HERES SOME FACTS AND TRIVIAS FOR YOU
HE SPENT HIS CHILDHOOD HUNTING RATS IN AN APARTMENT BLOCK
Vladimir Putin was born into a poor Soviet family in Leningrad (presently St. Petersburg) and he lived in a communal apartment block with his parents, siblings and three other families. In his official biography, the Russian President revealed he spent his spare time hunting rats on the stairwell. (Explains why he is gung-ho sometimes)
-HE EARNED A BLACK BELT IN JUDO BECAUSE HE WAS SLOW TO START PUBERTY
At the age of 18, he achieved a black belt in judo, which he refers to as his “life philosophy” and he still practices the martial art during his spare time. Guess what? He also trained in Russian martial art Sambo (or Samozashchita Bez Oruzhiya) and revealed that he took up judo in order to "keep his place in the pack" and not be bullied because other male teenagers had started puberty before him.
-HE HAS TWO DAUGHTERS BUT KEEPS THEIR LIVES TOP SECRET
He has two daughter, Mariya Putina and Tekaterina Putina, who were both born in Dresden, East Germany, in the mid-1980s. However their existence has remained almost completely secret since - little-to-nothing is actually known of them. No official family photography has ever been produced, and the Russian media have never published any pictures of them.
-HE HAS SEVERAL PET DOGS AND USED ONE TO SCARE GERMAN CHANCELLOR ANGELA MERKEL
Putin loves dogs and keeps several as pets, and he also uses them as political devices to scare the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, it seems. It was alleged in January 2007 that Putin brought his black labrador, Koni, to Sochi for a diplomatic meeting with Merkel, knowing full well she is petrified of dogs, having been bitten by one as a youngster in order to intimidate her. The meeting involving discussions over Russia's supply of energy to Germany ended with Merkel nervously commenting: "Now the dog is going to eat the journalists..." (alive? *laughs)
- THE 12 LABOURS OF PUTIN
True, in no doubt. In one of the most-bizarre true new stories of 2014, to honour the Russian President's 62nd birthday, a one-night-only art display of "The 12 Labours of Putin" was created by an artist who adores his nation's leader. An ode to the 12 labours of Hercules, in which the ancient Greek mythical legend killed the Nemean Lion and captured the Cretan Bull, among other things ,Putin is depicted shooting down American warplanes with a bow and arrow, as well as strangling a terrorist with his bare hands. In other bizarre 62nd-birthday tributes, a 2,000-foot-long Russian flag was created by Grozny natives who stood on the streets of the town dressed in different colors, while a huge banner with a cartoon of US President Barack Obama wearing a Putin T-shirt was hung from a bridge. Russians love Putin so much.
-HIS GRANDFATHER COOKED MEALS FOR VLADIMIR LENIN AND JOSEPH STALIN
The Russian leader's paternal grandfather, Spiridon Ivanovich Putin, was a cook for former Bolshevik premier Vladimir Lenin at his country house, Gorki. Following Lenin's death, Spiridon Putin continued working for the Soviet leadership - and even prepared several meals for Joseph Stalin at one of his many dachas around the Moscow region.
-HE WORKED AS A KGB AGENT AND SPIED ON THE WEST
For 16 years Putin worked as an officer in the KGB (the Committee for State Security), spying for the secret police agency in East Germany between 1975 and 1991. Putin's primary job was to recruit foreigners in Dresden in the hope of sending them as undercover agents to the USA. While the Berlin Wall was falling in 1989, Putin even burned KGB files as a mob tried to enter the agency's headquarters in Dresden. He moved back to Russia in 1991 and left the agency with the rank of lieutenant colonel.
-HE IS A FLUENT GERMAN SPEAKER BUT CAN’T CONVERSE WELL IN ENGLISH
Having been posted to East Germany, Putin became fluent in German and regularly converses in the language with Angela Merkel. However, Putin is less competent at English. He does have conversational English but lacks confidence in speaking the language publicly, only doing so on a handful of occasions.
-YOU CAN BUY PUTINKA AND PUTIN CANNED GOODS
If there were ever any doubts about how highly Putin was held in his home nation then the fact that his name and image has been used to advertise several products should put them to bed. T-shirts bearing images of the Russian leader, as well PuTin canned food, Putinka Vodka and Gorbusha Putina caviar, are sold throughout the nation. Putinka is made by the state-owned Moscow Distillery Crystal company, while the PuTin brand of vegetable-and-mushroom canned goods - which has a logo featuring a T-shaped sword, similar to the KGB symbol, dissecting the actual name of the product "Puin" to create "PuTin" - are produced by the Astrakhan Canned-food plant. Russians love Putin so much.
-PUTIN HAS AN ALLEGED PERSONAL WORTH OF £46 BILLION
Although no one knows for sure, it has been alleged that Putin has a huge personal wealth of up to £46 billion. Russian opposition politicians and journalists have alleged that Putin secretly owns huge stakes in numerous Russian companies, adding to his supposed hidden wealth. It is believed that Putin owns at least 11 luxury watches (worth a combined £500,000) as well as 20 villas and palaces, nine of which were built during his time as President. What's more, one of those mansions, dubbed "Putin's Palace" is being constructed in Italianate style near the Black Sea village of Praskoveevka and is allegedly costing £750 million to build.