“If you think Russian President Vladimir Putin is nothing more than a ruthless thug who relishes political power and personal preening on the world’s stage — he’s got you right where he wants you.” These chilling words of warning were written just last year by Maureen Mackey, managing editor of The Fiscal Times.
Marin Katusa, who has studied Russian politics and Putin for years, is the author of a new book, “The Colder War: How the Energy Trade Slipped from America’s Grasp”, in which she wrote “Putin is not a regular politician like we are used to in the West - he believes his mission is to steer Russia toward its past glory as a global superpower...he is far more dangerous than politicians and the media would lead you to believe.”
Marin Katusa, who has studied Russian politics and Putin for years, is the author of a new book, “The Colder War: How the Energy Trade Slipped from America’s Grasp”, in which she wrote “Putin is not a regular politician like we are used to in the West - he believes his mission is to steer Russia toward its past glory as a global superpower...he is far more dangerous than politicians and the media would lead you to believe.”
One website describes him in this language: “Putin has positioned himself as heroic defender of Russia’s sovereignty. He has labeled the ostentatious West as the imperialistic villain keen on toying with the Third World. At the UN, Russia routinely vetoes initiatives to hold dictators accountable and cites a contrived narrative about America’s role as international bully.”
Putin was born in 1952. His mother was a factory worker. His father worked as a laborer on train cars. When he was growing up the family lived in a rat infested communal building in a single 200 square foot room on the fifth floor with no water, bathtub or toilet. This is a far cry from an elaborate palace near the Black Sea which, according to rumors, Putin has built at a cost of $1 billion under allegations he obained his wealth through bribery and theft and graft.
In school he was considered a poor student, a troublemaker, a schoolyard punk prone to violence. Beginning at age 12 he started practicing martial arts, (he currently holds a Black Belt in Judo) and was said to have a quick temper.
His less than spectacular academic achievements notwithstanding, he earned a law degree from Leningrad State University in 1975 and was recruited into the KGB at age 22. For the next sixteen years, he worked as a self-described “specialist in human relations.”
Katusa writes in her book that Putin “ was expert at reading and manipulating people and was unfazed by violence... These were indispensable qualities for anyone out to make his way to the top of the Russian political pile.”
Because he was able to pass for Nordic, and was also fluent in German, Putin worked undercover in East Germany for five years, beginning in 1985. His undercover days were over in 1989 when the Berlin Wall came down.
He is divorced from his wife, and is the father of two daughters. When he was working in East Germany, the intelligence there described him as a “philanderer and a wife-beater.” By his own admission, his relationship with women is a little odd. There have been a variety of rumors over the years about his infidelities, and allegations that his wife has been committed to a mental hospital.
Putin’s wealth and assets have been estimated at between $40 and $200 billion. It is interesting to know in this regard that Russia is on the Transparency International’s annual list of the 182 most corrupt nations, along with Nigeria and Uganda.
Boris Yeltsin selected Putin for the position of Prime Minister In 1999 and afterwards he was elected as president for two terms. He then returned to the Prime Minister role where he could still pull the levers of power. He is now serving a third term as President and has said he “might want” a fourth term.
Putin is very proud of his masculine machismo and takes advantage of all photo opportunities showing him in that role such as a picture of him holding a 46 pound Pike he caught on a fishing trip in Siberia.
And of course we have all seen the bare chested Putin riding horseback.
As a budding archeologist and “scholar” he allegedly discovered some ancient Greek urns while diving in the Black Sea in 2011 but an aide later admitted they had been planted there for the “discovery”.
He tracks polar bears for the purpose of preservation of wildlife and shoots whales with crossbows for science.
He has soared “like an eagle” through the skies in a motorized hang glider alongside some Siberian white cranes. In 2013, Putin entered a submersible and sank to the bottom of the Gulf of Finland, some 200 feet underwater, just to check out a 140-year-old shipwreck.
He claims to be “really good” at ice hockey. He has mastered both judo and sambo, the Russian martial art. In 2010 he took a Renault Formula One Race Car for an outing on a St. Petersburg race track reaching speeds of up to 150 miles per hour.
Putin’s “Hell’s Angels” are a gang of bikers who call themselves Night Wolves. They are reputed to be very patriotic and are currently on the U.S. sanctions list because they support the rebel fighters in Ukraine.
Although he was an atheist as a child, Putin turned to church after two major accidents during the 90s. Now he claims to be a devout member of the Russian Orthodox Church.
According to a recent post in The Daily Wire, “Putin has ensured that genocidal Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad remains in power, while ignoring ISIS. Alongside Iran, Russia is one the biggest backers of the Assad regime. .. Putin sent the Russian military to aid Assad just as rebels had begun to gain strategic advances against the regime.”
“Since Russia entered the picture, tens of thousands of Syrians have been killed, injured, or forced into exile. For months now, Russian fighter jets have pounded anti-Assad opposition forces and civilians alike with a remarkable disregard for human life. As Syria analyst Charles Lister has noted time and time again, the Russians are not going after ISIS; their bombing patterns indicate that they have targeted US backed rebels (including the FSA) and other anti-Assad opposition forces, while leaving ISIS relatively intact.”
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