Thread: About Putin and KGB Career

Vladimir Putin

Early life and education
Putin's parents, Vladimir Spiridonovich Putin and Maria Ivanovna Putina (née Shelomova)

Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin was born on 7 October 1952 in Leningrad, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union (now Saint Petersburg),[27][28] the youngest of three children of Vladimir Spiridonovich Putin (1911–1999) and Maria Ivanovna Putina (née Shelomova; 1911–199. His birth was preceded by the death of two brothers, Viktor and Albert, born in the mid-1930s. Albert died in infancy and Viktor died of diphtheria during the Siege of Leningrad in World War II.[29] Putin's mother was a factory worker and his father was a conscript in the Soviet Navy, serving in the submarine fleet in the early 1930s. Early in World War II, his father served in the destruction battalion of the NKVD.[30][31][32] Later, he was transferred to the regular army and was severely wounded in 1942.[33] Putin's maternal grandmother was killed by the German occupiers of Tver region in 1941, and his maternal uncles disappeared at the war front.[34]

On 1 September 1960, Putin started at School No. 193 at Baskov Lane, near his home. He was one of a few in the class of approximately 45 pupils who was not yet a member of the Young Pioneer organization. At age 12, he began to practice sambo and judo. He is a Judo black belt and national master of sports in Sambo. He wished to emulate the intelligence officers portrayed in Soviet cinema.[35] Putin studied German at Saint Petersburg High School 281 and speaks German fluently.[36][37]

Putin studied Law at the Leningrad State University (now Saint Petersburg State University) in 1970 and graduated in 1975.[7] His thesis was on "The Most Favored Nation Trading Principle in International Law".[38] While there, he was required to join the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and remained a member until December 1991.[39] Putin met Anatoly Sobchak, an assistant professor who taught business law (khozyaystvennoye pravo), and who would be influential in Putin's career.[40]
KGB career
Putin in KGB uniform, circa 1980

In 1975, Putin joined the KGB and trained at the 401st KGB school in Okhta, Leningrad.[27][41] After training, he worked in the Second Chief Directorate (counter-intelligence), before he was transferred to the First Chief Directorate, where he monitored foreigners and consular officials in Leningrad.[27][42][43] From 1985 to 1990, he served in Dresden, East Germany,[44] using a cover identity as a translator.[45] Masha Gessen, a Russian-American who has authored a biography about Putin claims, "Putin and his colleagues were reduced mainly to collecting press clippings, thus contributing to the mountains of useless information produced by the KGB."[45] According to Putin's official biography, during the fall of the Berlin Wall that began on 9 November 1989, he burned KGB files to prevent demonstrators from obtaining them.[46]

After the collapse of the Communist East German government, Putin returned to Leningrad in early 1990, where he worked for about three months with the International Affairs section of Leningrad State University, reporting to Vice-Rector Yuriy Molchanov.[43] There, he looked for new KGB recruits, watched the student body, and renewed his friendship with his former professor, Anatoly Sobchak, soon to be the Mayor of Leningrad.[47] Putin claims that he resigned with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel on 20 August 1991,[47] on the second day of the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt against the Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev.[48] Putin said: "As soon as the coup began, I immediately decided which side I was on", although he also noted that the choice was hard because he had spent the best part of his life with "the organs".[49]

In 1999, Putin described communism as "a blind alley, far away from the mainstream of civilization".[50]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Putin

Putin was never in charge of the KGB. He was an observer of foreign visitors and actually spent most of his time with the KGB in Germany. I don't think Vladimir Putin is the person many have been led to believe he is. Our former President GHW Bush as Director of the CIA, our equivalent to the KGB, was far more involved in the dark work of foreign intelligence operations than Putin, so when Morning Joe or any other idiot shouts out about "former KGB" about Putin, just remember, he was either following our diplomats around Leningrad or collecting clippings in Dresden, East Germany.

Germany knows this, that's why they aren't afraid of Putin or Russia and instead want to business with Russia, always of course demanding the US cover their backs on our dime if something goes awry. So they speak with forked tongue, saying one thing to the US on NATO matters and quite another in their own true reality. It came out today that the former German Chancellor is the CEO of the Russian company building the pipeline under the Baltic Sea into Germany.

It's way past time that Americans catch up with the reality of Russia.

Personally, I think you're carrying your lovefest for Putin and Russia far beyond the reality of who Putin is and how dangerous he and Russia are to our national interest. You're attempt to paint Putin as something he's not is sort of funny (IMO).

North Korea, Russia, Iran, China, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria are our enemies. Of course the most dangerous of the group are Russia and China.

VLADIMIR PUTIN, THE WORLD’S MOST DANGEROUS MAN

POLITICS, WORLD
BY THE OBJECTIVE OPINIANIST
APRIL 2, 2018

Vladimir Putin is quite possibly the world’s most dangerous man. He’s leading one of the world’s superpowers as a dictator with unchecked power. International organizations hold him responsible for several assassinations worldwide. Meanwhile he plays a dangerous game with the rest of the world in Eastern Europe.So, who is Vladimir Putin, and what are the reasons he’s so dangerous?

Ex-KGB

After Putin graduated, his very first occupation was as a member of the infamous KGB. This organisation was part of the Soviet Union and focused on gathering intelligence and performing counter-intelligence for the state. Even so, Putin’s early career was fairly uninteresting, as he spent most of his time doing paperwork. He sorted through the vast amounts of intelligence the KGB gathered, the majority of which was useless information.Later, in 1985, he adopted the persona of a translator in East-Germany, where he took on a role more in line with what most people expect from a KGB agent. He was there to compromise foreign dignitaries, gather information about the local political opposition to the Soviet Union and to travel under cover to West-Germany to spy on western forces. In 1991, as the Soviet Union crumbled, Putin resigned, stating “he knew which side he wanted to be on.”

Early Political Career

Following his exit from the KGB Putin instead dove into politics. He took office as the head of the Committee for External Relations of the Mayor’s Office of Leningrad. Here investigators subsequently charged with fraud one year later. He made a deal to allow the export of about 93 million dollars worth of metals in exchange for food aid that mysteriously never arrived, but was allowed to continue serving anyway.Putin gradually worked his way up the ranks of the Our Home – Russia party, gradually drawing more power to himself. In 1999 he was appointing acting Prime Minister of Russia by President Yeltsin. President Yeltsin openly supported Putin as his successor, to which Putin pledged to run during the next election. While he had many rivals, Putin’s growing popularity during this time allowed him to gain the upper hand, solidifying his position as Yeltsin’s successor.

Vladimir Putin in Power

Prime Minister

Several months before the next presidential election, President Yeltsin unexpectedly resigned, which made Putin Russia’s acting President. This is where his reign began, and one of his first acts was pardoning President Yeltsin and his entire family from any corruption cases against them. Corruption was rife in Russia both during the Soviet Union and afterwards, and there was at least one ongoing lawsuit against relatives of Yeltsin. This set the tone for how Putin would run his country.After he won the elections in 2000, he made a deal with Russia’s oligarchs, who up till then had considerable power in the country. He allowed them to keep their power, as long as they stood behind Putin and his administration. A great many of these oligarchs would retain close ties with Putin and help him run his regime.

President

Putin kept hold of power in Russia since then. However, he couldn’t run for office again in 2008 after his second term. The constitution forbade it. However, he put a puppet in power in 2008 which openly admitted the plan was to hand power back to Putin all along.Putin has since then experienced unrivaled popularity in Russia, despite numerous human rights violations. This is because Putin has created a persona around himself as the proverbial savior of Russia. Whereas the Russian economy had all but collapsed under his predecessors, Putin’s policies revitalized it. His strong stance against western powers has played into the anti-west sentiments that remained in Russia after the Cold War. His recent annexation of the Crimea has played well with Russian nationalists, who consider the area a part of Russia’s heritage.As a result, Putin’s approval rating among his own people is a record breaking 88%. Of course, the rest of the world views him very differently.

Putin’s Crimes

If Putin is notorious for one thing, it’s that he cares nothing for international law. Here follows a short list of his most notorious offenses.

Assassinations

Though Putin enjoys overwhelming popularity in Russia, there are still those who would criticize him. Unfortunately, standing up to the regime is dangerous. There’s been a great deal of evidence that Putin had many Russian citizens that openly criticized him or his policies murdered. Such individuals run the risk of being poisoned, stabbed by a random passerby or beaten to death by an angry mob. Russian officials will deny responsibility and often claim the murdered was a random psychopath.

Fraud in Russia’s Democracy

International organizations stated that Russia is not considered a Democracy anymore. This is mainly because of how the current regime operates. Whenever there’s a serious challenger to Putin’s seat, the regime charges that opponent with a crime. To the regime the nature of the crime is irrelevant, since convicted felons aren’t allowed to run for office. Thus, Putin can pick and chose his own opponents, and he never chooses a winner.



The regime also suppresses and persecutes opposition parties. Members of opposing political parties are often arrested and thrown behind bars for decades. The state runs propaganda to support the current regime, and has been involved in the creation of paramilitary groups that support the regime. This creates a hostile environment for any organization seeking to challenge the status quo, thus keeping the country under the regime’s control. There are some “opposition” parties the state does not persecute, but these are usually just puppets that are ultimately loyal to the regime. They exist only to give the country the appearance of a functional democracy.Lastly, there’s also fraud in the election itself. There’s good reason to believe the system has been corrupted entirely. There’s been reports that a great deal of the votes cast during the last election were in fact cast by “phantom” voters. As usual, the Russians themselves deny these allegations, but it’s becoming increasingly clear that in Russia there can only ever be one winner, and that’s Putin.

Annexation of the Crimea

As the Ukraine went through what was effectively a civil war, Russian forces stepped into the Crimean Peninsula and annexed it. According referendum held by Russia, a majority of the Crimeans wished to join with Russia, which became their justification for annexation. While historically Russia has some claim on Crimea, the annexation was clearly unlawful. Most other nations in the UN continue to recognize Crimea as a part of the Ukraine.



Even so, taking the Crimea was a bold move on Putin’s part. Had the UN intervened (which strictly speaking, it should have) it could’ve sparked a full blown war. Even so, the event has laid the foundations for the fear that another cold war is approaching, or potentially another world war.

Support of the Assad Regime

Russia’s current regime is a direct military ally of Assad. In fact, Russia has made possible the bloodiest war in the 21st century thus far, the war in Syria. Russia has provided Assad with the weapons he needed to fight this war and even joined in strikes against rebel factions. International observers have accused this joined force of targeting civilians, in which case the Russian regime is equally responsible for the hundreds of thousands of deaths the war has already resulted in.

Conclusion

Vladimir Putin truly is one of the most dangerous men alive. There’s few people in the world he can’t have assassinated if he so desired. He’s helped to destabilize large regions of the world, including the Ukraine and Syria. He is directly responsible for numerous human rights violations in his own country. He could single-handedly bring about World War III, or even nuclear Armageddon, and there’d be no one in his administration with the power to stop him.



If anyone has the power to change the future of our planet, it’s Vladimir Putin. From what we’ve seen so far, it’s unlikely his influence on that future will be a positive one.

http://www.allobjectiveopinions.com/...dangerous-man/

Originally Posted by MW

Personally, I think you're carrying your lovefest for Putin and Russia far beyond the reality of who Putin is and how dangerous he and Russia are to our national interest. You're attempt to paint Putin as something he's not is sort of funny (IMO).

North Korea, Russia, Iran, China, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria are our enemies. Of course the most dangerous of the group are Russia and China.

You talk just like a DemoQuack when it comes to Russia and Putin. Trump is going to pull open the curtain on this charade so the American People will finally after all these years know the truth about Russia. Having a new relationship with Russia was one of Trump's goals, he thinks it's important and beneficial to the United States, I totally agree and have thought so since I was in college and studied Russia, and if he can do it, it will be a great thing for our country, businesses and people, and the world.

But you go ahead and hide behind your "most dangerous man" scam.

Originally Posted by Judy

You talk just like a DemoQuack when it comes to Russia and Putin. Trump is going to pull open the curtain on this charade so the American People will finally after all these years know the truth about Russia. Having a new relationship with Russia was one of Trump's goals, he thinks it's important and beneficial to the United States, I totally agree and have thought so since I was in college and studied Russia, and if he can do it, it will be a great thing for our country, businesses and people, and the world.

But you go ahead and hide behind your "most dangerous man" scam.

Actually, I'd be surprised if the majority of Republican voters in this country didn't feel exactly as I do about Putin and Russia. As for pulling back a curtain and exposing a charade, there is no curtain to pull back. Most informed folks already know the truth. A truth that is counter to the junk you're constantly attempting to sell to the uninformed.

Then, you and whoever are going to get a really HUUUGE education from President Trump.