The private video shows Putin from his sporty side

Politics

Russian President Vladimir Putin was first elected to his position in 1999. He has ruled Russia between 2008 and 2012 with only one formal interruption. He has become reclusive in recent years. Just before the invasion of Ukraine, he met his colleagues only at a very long table.

After the Russian invasion, Putin buried himself even more — of course with an international criminal order against him. Before his political career, Putin was an officer in the Russian secret service in Germany. A man now regarded in much of the West as a megalomaniacal tyrant devoted his life to his state.

Images and appearances of Putin have been on the stage ever since he took office. What is usually seen is a president who exudes strength. At the border of toxic masculinity – or even behind it. Putin half-naked on horseback, Putin fishing with big fish, Putin with big dogs.

Putin likes to promote himself.Build: Imago Stock&People / Imago Images

Putin surprises with his irregular appearance

But now a private video has surfaced that shows the Russian ruler from a completely different side. As seen in the video from the Finnish TV channel YLE Four men playing table tennis. A twin. One of them: 40-year-old Vladimir Putin in sweatpants and an undershirt — and with a bad haircut.

Luke Harding, the Guardian’s former Moscow correspondent, commented on the incident:

At the time, Putin was still a KGB officer and adviser to St. Petersburg Mayor Anatoly Sobchak. On record, he was Putin’s doubles partner in a game of ping pong. Enemies: Sobchak’s bodyguards. It seems from the videos that the Sobchak-Putin team is certain to win.

The home video was probably recorded at the Thomsto company villa in southern Finland. The timber company Thomsto had close business ties with Russia. With Sobchak – and with Putin. As adviser to the mayor, he was responsible, among other things, for the city’s close relations with foreign countries.

In addition to Putin’s casual appearance, the Kremlin expert is surprised by the humanity the current ruler exhibits in the video. “The most remarkable thing is that he keeps smiling. He looks human, not like he’s a corpse“, YLE quotes Harding.

Putin is not usually seen as private and depressed. The rare recordings probably only exist in this form because Putin had no control over how he was portrayed at the time — and he probably thought he could live it up in private. Kremlin expert Harding calls the video content “original, fascinating and captivating.”

As Putin focuses more on his own performance than how others perceive him, Finnish broadcaster YLE has decided to protect the source of the video. Because: Revelations about Putin’s personal life could have unintended consequences. However, the authenticity of the video has been verified. Information cannot be verified.