
Yeltsin decided he didn’t want to keep his
current Prime Minister, so he got rid of him.
That was in August of 1999 - Putin was the
beneficiary of this decision as Yeltsin named
Vladimir Putin to the post.
Yeltsin offered Putin the position as a “Prime
Minister with prospects,” somewhat foreshadowing
the next step in Putin’s career...
Only months after naming Putin as Prime Minister,
Boris Yeltsin himself stepped down and Vladimir
Putin became the Acting President of Russia
in December 1999.
Then, only three months later in March of
2000, Putin was officially elected and became
President of Russia in his own right...
Presidency
Ten opponents ran against him for President,
but he won, and for the first time in Russia’s
history there was a peaceful transfer of power
to a Democratically-elected President.
Putin used his first term to advocate for
certain international policies, including
approval of the START II arms treaty, and
improving relations with China.
Putin was also initially supportive of the
United States’ War on Terror that followed
the 9/11 terrorist attacks, but he did not
support the United States’ invasion of Iraq.
During Putin’s first summer in power, tragedy
struck Russia when the Kursk Submarine sank
in the Barents Sea in August.
Putin was on vacation when the sinking occurred,
and he did not immediately return home to
address the sinking and the deaths of all
118 crew members who had been on board.
Then, when asked what went wrong for the Kursk,
Putin replied starkly that: 'It sank.'
Distraught and angry, Russians were attacking
their President for his handling, or lack
thereof, of the Kursk disaster, with some
even accusing him of leaving sailors to die
when a rescue might still be possible.
Despite that, opinion polls showed that overall
his image did not sustain much damage from
the tragedy.
Four years later, the Kursk tragedy did not
affect his re-election.
In 2004, the Russians re-elected Putin to
a second term as their President.
They were apparently pleased with the job
he had been doing, as Putin received over
70% of the vote.
Second Term
During his first term in office, Putin had
focused on economic reforms.
Having denounced communism, he instead supported
an economic system that was essentially capitalism
with very strict regulations and oversight.
After years of economic struggle, Russia was
finally beginning to see a stabilizing and
even growing economy under Putin.
Some reports put Russia’s growth during
his first term at 7% annually.
He’s still remembered favorably for this
growth, though it came with increased nationalization
of industry and, in part because of the mid-2000’s
global financial crash, the growth did not
last.
But in a country whose economy was in disarray
for nearly the entire decade before Putin’s
rise to power, an era of growth in which disposable
income nearly doubled was reason for the people
to think positively of Putin.
Putin continued to work on economic policies
in his first term, but also made strides in
foreign relations, including making a historic
trip to Israel.
This trip was the first by a Russian leader
to the country.
Conversations between Putin and Israeli leaders
focused largely on security issues.
The trip garnered much attention around the
world, as it came in the midst of strengthening
ties between Russia and Israel, though the
two nations disagreed on topics such as the
Russian sale of missiles to Syria.
The trip was also seen as a move by Putin
to help secure Russia’s position as a key
diplomatic actor in any Mideast peace discussions
or agreements.
Security issues were present not just abroad
though, and homeland security would become
a major focus for Putin.
Unfortunately, this is something that became
all too clear during the horrific tragedy
at the Beslan School in 2004...
In September, terrorists held over 1,000 people
hostage at the Beslan School in North Ossetia.
Nearly 800 of these hostages were children.
For three days, the terrorists, demanding
Chechnyan independence from Russia, held these
people hostage.
The situation ended tragically when tanks,
rockets, and other artillery were used by
the Russian military to try to clear the school.
Special forces entered the school after hearing
explosions from inside where the hostages
were being kept, but their actions did not
save lives.
Quite the contrary… in the siege of the
school, over 300 people died, nearly two-thirds
of whom were children.
The tragedy shook the world, and while the
government was cleared of wrongdoing initially,
the European Court of Human Rights later stated
that Russia had used excessive force, and
lacked caution, when they stormed the school…
Despite anger and discontentment at the government’s
handling of the tragedy in general, it did
not affect the public’s view of Putin very
much at all.
Quite the opposite in fact.
A poll taken after the Beslan massacre stated
that 83% of Russians were still happy with
him.
The Beslan tragedy did lead to changes in
the halls of power of the Russian government
though, primarily giving more power to the
Russian President.
For instance, instead of electing governors
in regions like North Ossetia and Chechnya,
the President would have the power to appoint
governors.
In 2007, during his second term, Putin was
named Time Magazine’s Person of the Year.
The magazine called the final year of his
second term “his most successful yet,”
and the cover photo for the issue, a portrait
of Putin, won the photographer the World Press
Photo Award.
During the shoot, the two discussed their
mutual admiration for the Beatles...
This connection helped Putin become more comfortable,
and gave the photographer the chance to get
his award-winning shot of the intimidating
world leader.
No matter how popular Putin was, though, the
Russian people could not elect him to a third
term.
The Russian Constitution forbid it.
However, Putin found a way around this rule
just when his time in office was about to
run out...
“Presidency”
Presidential terms in Russia had been extended
to six years, but this change did not benefit
Putin.
He was still beholden to the previous Constitutional
rules.
So how did he get to stay in power?
The man who was elected Russia’s next President,
Dmitri Medvedev was a protege of Putin’s,
and had benefitted from Putin’s rise to
power.
Neither he nor Putin wanted Putin to be pushed
off the international stage, and so Medvedev
named Putin as Russia’s Prime Minister - a
position he had previously held under Boris
Yeltsin.
After thirteen years in leadership, Putin
would remain at the highest levels of Russia’s
government.
He and his supporters were able to keep him
in power, and stay in line with the law, although
perhaps not in line with its exact intent.
During his third term as Prime Minister from
2008-2012, Putin focused on dealing with the
economic crisis that swept the world, as well
as Russia’s population problems.
Russia’s population was falling by one million
people a year - a devastating number for a
country whose population is only 150 million.
In 2010, the trend reversed and Russia’s
population began to grow.
The reversal is in part credited to Putin’s
economic reforms - when people have more money,
it is easier to support a larger family.
One of Putin’s economic reforms included
joining the World Trade Organization in 2012.
Negotiations for Russia to join the WTO lasted
nearly two decades (as they had started after
the fall of the Soviet Union.)
Russia was granted entry into the WTO after
negotiations reached a point which granted
Russia permission to phase in the opening
of markets, while it aligned with other WTO
trading requirements.
Now, while his political party retained dominance,
and Putin was again the candidate for President
in 2012, he did not escape politically unscathed
from his maneuver to hold on to power by sidestepping
the term limits law.
The elections for President in 2012 were heavily
protested, with claims of fraud tainting Putin’s
election to a third term...
'The task of the government is not only to
pour honey into a cup, but sometimes to give
bitter medicine.'
- Vladimir Putin
But, despite those protests, he was inaugurated
in May of 2012, and this time his term would
be six years.
This means that Putin will be President of
Russia until at least 2018, and with allegations
of his interference in United States elections,
his prominence in the world only seems to
grow…
Controversy
Putin has continued to be re-elected and re-appointed
to positions at the highest level of Russian
government, but his time in office has not
been without questions surrounding his shady
actions.
Among the high points - or low points we should
say - of intrigue surrounding Putin are the
murders of Russian journalists.
Deaths of journalists were a point of concern
in Russia long before Putin’s rise to power,
but the issue began to get a lot of international
attention during Putin’s second term as
President when journalist Anna Politkovskaya
was murdered.
Politkovskaya had been a strong critic of
Putin and the war in Chechnya.
Even before her death, she was poisoned but
recovered.
Her murder remains unsolved, but there is
suspicion that Putin and his government targeted
her...
Politkovskaya is far from the only Putin opponent
whose death has occurred in suspicious circumstances.
In March 2017 the Washington Post even published
a list of ten such deaths.
Among those deaths were a former Deputy Prime
Minister and Putin critic who was shot outside
the Kremlin, a tycoon whose death was initially
called a suicide but now that is unsure, a
journalist who was kidnapped and shot in the
woods, a former KGB agent who was found to
be poisoned by Russian agents, and a journalist
who died of a “mystery illness” and whose
medical records have been sealed…
Certainly, plenty of intrigue…
Public Image
Though many of these deaths may never be proven
beyond doubt to be the work of Putin’s government,
one thing is for certain - Vladimir Putin
does not like to be viewed as weak.
He has done all he can to prove his strength,
and to show the world that he is strong and
manly.
Beyond his active participation in martial
arts, he shows his power and dominance by
hunting, tracking, and posing with wild animals.
He’s caught huge fish - including a 46 pound
pike - and shot a crossbow at a whale... only
to tranquilize it though!
He also once saved a camera crew from a Siberian
tiger that was about to attack them during
a tour of a wildlife sanctuary.
Further, he’s gotten close enough to polar
bears to attach a tracking device to them
to help out with a research project.
Polar bears might look cute from afar, but
they’re actually incredibly vicious creatures.
Putin has also attached himself to an experimental
flying machine to accompany birds on migration.
He always does these things carefully making
sure there were photographers present…
'The more I know about people, the more I
like dogs.
I simply like animals.'
- Vladimir Putin
When he’s not hanging out with wild animals,
Putin makes time for other adventurous and
athletic activities.
He dives in the Black Sea, explores shipwrecks,
plays hockey, rides snowmobiles and motorcycles,
and has driven a Formula One race car.
Once, during a visit to a Russian youth camp
he even challenged attendees to arm wrestle
with him!
Then, not content with arm wrestling as a
show of strength, he tried to bend a frying
pan with his bare hands.
Naturally, photographers caught all of these
shows of strength and the photos have been
distributed and viewed around the world.
From his days at school cultivating an athletic
reputation, to his time as President and Prime
Minister, Putin has made it known that he
is a man to be reckoned with.
Putin Today
During his most recent term as President,
with two years of a term yet to go, Putin
has found himself centered on the world stage.
Russia has been involved in the Syrian Civil
War, supporting the government of Bashar Al-Assad.
In early July of 2017, Vladimir Putin and
Donald Trump announced a ceasefire in southwestern
Syria, and weeks later Russia announced that
it had signed a deal with Syria allowing Russia
to keep its airbase in the country for at
least fifty more years.
In addition to Syria, perhaps Putin’s most
talked about involvement has been the alleged
interference of Russia in the U.S. elections.
From hacking allegations to questions of illicit
meetings and deals with members of Trump’s
inner circle, the U.S and world media have
made Putin and his political dealings a household
conversation topic...
Vladimir Putin began his life growing up in
a communal apartment in the midst of Russia
during the Cold War, and has become an internationally
polarizing figure.
He’s been strong and unapologetic in his
foreign policy and use of force, and questions
swirl around his treatment of political opponents
and critical journalists.
Putin is unwilling to sit back and be a shrinking
violet on the world stage, ensuring Russia
remains a world power with a great deal of
influence.
He has done all that he can to cultivate an
image of strength both for Russia as a country
and for himself personally, showing no signs
of stopping his adventurous and daredevil
lifestyle even as he enters his sixties...
Vladimir Putin has undoubtedly made a place
for himself in world history, and with him
eligible for re-election in 2018 we may still
have many years of Putin on the world stage
ahead 
of us...
