Vladimir Putin is one of the most well-known leaders of our time. He is also one of the most worrisome. In recent years, Putin has invaded neighboring countries, stifled journalists and free speech in his country, and seemingly solidified complete control of the region. As his influence has grown, intriguing stories have come out about him. Besides his public career, Putin has lived a life more unusual than anyone could wish to have.
1. PUTIN'S CHRONIC TARDINESS
In 2013, Pope Francis made his first visit to Russia. There, he was supposed to meet Vladimir Putin, but something strange happened. For 50 minutes, Pope Francis simply waited. Finally, Putin arrived after making the Pope wait for almost one hour. This isn’t an isolated incident for Putin. According to journalists, Putin regularly runs hours late for press meetings and other public appearances. Putin doesn’t seem to care about anyone he meets, no matter how important they are. In 2012, Putin kept Secretary of State John Kerry waiting for three hours. In 2003, he was late for a meeting with Queen Elizabeth II .Even when it’s entirely inappropriate, Putin will be tardy. Reportedly, he was two hours late to a meeting where the grieving parents of children killed in a plane crash were waiting for him.
He has kept important officials waiting for as long as four hours. Such was the case with the president of Ukraine during the invasion of Crimea. While the president was waiting, Putin further snubbed him by spending much of that time talking to a biker on the street. He’s not just tardy in his public life, either. According to his ex-wife, he was constantly late when they were first dating, often driving her to tears. So why does Putin behave in this manner? Some believe that he does so as a calculated form of psychological manipulation. Political commentator Dimitry Abramov explains Putin’s behavior as “born of a desire to demonstrate that he occupies a ‘tsar’s place‘ in world politics, as in the heyday of the Russian empire.” Essentially, Putin wants to give the image of being in complete control.
2. PUTIN MIGHT BE THE RICHEST MAN IN THE WORLD
Since Putin is the most powerful person in Russia, it stands to reason that he has a standard of living far above the average citizen. Even so, it appears that he has a personal fortune which is mind blowing: $200 billion. That number comes from Bill Browder, a former fund manager in Russia who has become a critic of Putin. Browder claims that Putin has put together a financial empire that would make him the richest man in the world. To put this in perspective, Putin’s alleged net worth is more than twice that of Bill Gates. Still, there are those who call foul. In 2013, Putin claimed that his income was just 3.6 million rubles, or $101,000.While champions of Putin claim that he lives a respectable life, his net worth in 2007 was put at $40 billion, and by 2012, that number had become $70 billion. So what’s the source of this wealth? In 2007, Russian political analyst Stanislav Belkovsky claimed that Putin controlled 37 percent of oil company Surgutneftegaz and 4.5 percent of natural gas company Gazprom. However, there is almost no way to connect Putin to most of the assets he allegedly owns. But think of it in these terms: As leader of Russia, he can use any assets as he sees fit, even for his own personal gain. Despite these revelations of alleged corruption, most of the Russian public has responded with apathy.
3. PUTIN'S PALACE
In addition to any monetary riches, another lavish secret was uncovered about Putin: his $1 billion estate on the Black Sea coast. It was originally envisioned as a modest summer home but eventually evolved into a modern-day palace. First seen by satellite, images of the palace showed an enormous marble complex with gardens, a private theater, and three helicopter landing pads. The question was soon asked: How was all this paid for ?According to a former Putin associate, the answer is lies, deceit, and a fair amount of smoke and mirrors. Sergei Kolesnikov, who fled Russia years ago, said that Putin and his cronies put together a scheme to improve Russian hospitals. They convinced several Russian billionaires to donate to this venture and used the money to import medical equipment. Kolesnikov’s company did this at a discounted price, and Putin told him to put the savings into offshore investments without telling the donors. Some of the money was used for the shipbuilding industry, but a larger portion was directed to “Project South” (aka Putin’s palace).Kolesnikov even claimed to have been with Putin in the palace as Putin discussed security details during its construction. He never tried to justify the palace. He simply believed that it was his right to have it. Still, an elaborate mystery surrounds the estate. Officially, the Kremlin claims that it has never been with the construction or ownership of the palace. But documents show that Vladimir Kozhin, head of the Department of Presidential Affairs, signed off on having the mansion built on state-owned land. If that weren’t damning enough, the estate was allegedly guarded by both Kremlin security guards and private guards. However, the security company refutes that, claiming that they bought Kremlin uniforms and identity cards for their employees.
4. PUTIN'S SHADOWY MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE
In 2013, Putin announced that he was divorcing Lyudmila, his wife of almost 30 years. It came as a surprise to many because few knew that he was married. Only the Russian elite and Western journalists knew any details about the union. Putin and his wife had been photographed together, but few knew who she was. There were rumors about Vladimir and Lyudmila, but none of them were good. Some said that Lyudmila had been forced into a convent. Others claimed that she had been drugged or killed. Either way, Putin’s marriage was unlike any other. During his KGB days in the 1980s, Putin was described as an abuser and a philanderer. So it seems that Putin's marriage was doomed from the beginning. In 1999, when Putin was declared Boris Yeltsin’s successor, Lyudmila cried because they “hardly ever [saw] each other. ”The Putins have two children, although both of them were adults when Putin announced the divorce. It has been alleged that Putin was involved with someone else before the divorce, but Vladimir and Lyudmila mutually announced their split. Possibly the most intriguing fact about the divorce is that Russian couples must split their income 50-50 if they divorce. So was Putin going to base that split on his relatively meager salary or his billions of dollars in assets?
5.PUTIN DRANK A UKRAINIAN NATIONAL TREASURE
When Putin first invaded the Ukrainian region of Crimea, there was international outrage. However, he was allowed to annex the territory and soon had complete control. This understandably angered the people of Ukraine. But what Putin did next especially infuriated them: He drank a 240-year-old bottle of wine, a national treasure in Ukraine, with disgraced former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. After Putin claimed control of Crimea, he went to the Massandra Winery, which claims to have the largest collection of wines in the world. There, he and Berlusconi drank a bottle of 1775 Jeres de la Frontera which was brought to the region by Count Mikhail Vorontsov when Catherine the Great controlled the Russian Empire. While this may have seemed to be a simple diplomatic gesture between friends, the former prosecutor general of Crimea didn’t take it that way. In 2014, he filed a lawsuit against putin with estimated damages of £60,000 for the bottle. It is unknown if Ukraine’s case will receive any serious attention because of the state of affairs under Putin. However, according to Ukraine’s foreign minister, Berlusconi’s visit to the region was against EU regulations and therefore illegal.
