THE VERDICT OF FORMER SPY BOSS ON RUSSIAN LEADER AS A KGB AGENT

Vladimir Putin was a mediocre KGB agent, his former boss said.


Retired general Nikolai Leonov, president Putin's former boss in the dreaded Soviet secret service, has given his views on the Russian leader as a secret service agent.
General Leonov was in the KGB from 1956 to 1991 and was the number two man in the spy agency when Putin served in Dresden between 1985 and1990.  He recently spoke to Brazilian newspaper, Folha de S. Paulo.

Said the retired general, ''When we had a cadet fluent in German, as was Putin's case, if he was good he would go West Germany or Austria.  But he went to the eastern side, which was communist.'' 

Former Russian general Nikolai Leonov was a powerful figure in the KGB

According to the former general, promising officers would be sent to Berlin to work with the Stasi - the secret police of the East German regime - not Dresden.
Surprisingly, Russian state media has often clothed the Russian leader with an aura of mysterious bravery.