Check out some key passages that set the course of the Russian president’s career.

Vladimir Putin turns 70 this Friday (7/10). How did he become the isolated Western autocrat who led the invasion of Ukraine?

Seven key moments in his life helped shape his thoughts and explain his growing distance from the West.

• War in Ukraine: What Does Russian Annexation of Ukrainian Territories Mean for Occupied Territories?
• Ukraine: Putin’s Dangerous Wargame

Judoka in Youth (1964)

II. Born in Leningrad (modern-day Saint Petersburg) where the 872-day siege of World War II was still scarred, young Vladimir was a feisty and belligerent boy at school, his best friend remembered “he could fight anyone because he was scared”.

However, in a city infested with street gangs, a skinny but feisty boy had to be prepared. At the age of 12 he started practicing sambo, a Russian martial art, and then judo. He was determined and disciplined: at 18, he was a black belt in judo and finished third in a national judo competition.

This part of the biography was used to highlight the “macho” side of the personality of the current Russian president. But he also confirmed his early belief that in a dangerous world you need to be confident and that, in his own words, when a fight is inevitable, “you must hit first and hit too hard for your opponent to stand up”. .

Attempting to Enter the KGB (1968)

In general, people avoided going to 4 Liteyny Prospekt, the address of the KGB (Soviet political police) headquarters in Leningrad. So many had gone through their cells and interrogated and then moved to Siberian gulag labor camps under Stalin that a bitter joke was often told. The Bolshoi Dom, nicknamed the “Big House” where the KGB’s headquarters is located in the city, was the tallest building in Leningrad because it was visible even from the Siberian basement.

But when Putin was 16, he went to the KGB’s red carpet reception and asked an officer behind the desk how he could join the company. Surprised and confused, the officer said that he needed to complete his military service or get a diploma. Putin then asked what would be the best rating.

The answer was “law,” and from that moment on, Putin was determined to get that degree. And that’s how he was recruited by the Soviet company. For street punk Putin, the KGB was the biggest gang in town: it offered security and a chance for advancement even to someone without Communist Party affiliations.

It also represented an opportunity to be the one to make it happen. As the Russian leader spoke of the inspiration from spy movies in his youth, “a spy can decide the fate of thousands of people”.

Around a Crowd (1989)

Despite so much hope, Putin’s career never took off in the KGB. He performed well in his roles, but high flight never happened. In any case, he was keen to learn German, and this landed him an appointment in 1985 to the KGB offices in Dresden, former East Germany.

He managed to lead a comfortable life there. But in November 1989, German communism began to collapse at an extreme speed.

On December 5, a crowd surrounded the Dresden KGB building. Putin desperately called the nearest Red Army outpost to ask for protection. Answer: “We can’t do anything without orders from Moscow. And Moscow is silent.”

Has Putin learned to fear the sudden collapse of central power? and determined never to repeat what he felt was a mistake made by Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev: failing to respond quickly and decisively when faced with opposition.

Putin Learns the Meaning of Political Influence (1992)

Putin would later leave the KGB when the Soviet Union collapsed. Soon, however, Leningrad’s formerly known as St. He obtained a position as a mediator for the new mayor of St. Petersburg.

The economy was in free fall, and Putin was tasked with managing a deal to try to help the city’s population by exchanging $100 million worth of oil and metal for food.

Practically no one saw food. According to an investigation that was quickly silenced, Putin, his friends and the city’s gangsters pocketed the money.

In the “wild 1990s”, Putin quickly learned that political influence is a monetizable commodity and that gangsters can be useful allies. While everyone around him was monetizing his positions, his rationale was: why not?

Georgia Invasion (2008)

When Putin became Russia’s president in 2000, he hoped he could establish a good relationship with the West on his own terms, including a sphere of influence throughout the former Soviet Union. He was soon disappointed, then angered, believing that the West was trying to isolate and belittle Russia.

When Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili set his country on the path to NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Alliance) membership, alarm bells began to ring for Putin. Georgia’s attempt to regain control over the separatist region of South Ossetia, supported by Russia, became the pretext for the wartime operation.

Within five days, Russian forces did not give the Georgian army a chance, forcing President Saakashvili to accept a humiliating peace agreement.

The West was infuriated, but within a year President Barack Obama offered to “reset” relations with Russia. And Moscow even got the right to host the 2018 World Cup.

It was clear to Putin that the use of force was working and that a weak and directionless West would grumble in anger but eventually withdraw from a determined will.

Protests in Moscow (2011-2013)

Suspicion, along with evidence of fraud in the 2011 parliamentary elections, sparked public protests. When Putin announced he would seek reelection in 2012, their proportion increased.

Known as the “Bolotnaya Protests”, named after the Moscow square where the demonstrations took place, this was the biggest expression of public opposition to Putin.

The Russian leader said the actions were encouraged and directed by Washington and blamed US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

For Putin, this was proof that the West was flexing its muscles and moving on. In practice, this meant that it was now war.

covid pandemic (2020)

As Covid-19 swept the world, Putin went into an unusual isolation even for autocrats. Anyone meeting the Russian president must self-isolate for 15 days under surveillance, and then walk through a corridor washed with ultraviolet light and disinfectant.

At that time, the number of allies and advisers who managed to find Putin fell dramatically, just a few close figures.

Having been exposed to a few dissenting opinions and almost out of touch with his own country, Putin seems to have convinced himself that all his beliefs are true and just, thus planting the seeds for the invasion of Ukraine.

Professor Mark Galeotti is a researcher and author of books such as We Need to Talk About Putin and Putin’s Wars, which have yet to be released.