Why did Putin want to be a spy when he was young?

In a candid conversation with American director Oliver Stone for a documentary series, Russian President Vladimir Putin revealed a bit about himself.

Russian President Vladimir Putin. Photo: Reuters

According to Russia Today, in the lengthy interview, President Putin not only talked about Russia-US relations and international politics, but also revealed about his family, his childhood and his hobbies.

“I entered law school because I wanted to work for the KGB,” the Russian leader recalled.

He also told this story in a book that talks more about his youth, but it was not mentioned much in Oliver Stone's documentary series The Putin Interviews, which was shown in four consecutive episodes in the US last week.

“When I was a high school student, I went alone to the KGB office in Leningrad [now Saint-Petersburg]. I asked them what I needed to do to become a KGB officer,” Putin recalled.

At that time, Russian intelligence officers replied to the young student that he needed to study law further.

However, the Russian president also affirmed that after that visit he “had no further contact with the KGB”, so he was surprised when the KGB came to him and offered him a job after he graduated from law school.

Mr. Putin joined the KGB in 1975.

When director Oliver Stone asked him why he wanted to be a spy, the Russian president did not hide the fact that he had watched many films about the KGB, and was especially impressed by the Soviet-era series "17 Moments of Spring".

In that film, actor Vyatcheslav Tikhonov is the main character, playing a Soviet spy working undercover in Germany.

The Kremlin leader once again confirmed that he was a spy stationed in Dresden (Germany) between 1985 and 1990, before retiring with the rank of lieutenant colonel when the Soviet Union collapsed.

In the late 1990s, Mr. Putin briefly headed the Federal Security Service (FSB), Russia's intelligence agency that was the successor to the KGB.

On May 8, President Putin and two former colleagues from his time working for the KGB visited his former commander from his time in East Germany on the occasion of his 90th birthday.

Lazar Matveev, who spent 20 years abroad and served as KGB commander in Dresden in the 1980s, was surprised by the visit from his “old guard”.

He was also stunned by a precious birthday present of a wristwatch and a copy of Pravda (Truth) published in 1927 - the year of his birth.

President Putin (center) presents his former commander (right) with a copy of Pravda newspaper published 90 years ago on his 90th birthday. Photo: Twitter

According to Tuoi Tre