WHO AND WHAT IS PUTIN?

You will probably have an opinion about Vladimir Putin.

It will undoubtedly be based on what you’ve heard from a variety of sources, but probably most of them will be via mainstream media.

By the end of the article you may well hold the same opinion you started with. However, I would ask you to at least think about what material or media you are trusting to be true.

Anyway, let’s begin.

What has he been called?

A murderer. A thief. A friend of oligarchs. A dictator. A mafia boss. A KGB spy.

At any rate a fiend, an evil, manipulative man who has people poisoned, murdered, a man only interested in gaining more wealth and power... someone who holds the Russian people in his grip through tyranny and a corrupt system that keeps him in power and bears no relation to democracy.

In short if he is as depicted he is a thoroughly and disgustingly bad man without any scruples or ethical compass, a totally self-serving monster, corrupt and a mortal danger to western democracies through interfering in their democratic processes entirely for the benefit of himself and the Russian state.

Could any description of a man be worse? It could. If his name was Assad, Gaddafi, Saddam Hussein, Fidel Castro or any leader who the USA, UK and others have wanted to depose.

Is this a coincidence?

Are their leaders who have been called such names who weren’t western regime change targets... even if they fitted the bill? Think Saudi Arabia, think Israel, those who run Kuwait, Bahrain and other good friends of western elites.

A coincidence?

Okay, we have covered what Vladimir Putin is supposed to be.

Let’s take a look at WHO he is.

What do people say about him who have known him personally say about him as opposed to those who express a second-hand opinion about him from afar?

I have spoken extensively with someone who studied law with him. She told me he was a very “normal person”, very into sports about whom there were no scandals. She told me he comes to all their class reunions and asks for no special treatment. He requires no bodyguards in the room with them and he stays to share a meal with them. In the reunion before last they gave him a present of a fishing rod. (He likes to go fishing in the wilds of Siberia.)

Elderly business executive Sharon Henderson met Putin long before he became president. She presented a business plan to him in St. Petersburg in 1992:

‘It was two years after the implosion of communism; the place was St.Petersburg. For years I had been creating programs to open up relations between the two countries and hopefully to help Soviet people to get beyond their entrenched top-down mentalities. A new program possibility emerged in my head. Since I expected it might require a signature from the Marienskii City Hall, an appointment was made. My friend Volodya Shestakov and I showed up at a side door entrance to the Marienskii building. We found ourselves in a small, dull brown office, facing a rather trim nondescript man in a brown suit. He inquired about my reason for coming in. After scanning the proposal I provided he began asking intelligent questions. After each of my answers, he asked the next relevant question. I became aware that this interviewer was different from other Soviet bureaucrats who always seemed to fall into chummy conversations with foreigners with hopes of obtaining bribes in exchange for the Americans' requests. Center for Citizens Initiatives (the organization Sharon founded)  stood on the principle that we would never, never give bribes. This bureaucrat was open, inquiring, and impersonal in demeanor. After more than an hour of careful questions and answers, he quietly explained that he had tried hard to determine if the proposal was legal, then said that unfortunately at the time it was not. A few good words about the proposal were uttered. That was all. He simply and kindly showed us to the door. Out on the sidewalk, I said to my colleague, "Volodya, this is the first time we have ever dealt with a Soviet bureaucrat who didn't ask us for a trip to the US or something valuable!" I remember looking at his business card in the sunlight - - it read Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin.’

Sharon has a friend, Lena who went to school with Putin:

‘She began to describe Putin as a quiet youngster, poor, fond of martial arts, who stood up for kids being bullied on the playgrounds. She remembered him as a patriotic youth who applied for the KGB prematurely after graduating secondary school (they sent him away and told him to get an education). He went to law school, later reapplied and was accepted.’

Sharon’s business colleagues had some dealings with Putin:

'“Putin registered my business a few years ago". Next question, "So, how much did it cost you?" To a person they replied, "Putin didn't charge anything". One said, "We went to Putin's desk because the others providing registrations at the Marienskii were getting 'rich on their seats.”

Sharon on Putin’s relationship with Russia’s oligarchs:

‘In February a question about the oligarchs came up; he clarified with a question and his answer: "What should be the relationship with the so-called oligarchs? The same as anyone else. The same as the owner of a small bakery or a shoe repair shop." This was the first signal that the tycoons would no longer be able to flaunt government regulations or count on special access in the Kremlin. It also made the West's capitalists nervous. After all, these oligarchs were wealthy untouchable businessmen - - good capitalists, never mind that they got their enterprises illegally and were putting their profits in offshore banks.

Four months later Putin called a meeting with the oligarchs and gave them his deal: They could keep their illegally-gained wealth-producing Soviet enterprises and they would not be nationalized .... IF taxes were paid on their revenues and if they personally stayed out of politics. This was the first of Putin's "elegant solutions" to the near impossible challenges facing the new Russia.’

‘Jack Gosnell (former U.S. Coast Guard) explained his relationship with Putin when the latter was deputy mayor of St.Petersburg. The two of them worked closely to create joint ventures and other ways to promote relations between the two countries. Jack related that Putin was always straight up, courteous and helpful.’

‘A senior Center for Strategic and International Studies officer that (Sharon) was friends with in the 2000s worked closely with Putin on a number of joint ventures during the 1990s. He reported that he had no dealings with Putin that were questionable, that he respected him and believed he was getting an undeserved dour reputation from U.S. media.’

'Another former U.S. official who will go unidentified, also reported working closely with Putin, saying there was never any hint of bribery, pressuring, nothing but respectable behaviors and helpfulness.’

Sharon talked with a State Department official with whom (she) recently shared a radio interview on Russia. Afterward when we were chatting, (she) remarked, "You might be interested to know that I've collected experiences of Putin from numerous people, some over a period of years, and they all say they had no negative experiences with Putin and there was no evidence of taking bribes". He firmly replied, "No one has ever been able to come up with a bribery charge against Putin."  

Sharon talking of Russia on Putin’s watch:

‘In addition to St.Petersburg and Moscow, in September I traveled out to the Ural Mountains, spent time in Ekaterinburg, Chelyabinsk and Perm. We traveled between cities via autos and rail - - the fields and forests look healthy, small towns sport new paint and construction. Today's Russians look like Americans (we get the same clothing from China). Old concrete Khrushchev block houses are giving way to new multi-story private residential complexes which are lovely. High-rise business centers, fine hotels and great restaurants are now common place - - and ordinary Russians frequent these places. Two and three story private homes rim these Russian cities far from Moscow. We visited new museums, municipal buildings and huge super markets. Streets are in good repair, highways are new and well marked now, service stations looks like those dotting American highways. In January I went to Novosibirsk out in Siberia where similar new architecture was noted. Streets were kept navigable with constant snowplowing, modern lighting kept the city bright all night, lots of new traffic lights (with seconds counting down to light change) have appeared. It is astounding to me how much progress Russia has made in the past 14 years since an unknown man with no experience walked into Russia's presidency and took over a country that was flat on its belly.

So why do our leaders and media demean and demonize Putin and Russia??? ’

Why indeed?

(Primary source for the section above: https://www.sott.net/article/278407-Is-Putin-incorruptible-US-insiders-view-of-the-Russian-presidents-character-and-his-countrys-transformation)

Here is a potted biography of Putin:

Vladimir Putin was born into a humble family on October 7, 1952.

 

He was not very interested in studying until sixth grade. In sixth grade however his attitude changed and he would study intently from then on.

He attained degrees in law and economics. I have talked at length with one of the students who attended university with him then. 

He trained in Judo and became proficient in it. This became a lifelong interest.

In the 1980‘s he studied at KGB School #1 in Moscow.

Putin was influenced by idealistic stories he had heard about the Russian intelligence services.

He and Lyudmila Shkrebneva were married on July 28, 1983.

They have two daughters, Maria and Yekaterina.

From Putin’s biography:

According to their mother, Lyudmila, Mr Putin loves his daughters very much. “Not all fathers are as loving with their children as he is. And he has always spoiled them, while I was the one who had to discipline them,” she says.

From 1985 to 1990 Putin worked in intelligence in Dresden, East Germany.

After returning to Leningrad from Germany in 1990, Vladimir Putin became assistant to the rector of Leningrad State University in charge of international relations. In 1996, he and his family moved to Moscow, where his political career began.

He was appointed Prime Minister in August 1999 and became acting president in 2000, later winning the election to be come president four months later.

‘During his first tenure as president, the Russian economy grew for eight straight years, with GDP measured by purchasing power increasing by 72%, real incomes increased by a factor of 2.5, real wages more than tripled; unemployment and poverty more than halved and the Russians' self-assessed life satisfaction rose significantly.’ (Wikipedia)

Putin broached the possibility of Russia joining both the European Union and NATO expressing his interest in creating a 'Common European Home'. 

Putin was the first world leader to phone then U.S. president George W. Bush after the events of September 11th 2001 to offer Russia's help. 

In 2015 Putin authorized a military engagement in Syria which subsequently turned the tide against the loose groupings of anti-government forces including terrorist groups reversing the trend of growing government losses up till then.

He continues as President of the Russian Federation to this day. 

  (Primary source for the section above: http://en.putin.kremlin.ru/bio/page-3)