“Only Russians can stop Putin. Maybe it will end like a coup d’etat.” Sankei Shimbun, Ryosuke Endo | International | ABEMA TIMES

March 11, 2022
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Even after being criticized by the international community and subject to severe economic sanctions,Russian President Vladimir Putin (69) keeps attacking Ukraine. It is well known that he worked as an agent for the intelligence agency “KGB (Soviet National Security Board)” during the former Soviet Union, but what kind of person is it?

Ryosuke Endo, editorial writer and editorial writer of the Sankei Shimbun’s Foreign Affairs Department, who stayed in Moscow for 11 and a half years as a reporter, points out the internal changes.

[Video]”Anonymous” hacked into national broadcasts in Russia Ukrainian video

■ A young man who longed for a spy has a different number of career advancements in the midst of turbulence

First, let’s take a brief look back at its background.

“I grew up in a non-wealthy family in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg), and I’ve revealed that I wasn’t an honor student because I was” bad “and very quarreling and fighting on the streets. It was the encounter with judo that changed that. If you look at the current situation, you can only say that you are a “bad judo artist”, but you should also study from there. And enrolled in the prestigious Leningrad University (now St. Petersburg University).

Impressive in the episode just before that was that I was very impressed with the novels and movies that spies were able to do things that even thousands of troops couldn’t do alone. He even went to the KGB branch and asked how he could get a job. There, he was advised to leave the Faculty of Law, “said Endo.

President Putin, who successfully entered the KGB, will be assigned to the former East Germany. This is also a well-known career, but what I faced was the unification of East and West Germany and the collapse of the former Soviet Union.

“It seems that he was following the internal affairs of East Germany in Dresden and contacting the Stasi (secret police). However, Dresden is not the place of work of the first-class KGB staff, but it is evaluated as a very average work. There is also a view that it may have been. However, in 1989, he faced a big incident of the collapse of the Berlin Wall. In the turmoil, a crowd that exploded anger at the secret police was Mr. Putin’s place of work. It seems that there was also a rush to.

Putin, who witnessed this situation, realizes that “unfortunately, the Eastern Bloc, the Communist Bloc, and the Soviet Union are nearing the end.” In his disappointment, he returned to Japan and was transferred to the assistant president of his home university, who seemed to be monitoring his students and instructors for anti-Soviet thoughts and behaviors. Meanwhile, he was invited to the deputy mayor after getting acquainted with Sobchak, who had a great deal of momentum as a reformist mayor.

As in Russia today, incredibly connected things and affairs, both private and administrative, can lead to surprising young people’s career advancement, with Putin as a typical example, turbulent. In the meantime, we will make an amazing career advancement “(Mr. Endo).

■ Turn into a politician, demonstrate practical ability and seize power

Putin, who retired from the KGB and began his career as a politician, rapidly began to climb the steps of power with the Deputy Mayor of St. Petersburg and the Deputy Secretary of the Presidential Palace. In 1999, when he became prime minister in just nine years, he acted as president with the resignation of President Yeltsin. And during his prime minister’s period, he is in his fourth term as president.

“I think I had both connections and abilities. It’s surprising to see that foreign capital is steadily escaping from Russia, but when I was Deputy Mayor of St. Petersburg, I succeeded in attracting a factory of Coca-Cola. I think he had a high level of practical ability as a bureaucrat even when he was called by the presidential palace in Moscow. Even when he became president in 2000, he was a liberal group who emphasized the market economy and himself. So to speak, I think there was a balance between the “martial arts” and Shiroviki.

On the other hand, in Russia in the 90’s, emerging conglomerates (Oligarchs) such as “political entrepreneurs” in Japanese have become very powerful, and police power is used for them and speech is opposed. Again, he tried to use police power to put the TV station under full control. In that way, the legislation, the judiciary, and the administration have been solidified. In other words, although it seems that elections are being held, democracy has made it a watered-down country. “(Mr. Endo).

At the Security Council of the Russian Federation held on February 21, just before the invasion, it seems that he is squeezing “clearly whether to support or not” and “yes or no” to Secretary of Foreign Intelligence Service Naryshkin who is mumbling about Ukraine policy. Surprised the international community. Nevertheless, the national approval rating has reached about 60% (before the invasion of Ukraine). However, the truth is that this is not the case.

“I’ve crushed all the potential opponents, and the main broadcasters are reporting that they’re always uplifting themselves, either state-owned or government-affiliated. So, except for conscious people, Putin is the only option. In fact, it is the expert’s opinion that about 40% or 30% of the people who really strongly support it are about 40% or 30%.

After all, it is not good to serve as the top of the country for too long, and if Mr Putin had quit gracefully around 2008 when the second term ended, there would have been no tragedy like now, and with a different evaluation. It may have left a name in history. However, he once became prime minister and again became president in 2012. What’s more, he amends the Constitution and is trying to do a de facto “whole life dictatorship.” The Crimean annexation happened in that situation, and I think he himself has changed.

Originally Mr Putin was rationalist and would have wondered how effective he could be in a situation where the loss was as small as possible. In that sense, I think this time is different. Life is lost, the world is eating all the scans, and the domestic economy is so rattling and heading for collapse, what can we get? Isn’t it just his delusion that he wants to rule Ukraine? At the time of the annexation of Crimea, the approval rating reached 80%, but with this, the Russian people with a heart will not follow. “(Mr. Endo).

■ Isn’t it ending like a coup d’etat?

President Putin was popular because he showed off his sporty and physical beauty, such as not only judo but also ice hockey and driving a vehicle. Where is the person who can stop him? Endo points out that it is the Russians themselves.

“Recently, the theory of health anxiety has been whispered, for example, it has been pointed out that the drug is so strong that it may not be able to move freely, but it is not certain.

So what kind of people are supporting him? Some are oligarchs, some are intelligence agencies, and some are military. The source of Mr Putin’s power, the good thing, was to balance the forces within them, arbitrate in the event of a faction dispute, and ride on top of it. However, there are some objections from such conglomerates regarding this invasion. This is unusual.

And, albeit on a small scale, anti-government demonstrations are taking place. For the time being, he will try to hold him down even if he is bloody, and it is difficult to stop him. I think only Russians can stop Putin anymore. Sooner or later the Putin regime will come to an end, and as long as it is a political system that does not depend on elections, it will end like a coup d’etat. I feel that this invasion will accelerate that. “(Mr. Endo). (From “ABEMA Prime”)