How Vladimir Putin rose to power in Russia

When Vladimir Putin became acting president of Russia in the final days of the 20th century, the former spy was a mystery to many. History takes a look at how an amazing leader survived a tough childhood and rose to power in the Kremlin.

Russian President Boris Yeltsin made the shocking announcement that he would resign on December 31, 1999. tell the TV audience: “Russia must enter the new century with new politicians, new faces, new intelligent, strong and energetic people.” Amid widespread corruption and major political and social problems, Yeltsin’s presidency Jobs became increasingly unpopular and unpredictable. Although he played a key role in the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, his tenure was a traumatic period for Russia as it transitioned from a communist state economy to a free market economy.

At midnight, Yeltsin’s successor, Vladimir Putin, a newcomer to the new millennium, gave his first televised address: acting president. “There will be no power vacuum,” he promised. There was also a warning. “Any attempt to go beyond the limits of the law and the Russian Constitution will be decisively crushed,” he said. Thin, healthy and level-headed, Putin has proven popular in a country accustomed to social conditions. erratic behavior So was Yeltsin. drunk and unhealthy When he managed to reach the office, it sometimes made the news.

When Putin became prime minister in August 1999, he was a relatively unknown former KGB man. By the end of the year, when he became acting president, he had become popular for his hardline stance against war in the breakaway republic. Chechnya. When elections were held in March 2000, President Putin be confirmed as president After securing almost 53% of the votes in the first round. Polls show that most Russians want economic stability above all else. Putin’s basic message to voters was to make Russia strong again.

The new leader of the world’s largest country has risen to the top without leaving a trace. It was clear that the 47-year-old was a man who liked to talk tough. He is a black belt in judo and has made comments such as calling lawbreakers “rats that should be crushed.” But what kind of person was he really like?

President Putin is st petersburgthen known as Leningrad. Founded by Peter the Great, the city is not only full of Western influences, but also retains echoes of Russia’s grand imperial era. The BBC interviewed Putin’s old man in 2001. judo coachHe was said to be a star student with the potential to become a member of the Olympic team. Anatoly Rakulin explained that President Putin was always determined to outwit his opponents, if not by brute force. “He could throw with equal skill in either direction. And his opponents expected him to throw from the right, which he would.” was invisible, so it was very difficult for opponents to defeat him, because he was constantly fooling them. ”

President Putin was born in 1952, seven years after the end of World War II. His older brother was killed during the Siege of Leningrad, and his parents barely survived. He grew up in a crowded communal apartment with a shared kitchen and bathroom, full of rats and cockroaches. In his autobiography, he recalls how, as a boy, he had to fight rats on the stairs. “Once, I found a huge rat and chased it down the hallway until I cornered it. Suddenly, the rat went wild and threw itself at me. It jumped off the landing and then down the stairs.”

his famous tone The story of a cornered rat According to Professor Nina Khrushchev, great-granddaughter of former Soviet Prime Minister Nikita Khrushchev, they can be more or less aggressive depending on the audience. Talk about 2023 BBC Podcast Putin“He talks about his humble upbringing and how far he has come and what kind of enemies he has had to endure in his life, how he began to endure the lowest of creatures and then moved on to the higher “I decided to always tell this story to show how much I’ve risen to the level,” she said. It is to confront all kinds of enemies, both domestic and foreign. ”

My childhood friend, psychologist Maria Osolina, told the BBC In 2003, he described the harsh environment in which they grew up as a “survival of the fittest.” “He was small, thin and rather weak because he was born to elderly parents, so it was very important for him to be strong so that he wouldn’t get hit,” she said.

She said her family had strong values ​​of duty, patriotism and loyalty. “His parents loved him very much. He was the center of their world, the son they had been waiting for. But their personalities were very restrained by nature, and they didn’t show much emotion. His father was very cold on the outside, and his mother would never have thought of kissing him in public.”

Friends and acquaintances remember the young Putin as intelligent but self-sufficient. His classmate Sergei Kudrov told the BBC in 2001 that he was “never the center of attention”. “He liked to influence things from afar and was, as they say, a kind of ‘gray cardinal’. He was very different from Boris Yeltsin. Remember how that was?” climbed into the tank And motioned for everyone to follow him? It would have been unimaginable for President Putin to do such a thing. He is an introvert and a man of actions rather than words. ”

He had a romantic desire to become a KGB agent and serve his country incognito. Perhaps it was the perfect job for someone who wants to stay out of the spotlight. By his own admission, his inspiration was the 1968 Soviet spy film. shield and sword. The story was about a Russian double agent posing as a driver in wartime Germany, stealing documents in order to thwart Nazi operations.

Putin never wavered from his boyhood ambition to become an intelligence agent, through university and KGB training. At the age of 16, he entered the local KGB headquarters and asked for a job. They told him to study law and then wait. Six years later, he was hired by an agency. For more than 16 years, Putin would lead a double life as an intelligence officer. When the Berlin Wall fell, he serve in east germany. He returned to Russia, where all the old certainties were crumbling.

In 1991, Putin became deputy to Leningrad’s new mayor, Anatoly Sobchak. After Sobchak was voted out, the Kremlin headhunted Putin. As Yeltsin’s government was teetering toward its end, Putin quietly rose to power and became prime minister in 1999. The man appeared out of nowhere and suddenly appeared everywhere all at once.

For Maria Osolina, Putin’s old friend in 2003, his leadership was a breath of fresh air. “I was born in 1950, and since then I haven’t had a single leader that I’ve enjoyed watching. I haven’t liked any of them.” Putin was the first person to rule Russia since the revolution. He’s someone I really like, and he’s the first person we’re not ashamed of. ”

president putin He has been in power for a quarter of a century, longer than any Kremlin leader since Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin. He is 72 years old and in his fifth term as president. The BBC’s Paul Kirby wrote: He said earlier this year that “all signs of opposition to his rule have disappeared and there is little to prevent him from staying in office until 2036 if he wishes.”

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