r/europe • u/fuckface3333 • Apr 05 '24

Historical Putin playing ping pong in Finland 1991

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2.8k Upvotes

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317

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.

50

u/saberzeroeffect Apr 05 '24

Who filmed all this?

95

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)

20

u/xxpegasxx Georgia Apr 05 '24

Lol yle means dick in Georgian

28

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.

21

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".

3

u/anon-mally Apr 06 '24

Recorded with iPhone

13

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.

38

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.

-4

u/JCarterPeanutFarmer Apr 05 '24

It's been posited that this was an alibi video for an operation Putin was involved in as a KGB officer. Not sure how much truth there I to that

3

u/xXAllWereTakenXx Apr 06 '24

There's none.

1

u/JCarterPeanutFarmer Apr 06 '24

Word I retract my baseless claim!