tonyz
12-16-2018, 18:12
His personal file would be quite an interesting read.
Edited excerpts below - complete article and embedded links for more info in the complete article.
Putin's Stasi spy ID pass found in Germany
11 December 2018
BBC
A Stasi ID pass used by Vladimir Putin when he was a Soviet spy in former East Germany has been found in the Stasi secret police archive in Dresden.
The Russian president has expressed pride in his record as a communist KGB officer in Dresden in the 1980s.
His Stasi pass was found during research into the close co-operation between the KGB and Stasi.
Mr Putin, then a KGB major, got it in 1985. It got him into Stasi facilities, but he may not have spied for them.
In a statement on Tuesday, the Stasi Records Agency (BStU) said that Mr Putin "received the pass so that he could carry out his KGB work in co-operation with the Stasi".
Stasi was actually the nickname for East German Ministry of State Security (MfS) agents. It was notorious for its meticulous surveillance of ordinary citizens, many of whom were pressed into spying on each other.
"Current research gives no indication that Vladimir Putin worked for the MfS," the BStU statement said.
Vladimir Putin's formative German years
Vladimir Putin: Russia's action man president
In pictures: Secret lives of the Stasi
In June 2017 Mr Putin revealed that his work in the KGB had involved "illegal intelligence-gathering". Speaking on Russian state TV, he said KGB spies were people with "special qualities, special convictions and a special type of character".
A once top secret agreement between the KGB and Stasi, seen by the BBC, shows that the KGB had 30 liaison officers in East Germany who worked directly alongside the Stasi.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-46525543
Edited excerpts below - complete article and embedded links for more info in the complete article.
Putin's Stasi spy ID pass found in Germany
11 December 2018
BBC
A Stasi ID pass used by Vladimir Putin when he was a Soviet spy in former East Germany has been found in the Stasi secret police archive in Dresden.
The Russian president has expressed pride in his record as a communist KGB officer in Dresden in the 1980s.
His Stasi pass was found during research into the close co-operation between the KGB and Stasi.
Mr Putin, then a KGB major, got it in 1985. It got him into Stasi facilities, but he may not have spied for them.
In a statement on Tuesday, the Stasi Records Agency (BStU) said that Mr Putin "received the pass so that he could carry out his KGB work in co-operation with the Stasi".
Stasi was actually the nickname for East German Ministry of State Security (MfS) agents. It was notorious for its meticulous surveillance of ordinary citizens, many of whom were pressed into spying on each other.
"Current research gives no indication that Vladimir Putin worked for the MfS," the BStU statement said.
Vladimir Putin's formative German years
Vladimir Putin: Russia's action man president
In pictures: Secret lives of the Stasi
In June 2017 Mr Putin revealed that his work in the KGB had involved "illegal intelligence-gathering". Speaking on Russian state TV, he said KGB spies were people with "special qualities, special convictions and a special type of character".
A once top secret agreement between the KGB and Stasi, seen by the BBC, shows that the KGB had 30 liaison officers in East Germany who worked directly alongside the Stasi.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-46525543