Vladimir Putin’s spionfortid is shrouded in mystery, but an offhand comment from the man himself to shed light on a bit of secrecy.
As Russia’s president on Monday was on a visit in Sankt Petersburg, he revealed that he has a past as a lieutenant for a cannon battalion.
It writes The Guardian.
the Comment came as Putin to fire the daily kanonsalut from the Peter and Paul fortress in Saint Petersburg.
– I got the rank of lieutenant as artillerimand, which leads of a howitzer-artillery-battalion, he said on a video published by the Russian government, but Putin elaborated on his comment.
the Howitzer is a cannon that fires artillery shells, and they are especially used in hilly or built-up areas.
the Comment fell on Monday at noon, when Putin fired a cannon-salute at Peter and Paul fortress. Photo: Ritzau Scanpix
The Russian president’s official biography says nothing about his military status, but it is already known that Putin was wound in the KGB, the Soviet secret state police, after he graduated from his jurastudie in 1975.
All students who were assessed suitable, got military training and achieved the status of of the reservit – and so did Putin. The Guardian writes that it probably is what Putin was referring to when he made the comment about his militærfortid fall.
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Putin’s comments come a few weeks after the German newspaper Bild could reveal that the president before the fall of the Wall was the holder of an id card from the Stasi, the German intelligence service.
the Card has given Putin, who was then agent for the KGB, and power, and helped to hide his identity as a KGB agent.
Putin’s old Stasi-id is equipped with his own signature. It was found in the Stasis archives where it has lain for almost 30 years. Photo: Ritzau Scanpix
We know almost nothing about what Putin did, when he worked for the KGB in Dresden, East germany. Certain it is, that he was dealing with espionage, and rumors say that he monitored political defectors from the Soviet union. Other rumors going on that he recruited foreigners, who worked in Dresden for the KGB. None of the rumors are, however, officially confirmed.
