It was a cold night on December 5th, 1989 in east Germany. The crowd of angry Germans had flooded the streets of East Germany. The Berlin Wall had fallen. The crowd was lashing out against the communist rule. It is not even close to the ideal time being a citizen of USSR to be there among this angry mob. But, worst of the worst awaits if you are not just an USSR citizen but a KGB official. Precisely that was the actual case.
The blood thirsty crowd, looking for the target to avenge the suppression, that they believed they have been under, found a local KGB headquarter at Dresden. They started to surround the building. With every passing second, the crowd grew larger and larger and larger. Inside the building, along with some junior staff was a young Lieutenant Colonel of KGB named VLADIMIR PUTIN. He was terrified as he saw rage in the eyes people right outside the building, sneaking through the curtains of the window. All of seniors had left the premises, making him, the young Putin, in charge of his life, life of his subordinates and of all the KGB secrets that the headquarters had at that time.
Things were escalating exponentially with every passing second. Desperate for help, Putin was dialing the KGB headquarter at Moscow for help. But the phone only kept ringing at the other end. After trying for a number of times, someone at Moscow finally picked up the phone and replied, "Moscow is silent, you are on your own." This may sound betrayal, but those who understand how the secret services around the world operate, know that it was a Standard Operating Procedure. Putin understood that too.
Putin ran to the basement of the building and lit a fire. He asked all his associates to burn the entire flammable record which had KGB secrets. Page after pager went into the fire. As the crowd was closing in, thousands and thousands of KGB secrets were going down the furnace. With the secrets and national security of his country taken care of, it was time for Putin to something about saving his life and the life of his aides. He must figure out something soon or it will be just butchering left around.
Putin took a bold move, a move which even by reading leaves a shiver in the spine. He went outside to face the mob, alone.
Standing right at their face, he said, "I have a squad of highly trained, professional armed guards at my disposal right now inside the building. Whoever, will take just one step more toward the building will be shot right here."
But the truth was, there were none. Not a single armed guard present inside the KGB headwaters at Dresden at that point of time. But the subtlety with which he said, the coldness of the typical Putin eyes, IT WORKED. The crowd started to disperse. Putin was able to make his way out alive by bluffing them with the threat of killing each and every single one of them.
That is what makes Putin stand out among the other leaders of the present world. The Most Powerful Man In The World- CNN 2017.
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