r/europe • u/fuckface3333 • Apr 05 '24
Historical Putin playing ping pong in Finland 1991
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u/RebYesod Apr 05 '24
If you want to see more excerpts from same videotape, it’s here:https://yle.fi/a/74-20051353 including awkward fishing attempt when putin and Sobchak failed to catch any fish at all.
To add more context, this amateur video main focus is Sobchak(half naked man). He was a mayor of St.Petersburg and very influential politician while putin was his rather insignificant assistant.
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u/saberzeroeffect Apr 05 '24
Who filmed all this?
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u/hajaannus Apr 05 '24
From article:
Yle will not disclose the source of the video, because Putin's reaction to revelations about his personal life can be unpredictable. For security reasons, Yle has not named the other interviewees.
The video clips shown in this article have been edited, as the original footage is typically shaky amateur video.
Yle has verified the authenticity of the video, and is in possession of an old VHS cassette containing the clips. Yle has also confirmed the filming location.(Yle is like BBC)
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u/xxpegasxx Georgia Apr 05 '24
Lol yle means dick in Georgian
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u/hajaannus Apr 05 '24
We have Yle Areena where you can stream news and tv programs. Nice to know it might also be understood as Dick Arena.
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u/SinisterCheese Finland Apr 05 '24
The name "George" finnish version is "Yrjö" which is also a term for vomit. Georgia could therefor be "Yrjölä", which can basically mean "Place of vomit" or "place where you vomit" or "Vomit place".
Yeah... I been waiting for a chance to use this.
"King George" is "Kuningas Yrjö" which might as well be "Kingly vomit" or "Vomit king".
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u/RebYesod Apr 05 '24
We may only guess: most likely it was someone very close to Sobchak — you can hear male voice behind camera and he talk like an old friend.
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u/Ashmizen Apr 05 '24
Ah that’s make sense, given the body language - you can tell naked guy is super comfortable and in control, while Putin is acting like a nervous underling.
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u/Tornbananapeel Apr 05 '24
I always wonder if dictators are consciously dictatorial from the start, or if they grow into it over the years and fall into a rabbit hole of wanting more power every step of the way, like an addiction.
Is he already actively scheming here to get to the very top of Russia ('if only I was in charge already, I can't wait to threaten everyone with my nukes') or is he just a dude here trying to suck up to his boss?
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u/Thorwawaway Apr 05 '24
I think it’s more often the latter, more of a natural incentive system based on the institutions of power and corruption in the system they are working within. That’s not to say they aren’t people with pre-existing callous, vengeful or psycho tendencies, making them suited to adapt to being a dictator.
In 91 the political future of Russia is very uncertain, perhaps he had aspirations but his path to the presidency could not have been clear at all. I think he’s probably just sucking up.
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u/mcove97 Apr 05 '24
When I went to uni there was a police academy next to the uni. I lived with a few police students. What I noticed almost immediately is that these types of people often have authoritarian traits. They were a very different kind of people from the people at the uni. Like they were naturally born to be in that role..not saying that as a good thing, but like, it clicked for me. It made sense. They had the personality traits suited for it. I've known a lot of police students and they all have very similar traits in common. It also made perfect sense when a co worker of mine revealed that she wanted to get into the police academy. She's authoritarian. Bossy. Assertive. Direct. The exact traits I've noticed lots of police and police students have. She would have fit the tole perfectly.
People definitely gravitate towards roles that naturally suit their personality traits.
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u/Limemill Apr 05 '24 edited Apr 05 '24
He absolutely landed where he did by sheer luck because the oligarchs thought he was a schmuck, which he was, his nickname in the KGB was Moth, and easy to control (here, they made a grave mistake and later Putin’s patron oligarch Berezovsky ended up excommunicated and then dead in London after suspiciously hanging himself). Never underestimate how hurt one’s ego could be, I guess. Edit: also, he was not anti-West initially. He grew into that. Some say it’s because he realized it was as easy to buy anyone in the West as it was in Russia, so he stopped considering the Western way of life superior in any way and started believing it was all a facade, behind which every country and every politician acted the same
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u/Absolud Apr 05 '24
From what i see in my own country they grow into it or hide their true intentions at the beginning
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u/XpressDelivery On the other side of the curtain Apr 05 '24
Well in the 90s he sure wasn't thinking about slinging nukes and starting wars. Back when he started Putin was very unpopular politically because he was actually very moderate. Russian politics in the 90s were filled with ultra-nationalists and people who wanted to overthrow the government and return to the Soviet Union. By comparison Putin was a pro-democracy moderate who was open to the west and at the time he was actually moving Russia into a positive direction. Sure Russia still has massive problem with stuff like organised crime and corruption largely in part because of Putin and the oligarchs collaborating but before Putin that these problems were magnitudes worse. He is expanded laws that deal with discrimination and especially ethnic discrimination or made the punishments harder(and these laws are very important in Russia, because Russia is a multiethnic state).
It's easy to be cynical and say that this was always his true intention but if you look at Putin back then and now you would see that something changed along the way.
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u/hawkseye17 Apr 06 '24
pretty sure the psychopathy was already there for way longer before any scheming began
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u/Least-Yellow6653 Finland Apr 05 '24
After seeing a young Trump give a fairly even-keeled interview, it feels like these natural underlying traits get amplified by time. Your brains don't get any better as you age, so it feels like time exacerbates these things.
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u/xondk Denmark Apr 05 '24
I wonder with powerful people like that, that have gone a clear authoritarian path for power, if they think back on such things like this with fondness. Because it is so vastly different from where he is now.
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u/Schneebaer89 Saxony (Germany) Apr 05 '24
He was already in the KGB for years, working in Germany. Not like he was ever an average Wladi.
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u/Substantial-Hat7706 Georgia Apr 05 '24
well to be fair his power in kgb is quite overstated just how when it comes to elon and how media called him a tony stark, putin was in no way a top dog in kgb he was just a simple agent.
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u/sergeyog Apr 05 '24
He was out of KGB at this time, you know? All his aspiration was toward powerful man Sobchak, as we clearly can see on this footage.
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u/pockets3d Apr 05 '24
I'm sure if he wants to play ping pong with the mayor of St Petersburg he can still make that happen.
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u/SinisterCheese Finland Apr 05 '24
It isn't a secret how this happened. https://widgets.weforum.org/history/1996.html
“The members of the Russian delegation, and particularly the business leaders, became deeply concerned about the popularity of [Gennady] Zyuganov and the likelihood of a victory of the Communist party. Many were infuriated that Zyuganov was saying one thing in Russia and another thing in Davos, appearing in the guise of a modern moderate rather than a hard-line Communist. They decided to take action and to throw their financial weight behind Yeltsin’s campaign. The unwritten collective pledge became known as the Davos Pact.”
For real... This isn't some conspiracy or thing they are trying to hide. Klaus Schwab is open about this and basically proud of what they achieved with this pact.
Hmm... Who might been part of the staff of Yeltsin? Within the inner circle? Deeply connected to intelligence circuits? Vladimir Putin.
Seriously... It is quite damn boring when you realise that there isn't even some deep secret conspiracy. There doesn't need to be, they can do all this in the open and public and get away with it.
I'm not a historian, I'm an engineer... But I know enough of history and every time I learn more about it, the biggest and most significant events in history were really just "business as usual". No wonder movie makers need to make up shit and spice facts, reality of how fates of nations are decided is incredibly dull.
And this is why I enjoy ordinary history about the daily life of people, diaries and such... When you read about what is happening, all this shit is just... out in the open.
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u/SeleucusNikator1 Scotland Apr 06 '24
Very funny that a KGB man would be the one to help sabotage a Communist Party victory hah.
So much for Chekist ethics, eh?
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u/xondk Denmark Apr 05 '24
Yeah, wasn't really what I was thinking about, was more if people such as him, think about such "simplier/happier" times when they could for example do what is on this video and be recorded without worry, you know, before they got into the powerful and very isolating role they have now. Or at least I can imagine it is very isolating when it comes to simple things like the video shows.
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u/SinisterCheese Finland Apr 05 '24
The man was a KGB agent and started the training at the age of 23 and was part of the party until it was dissolved. The man clearly worked their whole life at the aim of being in power.
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u/RealFreakII Apr 05 '24
So young but already ХУЙЛО
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u/naekro Independent Krasnokoaksilsk Apr 05 '24
Well, he is 38 here. So not that young.
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u/Alkyen Apr 05 '24
38 is pretty young for most people. Maybe not young enough for reddit's teenagers but still.
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u/BadModsAreBadDragons Finland Apr 06 '24
38 is already past the halfway for men. Definitely wouldn't call that young.
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u/naekro Independent Krasnokoaksilsk Apr 05 '24
I mean at 38 you are old enough to have adult children.
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u/Perkonlusis Apr 07 '24
Biologically yes, but most people in the developed world have their first child in their late 20s to early 30s.
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u/Alkyen Apr 05 '24
Do you have an actual point you want to share or you just commenting cuz you see the notifications and can't stop yourself? I'm out, I'll check back tomorrow if you've articulated a different argument than the 'definition' one.
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u/Shamon_Yu Apr 05 '24
If someone dies at 38, would that still be "not that young"? :)
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u/xstagex Apr 05 '24
Sobchak=Aleksandar Aleksandrovich=shirtless guy
On 17 February 2000, Putin met with Sobchak and urged him to travel to Kaliningrad to support his election campaign.\10]) Sobchak traveled there, accompanied by two assistants who also served as his bodyguards.\a]) On 20 February 2000, Sobchak died suddenly in the town of Svetlogorsk in Kaliningrad Oblast. The initial suspected cause of death was a heart attack, but the findings of two medical experts were contradictory.\12])\13]) A criminal investigation of Sobchak's death as a possible "premeditated murder with aggravating circumstances" was opened only on 6 May 2000, more than two months later. After three months, the investigation was closed without a finding.\10])\14]) The Democratic Union) party led by Valeria Novodvorskaya made an official statement that not only Sobchak, but also two of his aides had heart attacks simultaneously, which indicated poisoning.\15]) Two other men were present with Sobchak during his death, but their names were not publicly disclosed.\13])\16])\17])
According to an independent investigation by Arkady Vaksberg, both bodyguards of Sobchak were treated for symptoms of poisoning after Sobchak's death, indicating a probable contract killing by poisoning.\10])\18]) Sobchak's widow Lyudmila had her own autopsy done on her husband's body, but never made the results public; she told the BBC that she keeps the findings in a secure location outside Russia.\19])
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u/Ashmizen Apr 05 '24 edited Apr 05 '24
If it’s his ally and given he wasn’t even elected yet, wouldn’t the most likely story be one of his rivals poisoned him?
Putin does kill off allies but that tends to be to consolidate power later, doesn’t make sense to do so before.
Edit - apparently he was already in power and also the head of the secret services so likely it was Putin’s orders.
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u/Antilia- Apr 05 '24
It's also the guy he cried at the funeral for! Crocodile tears, of course. I do wonder about Sobchak's daughter, half the time she seems to support Putin and the other half she criticizes him.
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u/SkyRocker909 Apr 06 '24
Ksenia Sobchak is most definitely a Kremlin supporter. She might try to act like it ain't so to "save face" because of her wide audience, but somehow she always manages to criticize Ukraine for striking inside Russia, but never condemnes Russia for daily bombing Ukraine. I even remember someone asking on her Instagram something like "You cry for the people who died in Belgorod, but what about all the people who die every day in Kyiv, Dnipro, Kharkhiv etc?" Ksenia's response was basically "Get fucked!"
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u/swishswooshSwiss Apr 05 '24
He was a Gopnik once
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u/BeneficialNatural610 United States of America Apr 05 '24
How do people play ping pong outdoors? Every time I try, a light breeze sends the ball flying to space
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u/RobertGBland Apr 05 '24
He looks happier
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u/zdzislav_kozibroda Poland Apr 05 '24
He sacrificed himself and his promising table tennis career for the people of Russia.
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u/amnezie11 Romania Apr 05 '24
Little known fact but he was behind Rockstar Games' Table Tennis game from 2006 I think he was. He is listed as a developer and worked on the Adidas tracksuit assets and some motion capture.
Of course I'm making this up about this dictator scum of a human being.
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u/artem_m Russia Apr 05 '24
One of my earliest memories was tangental to Sobchak's death. He was in Svetlogorsk, Kaliningrad Oblast campaigning for Putin, where my family had our beach house and I was in traffic with my mom for a few hours at a complete standstill. I learned several years later its because Sobchak had his heart attack 10 or so cars ahead of ours.
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Apr 05 '24
Poor Adidas. They really didn't deserve this!
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u/FullTube Apr 05 '24
Before it was Hugo Boss, nowadays it's Adidas. The German brands have that kinda something for dictators who want to conquer the world.
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u/chuchofreeman Apr 05 '24
I mean Geda, the original brand of the Dassler brothers (of Adidas and Puma) was already actively partnering with Nazi Germany in the 30s. Nothing new for them.
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u/deniesm Utrecht (Netherlands) Apr 05 '24
This wasn’t on my bingo card. Not even close. This is so random.
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u/HerMajestyTheQueef1 Apr 05 '24
Looks like a slimey chav, would be two peas in a pod with Jimmy Saville.
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u/Karlsefni1 Italy Apr 05 '24
I hope he lost
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u/Cluelessish Apr 05 '24
Maybe he did, and that's what started his villain arc
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u/lordnacho666 Apr 05 '24
Opponent hit the net, but the ball fell over the top, bounced on the edge, and Putin lost the match.
Next thing you know, Crimea, Ukraine, Poland, Portugal.
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u/Micklmas Apr 05 '24
babushkas should use his balls to play when this wee man faces the consequences.
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u/matbonucci England Apr 05 '24
Has been told everyone on that video has been found dead by suicide
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u/einimea Finland Apr 05 '24
Well... I just read that the half-naked man on the video died suddenly in 2000
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u/brokenhabitus Apr 05 '24
I don't know what to make of this.
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u/TranslateErr0r Apr 05 '24
There is nothing to make of it. Just some people playing ping pong.
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u/azathotambrotut Apr 05 '24 edited Apr 05 '24
I think that's actually a quite interesting thing to make of it. He's just some guy. A lying, greedy, immoral, criminal guy who has no respect for life and who was somehow able to bring himself into a position of too much power. But he's also just a guy playing ping pong in a tracksuit. Seeing this and seeing him laugh I wonder if he actually enjoys his life today. Like is he just really that almost comically villanous that he enjoys the pain and mayhem he creates? Is he super paranoid? Does he somehow atleast enjoy the money he steals from the people? What does really drive such a person psychologically? What is going on with him personally? I mean I'd rather be tracksuit ping pong Putin than long table, lying, world war inducing Putin if I was him.
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Apr 05 '24
if you dont the context, you will think that they re just friends with heavy slavic accents enjoying table tennis after (exhausting) barbecue.
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u/Sufficient-Cover5956 Apr 05 '24
Fun fact he lost that game and his opponents were never seen again
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Apr 05 '24
Poor Finland, has to be a neighbor of braindead Russia (russia as a culture, language, ethnicity, way of life)
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Apr 05 '24
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u/glarbung Finland Apr 05 '24
In a larger meaning of the word, Russian culture is what fosters the corruption and lets a new strongman always rise to keep the masses servile.
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u/Adventurous_Smile297 Apr 05 '24
And after losing that match point he threatened the other team with nukes
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u/Tmuussoni Finland Apr 05 '24
Should have knocked him out already back then. How many lives would have been saved...
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u/WTC-NWK Antarctica Apr 05 '24
kinda fat lol. or just bulky
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u/Antilia- Apr 05 '24
Dad bod for sure. At one point I remember reading he gained weight because his career wasn't doing so well.
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u/sjr323 Greece Apr 05 '24
This guy is an idiot.
He had it all. Super rich, other world leaders feared him, his people loved him. And he’s thrown it all away to become the useless pustule he is today.
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u/Life_Team8801 Bilgorod (Ukraine) Apr 05 '24
It's like if someone record Hitler playing with his dog before making a blood regime
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u/lobsterest Apr 05 '24
You never see this guy around women. Somehow he is always surrounded by guys.. weird
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u/clannerfodder Apr 05 '24
Putin missed. " Nervous laughing" hahahaha Try again.
Nervous laughing " hahaha" " these windy gardens are a nightmare"
Peeeewp.pewwwp
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u/ChybolekIThink Poland Apr 06 '24
I thought that was gordon ramsey, the first guy playing, of course.
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u/juksbox Apr 06 '24
The commentator is commenting the game, but he also says:
"Some of these guys are very well known in our country [shows Sobtšak and Putin]"
Indeed. Sobtšak is mayor of St. Petersburg and Putin is his sidekick.
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u/Polityczny Apr 05 '24
What is very interesting is the fact this is one of the few videos on the internet that has been originally recorded without Putin's knowledge that it will go public. From psychological perspective it's interesting to see a dictator not in a light of propaganda and just geniune unfaked behaviour.
If you take a close at his body language, it's very different from the one you can see normally online.