V.V.Putin

Backstory: Potential, energy, character

In the sixth grade, Putin set himself the goal of achieving something in life. He began to study without triples, which was easy for him. At the same time, he was accepted into the pioneers, and immediately after that he became chairman of the council of the detachment.

"It became clear that yard skills were not enough, and I started playing sports. But even this resource did not last long to maintain its status, so to speak. It was also necessary to study well," says Putin.

The 1970s Higher education

Leningrad State University and the KGB Graduate School

In 1970, Vladimir Putin entered the Faculty of Law of Leningrad State University, graduating in 1975. In the late 70s and early 80s, Putin graduated from the Moscow KGB Higher School No. 1.

A sailor? The pilot? The Scout

Even before Vladimir Putin graduated from high school, he had a desire to work in intelligence. To find out how they become intelligence officers, he went to the reception room of the KGB Directorate. There he was told that first he had to either serve in the army or graduate from a university, preferably a law school.

"And from that moment on, I started studying for the law faculty of Leningrad University," Putin says.

Other incentives, other values

In 1970, Vladimir Putin entered the Faculty of Law of Leningrad State University. "The course consisted of 100 people, and only 10 of them were enrolled right after school. The rest are after the army. Therefore, for us, the students, the competition was about 40 people per place. I got a B in my essay, but I passed all the others with A's, and I passed," Putin says.

After Putin graduated from Leningrad State University, he was assigned to work in the state security agencies. "My ideas about the KGB arose from romantic stories about the work of intelligence officers," Putin says.

He was first assigned to the Department's secretariat, then to the counterintelligence unit, where he worked for about five months. Six months later, he was sent to a refresher course for operational personnel.

For about another six months, Putin worked in the counterintelligence unit.

It was then that the foreign intelligence officers noticed him. "He quickly left for special training in Moscow, where he stayed for a year. Then he returned to Leningrad and worked there, as they used to say, in the first department. The first main directorate is intelligence. This department had divisions in major cities of the Union, including Leningrad. I worked there for about four and a half years," he recalls.

Then Putin went back to Moscow to study at the Andropov Red Banner Institute, where he was prepared for a trip to Germany.

The 1980s Wedding and Germany

There was something about him.…

After completing his studies at the Andropov Red Banner Institute, where Vladimir Putin was prepared for a trip to Germany, in 1985 he went to the GDR and worked there until 1990. But before he left, more than one important event happened in his life.…

Wife Lyudmila

Vladimir Putin and Lyudmila Shkrebneva were introduced by a mutual friend. Lyudmila worked as a stewardess on domestic flights and flew with a friend to Leningrad for three days.

"Once, when I was already working in the first division in St. Petersburg, a friend called me and said that he invited me to the Arkady Raikin Theater. He has tickets, the girls will be there. We went. There really were girls. The next day we went to the theater again. I've already taken out the tickets. And on the third, the same thing. I started dating one of them. We became friends. With Luda, my future wife," says Putin.

"There must have been something about Volodya that attracted me. After three or four months, I already decided that he was the right person for me," Lyudmila recalls. Three years after they met, Vladimir proposed to Lyudmila. "I realized that if I don't get married for another two or three years, I'll never get married. Although, of course, the habit of bachelor life has developed. Lyudmila eradicated it," Putin admits.

They got married on July 28, 1983.

Vladimir and Lyudmila Putin were married until 2013.

Daughters Maria and Katerina

In 1985, before leaving for Germany, Vladimir and Lyudmila Putin had a daughter, Maria. The youngest, Katerina, was born in 1986, already in Dresden.

Both girls were named after their grandmothers: Maria Ivanovna Putin and Ekaterina Tikhonovna Shkrebneva.

According to their mother, Lyudmila, Putin loves his daughters very much. "Not all men are as touching to their children as he is. And he always spoiled them, and I had to bring them up," she says.

Dresden

In 1985-1990, Vladimir Putin worked in the GDR. He served in the territorial intelligence service in Dresden. Due to his seniority, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel and senior assistant to the head of the department. And in 1989, he was awarded the bronze medal "For Outstanding Services to the National People's Army of the GDR."

"My work was going well. It was considered normal if there was one promotion while working on a business trip. I was promoted twice," says Putin.

The 1990s From Assistant Rector of Leningrad State University to Acting President of the Russian Federation

Leningrad – Moscow

After returning to Leningrad from Germany, Vladimir Putin served as Assistant to the Rector of Leningrad State University for International Affairs since 1990. In 1996, he and his family moved to Moscow, where his political career began. Leningrad – Saint Petersburg

In 1990, after returning to Leningrad from Dresden, Vladimir Putin got a job as an assistant to the Rector of Leningrad State University for international affairs. "I was happy to go "under the roof" of Leningrad State University hoping to write a PhD, see how it was and what, and maybe stay to work at Leningrad State University. So, in the 90s, I became the university's assistant rector for international relations," Putin recalls.

Soon he became an adviser to the chairman of the Leningrad City Council.

Since June 1991, Putin began working as Chairman of the Committee on External Relations of the St. Petersburg City Hall and at the same time - since 1994 – First Deputy Chairman of the Government of St. Petersburg.

After joining the Leningrad City Hall, Putin submitted a report on dismissal from the KGB of the USSR.

Moscow. A prime minister with a perspective

In 1996, Vladimir Putin moved with his family to Moscow, as he was offered the post of Deputy managing Director of the President of the Russian Federation. "I can't say that I didn't like Moscow. I just loved Peter more. But Moscow is obviously a European city," Putin recalls.

His career was developing rapidly. In March 1997, Putin became Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration and head of the Main Control Directorate of the President of the Russian Federation. Despite the workload, in 1997 he defended his PhD thesis in economics at the St. Petersburg State Mining Institute. In May 1998, Putin was already the First Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration of the Russian Federation. In July 1998, he was appointed Director of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation, and at the same time, since March 1999, Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation.

And already in August 1999, Vladimir Putin became Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation. He was offered this post by Russian President Boris Yeltsin.

Appointed Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation

On May 8, 2008, by Decree of the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin was appointed Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation.