About a Boy: The Story of Vladimir Putin Chapter 4: The Big Brother
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Oct 18, 2023 Explore the impact of the Soviet collapse on Putin's rise to power and his connection to organized crime. Learn about loyalty and power in Putin's inner circle and the different personas of the Russian leader, including promises of fighting corruption and the realization of his own corrupt regime.
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Sense Of Loss After Soviet Collapse
- The Soviet Union collapsed into paralysis, leaving KGB officers like Vladimir Putin feeling abandoned and aimless.
- That sense of loss shaped a generation and seeded the grievance that later defined Putin's politics.
Return To Leningrad And University Post
- Back in Leningrad, Putin took a KGB-position at Leningrad State University monitoring foreign students.
- He later joined Anatoly Sobchak's team and became the mayor's loyal deputy linking old security networks to new politics.
Deputy Mayor At The Center Of Shadow Economy
- As Sobchak's deputy, Putin mediated licenses and business disputes in a bankrupt city where capitalism lacked rules.
- That role put him at the center of emergent shadow economies and organized crime networks.