Who are Vladimir Putin's parents? 'Evil' Russian prez's father fought Nazis in WW2
With his ruthless invasion of Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin has been dubbed "evil" and "the new Hitler" by the rest of the world. Though he termed his conquest as "demilitarization and de-Nazification" of Ukraine, global leaders are drawing similarities between the ongoing war and Hitler's invasion of Poland in 1939. Many experts are even fearing that this might even pave the way for World War 3.
Amid rising protests against Putin, there is a growing interest in his family life and parentage. Though not many details have been disclosed about the 69-year-old President's past, it is believed that he grew up at a time when Russia was reeling from poverty and crisis as an aftermath of World War 2. In fact, Putin's own father was a frontline soldier who bravely battled Nazi forces on the war field.
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In an interview with New York Times in 2000, Putin had opened up about his childhood and family life, reflecting on details about his parents. He was born in 1952 to Vladimir Spiridonovich Putin, an official in the Soviet Navy, and Maria Ivanovna Putina, a factory worker. Putin was the couple's third child born after the death of their first two sons.
In 1932, Putin's parents came to Saint Petersburg as a newly married young couple. His father was soon drafted into the submarine fleet of the Russian army and completed his service term before WW2 broke out. However, he was again sent to the front during WW2, when he ended up being severely injured. He ended up with a lifelong limp due to his war wounds.
Meanwhile, his mother Maria was "half-dead" from starvation and struggle due to blockades in Saint Petersburg and Leningrad. The duo somehow managed to survive through the hardships and eventually welcomed their son Vladimir Putin at the age of 41 years.
The NYT interview describes his mother as a "very nice person—kind, selfless, the soul of goodness." It further notes, "She was not a very educated woman. I don't know if she finished even five grades of school. She worked hard her whole life. She was a janitor, took deliveries in a bakery at night, and washed test tubes in a laboratory. I think she even worked as a guard at a store at one time." Meanwhile, his father was "much liked and appreciated" by all as he worked as a toolmaker in a factory after surviving the war.
Putin's grandfather Spiridon Putin had been a personal cook to Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin during World War 1, while his maternal grandmother was killed by Germans in 1941.
As a growing child, Putin had been described as a "romantic teenager" who was shy and introverted. However, his present status as an authoritarian figure feared by the world, tells a different story.