When Vladimir Putin took over as Russia’s acting president in the last days of the 20th century, the former spy was a mystery to many.
Boris Yeltsin shocked everyone on December 31, 1999, announcing his resignation as president. “Russia must enter a new millennium with new politicians, new faces, new intelligence, strong and energetic,” he said. ’
Yeltsin’s administration became increasingly unpopular and uncertain amid widespread corruption and widespread political and social problems. He was one of the main organizers of the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. His tenure was a transitional period from a state-run communist economy to a free-market economy. These are difficult times for Russia.
As the new face for the new millennium, Yeltsin’s apparent successor, Putin, made his first televised speech as Russia’s acting president at midnight on December 31, 1999. “There will be no vacuum in power,” he promised. ’
At this time, Putin also gave a warning. “Any attempt to go beyond the limits of Russia’s laws and constitution will ultimately be crushed to the ground,” he said. ’
Skinny, well-built, active and drug-free Putin became popular in a country accustomed to seeing Yeltsin’s whimsical behavior. Yeltsin was so drunk and sick that sometimes he made headlines if he was seen in his office.
Putin became Prime Minister of Russia in August 1999. Until then, the member of the Soviet Union’s intelligence agency KGB was not well known. After becoming acting president of Russia later that year, Putin gained popularity due to his hardline stance in the war in Chechnya.
In March 2000, Putin won nearly 53 percent of the vote in the first round of Russia’s national elections. The survey found that most Russians at that time wanted economic stability above all else.
Putin’s fundamental message to voters was that he would make Russia strong again.
The new leader of the world’s largest country rose to the top without leaving any target. It was clear that Putin, then 47, was a man who liked to see himself as tough, tough, and speak that way. For example, the Russian leader with a black belt in judo used to say that lawbreakers are rats, they should be crushed.
But what kind of man was Putin?
Putin grew up in St. Petersburg, Russia. The city was then known as Leningrad. Tsar Peter the Great founded the city. The city was completely influenced by the West. But the city is also a reflection of Russia’s royal past.
The BBC spoke to Putin’s one-time judo instructor, Anatoly Rakhlin, in 2001. “Putin was a star student. He had the potential to make the Olympic team.
Anatoly added that Putin was determined to win, if not with force, he beat the opponent with tactics. It was very difficult for the opponent to defeat him. Because he used to change tactics again and again.
Putin was born in 1952, seven years after World War II. His elder brother was killed in Leningrad, which was besieged before he was born. At that time, his parents somehow survived.
Putin grew up in a crowded shared flat. Many families had to use a single bathroom and kitchen. I had to live with rats and cockroaches.
“Once I saw a big rat and chased it into a corner,” Putin wrote. Suddenly, the mouse pounced on me. Then it jumped up the stairs. ’
According to Professor Nina Khrushcheva, the grandson of former Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, the tone of Putin’s famous cornered rat anecdote is more or less offensive based on his audience.
In a BBC podcast in 2023, Nina said of Putin that she always told the story of her simple upbringing, how far she had come, the enemies she had to face throughout her life, how she endured a small animal, then rose to a great level by facing all kinds of enemies, domestic and foreign.
The 1968 Soviet spy film “The Shield and the Sword” inspired Putin to join the intelligence service.
Putin has never wavered from his childhood ambition to become an intelligence officer. Through university education and KGB training, he became an intelligence officer.
When Putin was 16, he went to the local KGB headquarters and asked for a job. They told Putin to study the law and then wait.
Six years later, the intelligence agency hired Putin. Putin has enjoyed the double life of a spy for more than 16 years. He was serving in East Germany when the Berlin Wall fell. Then he returned to a Russia whose old guarantees had been shattered.
In 1991, Putin became the deputy of the new mayor of Leningrad, Anatoly Sobchak. The Kremlin later chose Putin over Sabchak after losing the vote.
From the time Yeltsin’s administration was digging towards the end, until he became prime minister in 1999, Putin made his position unnoticed by everyone. A stranger suddenly became a familiar name to everyone at once.
Putin has been in power in Russia for 25 years. No one has ruled Russia for such a long period of time since Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin.
Putin is now 72 years old. He is serving his fifth term as president. In early 2024, the BBC’s Paul Kirby wrote: “All signs of opposition to his (Putin’s) regime have vanished. He can stay in power until 2036 if he wants. And in this case, there is no one to stop him. ’