Patrushev also rivals Putin as a villain. Some believe the two ordered FSB officials to bomb apartment buildings in Moscow, killing between 200 and 300 residents in 1999, in order to blame Chechen terrorists and give Russia a pretext to unleash war on Chechnya. As a result, the popularity of then-Prime Minister Putin rose, helping him secure the Russian presidency in March 2000.
Patrushev doesn’t drink hard liquor, instead preferring the occasional glass of white wine. He is never late and doesn’t like speaking with journalists, a professional habit that comes with being a spy for 50 years. But when he does, he carefully calibrates his words, highly aware that his speech is being analyzed by foreign intelligence services. Like Putin, Patrushev is a workaholic and always has an opinion, which he shares with his boss daily. While Putin is a judo master, Patrushev is a fan of volleyball and swims one kilometer in a pool four days a week, to shake off fatigue.
He also helped create a series of top-secret military plans, including — it is believed — the broad operational concepts for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.<---
Like Putin, Patrushev is a rabid anti-American propagandist, who recently accused the United States of planning to drop a nuke in Ukraine and then blame Russia for it.
Patrushev doesn’t drink hard liquor, instead preferring the occasional glass of white wine. He is never late and doesn’t like speaking with journalists, a professional habit that comes with being a spy for 50 years. But when he does, he carefully calibrates his words, highly aware that his speech is being analyzed by foreign intelligence services. Like Putin, Patrushev is a workaholic and always has an opinion, which he shares with his boss daily. While Putin is a judo master, Patrushev is a fan of volleyball and swims one kilometer in a pool four days a week, to shake off fatigue.
He also helped create a series of top-secret military plans, including — it is believed — the broad operational concepts for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.<---
Like Putin, Patrushev is a rabid anti-American propagandist, who recently accused the United States of planning to drop a nuke in Ukraine and then blame Russia for it.
