Top 10 must-know facts about Vladimir Putin

by | Oct 29, 2024 | Personality, World | 0 comments

Vladimir Putin compared with Dolby the elf

Vladimir Putin has dominated Russian politics since 1999. The former KGB commando has been ruling Russia since the downfall of Boris Yeltsin.

Putin served as PM from 1999 to 2000, and from 2000 till 2008 as President for two terms. He again became PM from 2008 to 2012, and from May, 2012, he again took over the reins of President.

He is loved and equally hated by many especially in the western world. Here are the top 10 facts about the Russian strongman that may take your breath away.

#10: Putin was born into a poor family

An elderly woman holds a plate of food she received at a distribution point for homeless in Moscow

Vladimir Putin may be one of the wealthiest people in the world, thanks to his grip on power for several years. But the Russian strongman wasn’t born into a wealthy family. According to Putin, his parents married at 17. The Russian President’s father was conscripted into the army during World War II.  The father survived a grenade which would cripple him for the rest of his life. His mother also reportedly starved in Leningrad, modern-day St. Petersburg during the 900 day Nazi siege. Putin’s mum took jobs sweeping streets and washig test tubes. According to Putin, he was born into a rat infested and overcrowded apartment.

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#9: Putin has a soft spot for animals

Vladimir Putin gyrfalcon for the saudi king
The Russian gyrfalcon given as gift to the Saudi Arabia King Salman

 

Vladimir Putin is literally obsessed with animals. Putin owns a number of pet dogs. He is normally seen in photos with his pets. According to the Washington Post, Vladimir Putin is a renowned animal lover. The Post explains that Putin has posed “with a huge variety of animals, from polar bears to dolphins and many in between.”
 Vladimir Putin once gave a Russian gyrfalcon as a gift to the Saudi Arabia King Salman.  Falconry is a popular pastime among Saudi royals, though the bird showed a lack of decorum by soiling the palace floor.

#8: Putin is divorced

Vladimir Putin with former wife
Vladimir Putin with former wife

If there is something strange you have observed about the Russian President, then I’m sure you have noticed the lack of a woman by his side anytime he appears in public. Most heads-of-state are seen with their wives in most public occasions but Vladimir is always a one man army. This is because he is divorced. Vladimir Putin married his wife, Lyudmila Shkrebneva in 1983. The couple had two daughters, Maria and Katerina. But in 2013, Putin told the press that he and his wife had decided to divorce, according to The New Yorker. The publication characterized the scene as “obviously staged,” occurring as it did as the couple left the ballet. Putin told press at the time, “We practically don’t see each other. Each one has his and her own life.” Putin hardly mentions his family.

#7: Putin wears a black belt in Judo

Vladimir Putin wrestles an opponent in Judo fight
Vladimir Putin wrestles down an opponent in Judo

Putin has a strong appetite for martial arts and sports. Putin was a rowdy child and took great interest in martial arts when in six grade, possibly to crush dissents among his classmates.

At 18, he earned a black belt in Judo and still practices it. His footwork  indicates that he used to be a competing fighter, and his knowledge about some advanced techniques show that he must have been good at it. Some of his moves are pretty old, which implies he uses techniques from more than 40 years ago. At 65, it is amazing that he still got the punch. 

#6: Vladimir Putin is a former KGB Spy

Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Putin

As a teenager, Putin was captivated by the novel and film series “The Shield and the Sword”.  The story focuses on a brave Soviet secret agent who helps thwart the Nazies. According to Putin, he was struck by how “one spy could decide the fate of thousands of people”. After initially considering going into law, the young Putin was recruited into the KGB upon graduating in 1975. He trained at the Red Banner Institute in Moscow. Putin was one of the many “outsiders” who were recruited into the KGB by chairman Yuri Andropov in the 1970s. The main reason for Andropov’s recruitment drive was to improve the institution by injecting fresh blood and more critical KGB officers.

Putin was trained at the heavily fortified school No. 401 in Saint Petersburg, where prospective officers learned intelligence tactics and interrogation techniques. In 1976, he passed out as a lieutenant.

He is also said to have reportedly worked with the KGB’s Fifth Chief Directorate, which was dedicated to crushing political dissidents. In 1985, he adopted the cover identity of a translator and transferred to Dresden, Germany.

#5:Vladimir Putin is anti-gay and has supported a law to ban gay practices in Russia

Gay and Homosexuality is a very sensitive topic in most countries. Very few leaders have had the courage to openly criticize the practice let alone enact or support laws to ban it outright. Putin has compared gay to satanism.

According to Putin, Russia’s law banning gay “propaganda” does not harm anyone and there is no professional or social discrimination against gays in the country.

Putin is an Orthodox Christian and has expressed his faith in controversial terms, for example by placing same-sex marriage on a par with belief in Satan.

The Russian president once said that Sir Elton John, who condemned the Russian law during a  performance in Moscow, was loved by millions “regardless of his sexual orientation”.

#4: Putin reportedly owns a secret $1.3 billion mansion

navalny-mansion-investigation

The alleged mansion owned by the Russian President, as revealed by the late Alexei Navalny

There is a reason Alexei Navalny was regarded as the man who brings nightmare to President Vladimir Putin. Two days after Navalny was arrested on his return to Moscow from Berlin, he released a video about Putin’s secret mansion that sent shockwaves down the spine of not only Russians but the entire world. In the said video, Navalny alleged that an opulent property near Gelendzhik, a town in the southern Russian region of Krasnodar, was constructed for the Russian President Vladimir Putin with illicit funds of $1.35 billion, provided by members of his inner circle, and that Putin is the real owner of the palace.

The palace’s features apparently include a port, a vineyard, a church, a casino, an underground hockey rink, and toilet brushes costing $850 a piece. “It is a separate state within Russia… And in this state there is a single, irreplaceable tsar. Putin,” Navalny said in the video. Allegedly covering an area of 17, 691 square meters, it is the largest private residential building in Russia. Putin denied the claims. This revelation sparked and intensified demonstration against Putin. It also ganerned support behind Navalny who encouraged his supporters to take to the street to protest against Putin’s corruption. The Russian President denied the claim by Alexei Navalny as nonsense and mere propaganda.

 

#3: Vladimir Putin is a “killer”

Vladimir Putin drives a yacht

Russian President, Vladimir Putin

    It is one of the most surprising and informal thing that a leader of a country will do – that is, a leader of one sovereign country calling another leader a “killer”. You would be forgiven if you thought that would come from Donald Trump. Trump did call North Korean leader Kim Jon-Un, “little Rocket man” but no, this time it was President Joe Biden.
    When interviewer George Stephanopoulos asked Biden if he thought Putin was “a killer,” the President said, “Mhmm I do.”
    This comment widened the diplomatic spat between the United States and Russia. Responding to the comments, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday that “there hasn’t been anything like this in history.”
      He said it was clear that Biden “definitely does not want to improve relations” with Russia and that the relationship between the two countries is “very bad.” When asked how it can affect relations, Peskov said “it is absolutely clear how,” but refused to elaborate.

      #2: Putin is one of world’s longest serving leaders

      Vladimir Putin walks in Presidential castle

      Russian President, Vladimir Putin, with a dramatic entrance

      Vladimir Putin is edging towards becoming the longest serving Russian leader after Stalin. Putin has already been in power for over 20 years, coming in at number 14 on a list of the world’s longest-serving leaders, excluding royals, who often serve for life. His longevity has come from shuffling back and forth between the roles of prime minister and president continuously since 1999. He is regarded as an autocratic leader, and while the country holds elections, they are widely seen as undemocratic and designed in his favor. Election monitors said the 2018 presidential vote was overly controlled and lacked genuine compettition.
      The length of Putin’s rule already puts him in the company of autocrats like Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Rwandan President Paul Kagame, who had the constitution successfully changed so he could extend his rule to 35 years in total.
        Should he rule Russia for another two terms, Putin’s reign will look more like those of Cameroon’s Paul Biya, Equatorial Guinea’s Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, Iran’s Ali Khamenei and Cambodia’s Hun Sen, all of whom have been in power for more than 35 years.

        #1: Boris Johnson compared the Russian President, Vladimir Putin to the Harry Porter character, Dolby – the house elf

        Vladimir Putin compared with Dolby the elf
        Dolby, left and President Putin, right

        In December 2015, Boris Johnson – known for his random and mostly unsubstantiated claims – fired another shot, this time the aim was the Kremlin. Johnson compared the Russian leader Vladimir Putin to “Dolby the House Elf”, a funny character in the Harry Porter series.

        Writing in the Telegraph column, Johnson wrote that “Despite looking a bit like Dolby the House Elf, he is ruthless and manipulative tyrant.”

        Johnson has a very weird way of throwing his support behind people. His stock-in-trade is to first lambast you then vaguely offer his shaky support. Johnson argued in the column that the West should do a deal with Putin over the Syrian civil war.

        Which of 'facts' did you find amazing or worrying? Did we miss any point worth mentioning? Don't be shy, nail it down in the comment section below.

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