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For some he is a brutal dictator, for others he is a true leader who is patriotic, tough and uncompromising. Vladimir Putin who desires Russia to return to the glorious days of the old empire, is a person who will be given different adjectives no matter how you look at the world. If you’re a Russian nationalist or a socialist, you’re likely to like him, but if you’re a staunch liberal, you’ll hate him. Besides these, there is a fact that whether you love Vladimir or not, you have to admit that he is a strong leader who affects world politics.
Especially those who follow international politics will see his influences sometimes in the Caucasus and the Middle East, sometimes in Asia and even in the American continent. This is how influential a figure the person we are talking about is.
Who is Putin?
At this point, we will try to look at his life objectively and analyse it, going beyond classical biographies. At the same time, we will realize the difficulty of answering the question of whether it is really possible to revive the old Russian Empire that he dreams of 🙂 After all, we are talking about a different leader who sometimes wrestles with bears, sometimes does judo and sometimes goes hunting on the Caucasus coast on horseback. Also, we will not present you with a classic biography. So, after all, you can read when and where Putin was born from everywhere. 🙂 As you may remember, Vladimir followed a very moderate line in the early 2000s, when he became President of Russia. At this point, we should point out that at that time, he even proposed that Russia be included in NATO.
He is described by the few people who know him closely as someone who speaks very little and cannot be understood what is going on in his mind. Understanding the inner world of this silent and mysterious character, who says he has a chance to forgive everything except betrayal, will help us understand his actions and movements.
Russia Before Vladimir
On the other hand, we understand from the subsequent events and especially from the statements he made when the Ukrainian attack began; He is a strict nationalist leader who is trying to return Russia to the period in which he was born, namely the strong period of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Almost all of the information about his life is based on his own discourses and interviews. At this point, it is almost impossible to obtain information about his past from an independent or impartial source. In other words, those who witnessed his youth are either dead or not available.
It is a fact that Vladimir Putin is very popular among the Russian people. On December 31, 1999, Boris Yeltsin who was the president at the time, pointed him in his place when he resigned which was effective in Putin becoming the president. If we go back to the Russia of that period, the USSR was dissolved, the economy was bankrupt and the former Russian states together with all their natural resources, were caught in the grip of the West and NATO.
Before Putin ruling period, the Russian people were experiencing economic difficulties and felt that their national honour was being damaged. In addition, while their president Yeltsin was making a new scandal every day due to his alcohol problem, his famous laughter scenes with Clinton were engraved in the minds of Russians. At that very time, while the voices of resignation were rising in the streets every day, the Chechnya crisis broke out and while bombs were exploding every day in Moscow, Chechens were blowing winds of separation in the Caucasus. As you can understand from all this information, the situation in Russia before Putin was deplorable.
KGB Years
Putin who himself saw the collapse of the Soviet Union in East Germany as a KGB agent in 1999 and was devastated that he could not get support from Moscow, drew conclusions for the future from these experiences. Maybe those days are still in his mind. It is possible to read the Georgian and Ukrainian wars from this perspective. Let us briefly state here that he was born in 1952 in St. Petersburg, formerly known as Leningrad. His mother who nearly died due to hunger during World War II, was born into a poor and ordinary family.
In fact, he is a character who has always wanted to be a KGB agent since he was a child and when he was suggested to study law for this purpose, he studied law, although he did not really want to. After studying law, he joined the KGB and served his state as an agent for many years. As we mentioned before, when East Germany was collapsing, it asked for support from Moscow and could never forget the support it did not receive.
After returning to his country, he started working at the university and later served as deputy mayor. After these services, he continued his unstoppable rise by serving as deputy of the presidential council between 1996 and 1999. Even though he apparently no longer has any ties to the KGB while carrying out these duties, it is as if someone is preparing him for the big task. We would also like to point out that he learned German very well while serving in East Germany at that time, as if he was preparing himself for the future.
Putin is the New Tsar?
Yeltsin’s resignation on December 31, 1999 seemed to be an issue that concerned only the Russian Federation at that time. On the other hand, time has shown that this was actually an event that would radically change world politics. The Russian nation which lost its old states after the collapse of the USSR in the early 90s, felt as if it had lost not only its soil but also its national honor. At that time, former deputy mayor and state secretary Vladimir Putin appeared to the Russian people as a young and idealistic leader.
In addition, over time, Vladimir Putin’s popularity was increasing thanks to the radical educational and economic reforms he made as soon as he became president. So much so that Vladimir who reflected Russian nationalism very well with his management system and decisions, was bringing back the lost national honour and identity to the Russian nation with his discourses. Additionally, he increased the national income by nearly 60 percent in the first 5 years of his rule. That success story made him a successful administrator as well as a national hero among the people.
Putin, who increased his votes in the elections held in 2005 and became the president again, stated that NATO should keep its previous promises and stop expanding towards Russian territory. Stating that the Russian people were deceived on this issue, the Russian leader later hardened his stance. From this perspective, Vladimir Putin who was almost declared persona non grata by the West, is defined as the leader who took back the lost Russian honour and some of its lands such as Crimea and Donbass for his own people.
His Last Tucker Interview!
Even though he and Medyedev changed positions from time to time, Putin who has been ruling Russia since 2000, has made his country a world power again.
The Russian leader, who in his own words aimed to turn Russia into a balancing superpower again, never accepted the desire that some attributed to him to re-establish the USSR. However, in his famous speech where he declared war on Ukraine, he described the fall of the USSR as “the greatest disaster of the century”. Isn’t it a bit contradictory? 🙂 Well, of course, being such a powerful leader who shakes the world will involve some contradictions. 🙂
If we look at it from this perspective, Vladimir Putin has paved the way for him to remain president until 2036 with his latest legislative changes. Accordingly, it is very obvious that he will continue to shape regional and world politics as an idealist Russian nationalist who always looks out for the interests of the Russian state. Moreover, Vladimir will not hesitate to enter new battlefields if necessary for this purpose.
By the way, we should also add that he is one of the richest leaders in the world. On the other hand, the interview he gave to the famous American journalist Tucker Carlson on February 9, 2024 had a worldwide impact. In this video, which you can watch above, Putin reminds us that America and the West promised them that NATO would not expand towards Russia in exchange for a bloodless transition as the Soviets collapsed.
Later, in the same interview, he states that these promises were not kept and that NATO expanded towards Russia five times. According to him when last invitation of Georgia and Ukraine for NATO made situation become an existential problem for Russia. We recommend watching the entire interview.
