Was Putin a Stasi Agent?

Germany’s Bild newspaper published a photo on Tuesday of an East German Secret Police (Stasi) identity card purportedly issued to Vladimir Putin when he served as a KGB officer in Dresden during the Cold War

Was Putin a Stasi Agent?

Russian President Vladimir Putin (Photo: AP)

The Bild Daily on Tuesday reported that an East German Secret Police identity card for Russian President Vladimir Putin had been found in the Stasi archives.

Putin was stationed as a KGB agent in Dresden from 1985 until December 1989, when East Germany collapsed.

A photo of the ID card shows that it was issued for “Maj. Vladimir Putin” in 1986 and continually revalidated up until the end of 1989. The card also had Putin’s photograph and signature.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Stasi Records Agency (BStU) said that Putin “received the pass so that he could carry out his KGB work in co-operation with the Stasi.”

The Kremlin neither confirmed nor denied that Putin was issued a Stasi identification, The Guardian reported. “At those times, the times of the USSR, the KGB and the Stasi were partner services, and so such an exchange of IDs should perhaps not be ruled out,” said Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov.