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Vladimir Putin - Who is the man behind the projected image

2023-06-27 17:59:32, Kosova & Bota CNA

Russian authorities announced on Tuesday that they had closed a criminal investigation into the armed rebellion led by mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, without charging him or other participants. Russia's Federal Security Service said the investigation found that those involved in the rebellion "stopped activities leading to the commission of this criminal offense." Over the weekend, the Kremlin vowed not to press charges against Mr Prigozhin and his fighters after he put down the rebellion on Saturday, although President Vladimir Putin had meanwhile called them traitors. This moment constitutes the first direct challenge to Vladimir Putin since taking power in 1999.

Russian President Vladimir Putin thanked his countrymen for their unity after a brief rebellion over the weekend by armed mercenaries.

"Dear friends, today I again address all Russian citizens. I thank you for your stability, solidarity and patriotism. "Civil solidarity showed that any blackmail, any attempt to organize internal unrest, is destined to fail ," he said in a televised speech.

The Russian president reiterated that all necessary measures have been taken to protect the country and the Russian people. Before mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin announced the withdrawal, President Putin called the rebellion "a stab in the back for our country and our people."

Vladimir Putin has always maintained the image of a man of steel, cold and always in control of everything.

He rose to power at a pivotal time in the country's history. In the 1990s, Russia was going through turbulent times; communism had fallen and in 1991 Mikhail Gorbachev resigned as President of the Soviet Union. His successor, Boris Yeltsin, was a controversial figure, a populist who nevertheless led the country through political and economic crises. Researcher Emily Ferris, of the Royal United Services Institute in London, says that Vladimir Putin did not come from the elite strata of Russian society, but from a very humble background.

"I think some of the details of Putin's childhood are known. He grew up in Leningrad, now Saint Petersburg, and came from a family that was relatively poor. I think what gave him up was when he joined the KGB ," says Mrs. Ferris.

However, Vladimir Putin did not shine in the KGB.

Professor of Russian studies at the University of Manchester, Vera Tolz-Zilitinkevic, says that during an interview in 1991, Mr Putin himself revealed that he had found KGB documents in which he was deemed ineligible for promotion.

"It turns out that Putin failed to meet the psychological criteria in two cases. The first point was the complete lack of sensitivity to others, and the second was the inability to properly assess the risk. It is a shocking discovery and it is surprising that Putin himself made it known as information" , says Professor Tolz-Zilitinkevic.

However, his period of service in the KGB was important in establishing new relationships with colleagues, which he would maintain throughout his career. Mr. Putin took a more active role as a political aide to St. Petersburg Mayor Anatoly Sobchak, a role that helped him reach the highest political circles of former Presidents Mikhail Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin. His loyalty to Mayor Sobchak was appreciated by Boris Yeltsin.

"It was clear that Yeltsin had to leave because of his health and the Russian elites did not have any plans for free and fair elections. They actually wanted some kind of transfer of power, where with the help of media manipulation, a candidate was appointed and there were negotiations between Yeltsin and his assistants about who this person should be. For Yeltsin, loyalty was very important" , says Professor Tolz-Zilitinkevic.

Ms Ferris says that even Vladimir Putin appreciates loyalty.

"Many of the people who are around him today in really high positions in the security services, in the National Security Council and the people closest to him are really from the middle period of his career. I think that tells how important it was to him ," says Ms. Ferris.

But she says that many of his colleagues don't always tell him the things he needs to know and therefore he doesn't have a complete picture of developments.

"I think there's a great reluctance to give the president bad news, or intelligence that could portend trouble for him. "I think there is a culture of not highlighting, or somehow embellishing, the most uncomfortable aspects of daily Russian life, as no one wants to be the person who brings them unhappiness," says Ms. Ferris .

The first appointment he has made from outside the St. Petersburg district is Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, the main rival of the head of the Wagner Group.

"What he values ??first is longevity of service and second is loyalty and those are hard things to build. There are very few people around him who have not climbed the stairs of the 'St. Petersburg District', and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu is an exception ," says Mrs. Ferris.

Professor Tolz-Zilitinkevic says that Mr. Putin has deliberately created various bases of power, which are controlled by him, both in industry and in the military sector.

"I think his position is weak and this weakness was shown very, very publicly. And with this kind of aborted coup and while he is humiliated, I think he will try to show all these clans that they still need him as an arbiter" , says Professor Tolz-Zilitinkevic.

Ms. Ferris says it is also difficult for Russian society to fully know what is going on, because of new laws that prohibit public complaints from security personnel, the military and police./ VOA