Picture: Putin Pretending To Be Tourist During Reagan’s 1988 Visit To Moscow

March 16, 2009 · Filed Under Politics

This is an amazing picture. See the guy with the camera around his neck standing behind the boy? That’s current Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin pretending to be a tourist when we know today that he was a KGB agent.

According to the photographer the Secret Service was under no illusions at the time however, and acknowledged the so-called “tourists” were KGB.

Tags: kgb, putin 1988, putin kgb, reagan visit to moscow, Ronald Reagan, Vladimir Putin

Comments

31 Responses to “Picture: Putin Pretending To Be Tourist During Reagan’s 1988 Visit To Moscow”

Joba on March 16th, 2009 12:56 pm

Illusions.
Jacob Maloy on March 16th, 2009 1:21 pm

This reminds me of the famous photo of a young Bill Clinton with John F. Kennedy….
bebo on March 16th, 2009 2:34 pm

Allusions means “references made to other things”, the word you want is illusions, which means “things which are not really there or not as they seem”.
Chris Jones on March 16th, 2009 3:42 pm

Good catch — thanks
sir jorge on March 16th, 2009 5:12 pm

wow, now that’s a good photo
theRealRandini on March 16th, 2009 5:28 pm

Whoa!
Hold it!
This is obviously photoshopped….

Reagan was never THAT young!
Jonny on March 16th, 2009 7:25 pm

Great photo. Putin was pretty smooth. It’s amazing how things work out… I wonder what’s going to happen next?
Chris Jones on March 16th, 2009 7:47 pm

I know, it’s weird how things work out.
Clams on March 16th, 2009 10:37 pm

That’s definitaly not Putin, I’m positive. The bridge of his nose is more curved, he has a stronger jawline and a weaker chin. And I’m fairly sure he’s not that tall. It must be some other blonde agent/tourist, that man looks nothing like him. It would have been interesting though. Plus, wasn’t Putin stationed in Germany then?
my nameis on March 17th, 2009 8:32 am

That’s NOT Putin.
dailykos on March 17th, 2009 8:37 am

Could be Elvis!
cribley on March 17th, 2009 8:56 am

A few reference images:

http://imgur.com/RDI5.png
ajrw on March 17th, 2009 11:26 am

I’m pretty sure that’s Stephen Harper.
Jason Alexander on March 17th, 2009 11:44 pm

I am glad they did not catch Putin trying to pick pocket Reagan. Well the guy does look a little like Putin but not close enough. Also notice he is smilimg, Putin never does except when he hears about the death of one of his political oponents.
Dan on March 18th, 2009 8:48 pm

Christ, you people! It seems like you cant post a picture ANYWHERE on the internet without some retard posting OMG PHOTOSHOP.

This is a well-known picture, and like he mentioned in the post.. the CIA acknowledged that it was him.
Brian on March 18th, 2009 11:49 pm

Only one person said OMG PHOTOSHOP, and they were just making a joke about Reagan. Everyone else was just debating whether the tourist/agent was Putin or somebody else.
Gadget on March 19th, 2009 4:58 am

JEEZ
the guy does’nt even looks like Putin
boogerz on March 19th, 2009 9:14 am

Your nose changes as you age. It does look like him. Probably is. Who cares? Either way its a great photo of Reagan, which is all that matters.

To “clams” who said the nose, jaw, face, etc. was so different… It’s called aging. Maybe he looked that way cuz a few moments later, The Gipper knocked his ass down and told them all “There’s plenty more where that came stateside, biatches”.
Leandrok on March 19th, 2009 11:10 am

Can you recognize the kid? It´s Maria Sharapova!
Putin on March 19th, 2009 11:43 am

And wait to see what has become of the boy reaching for Reagan!! Wa ha ha ha!! (scary laugh)
danilo on March 19th, 2009 9:18 pm

it’s daniel craig, the 007… for sure…
LDSilver on March 19th, 2009 10:03 pm

“Mr. Gorbachev, TEAR – DOWN – THIS – WALL!”
Agent005 on March 21st, 2009 8:13 am

The man on the left is not Putin. That’s my uncle.
RINGWORM on March 21st, 2009 4:40 pm

It’s unka Jed!
Bluekid on March 23rd, 2009 7:52 am

2009.3.20

ha ha …. as Brian said they were just making a joke about Reagan. um….you know this is the point.

i’d love this picture coz Reagan’s hand coming out to the kid with smiling face. it’s very…. very good act. but the little boy wasn’t looking at his eyes as he shook hands, frankly.
Obama Sucks ! on March 25th, 2009 10:56 pm

@@ JUST want to say(( Obama ))is a shady liar!! ohh and the pic is sweet-@@
chriz on March 26th, 2009 5:59 am

not bad……… it is his opportunity to meet known poeple
Bowen on May 6th, 2009 10:21 am

That’s definitely Putin. Crazy fucking Russians….
Jim on May 8th, 2009 1:57 pm

There are pictures of Putin from the 1980’s. His hairline was already well receded by then. Not him.
oberst on July 4th, 2009 12:21 am

that only vaguely resembles vladimir putin.
Upcoming Events on July 13th, 2009 1:35 am

He’s obviously trying very hard to look like a tourist, especially with the camera hanging around the front. What else could you expect in 1988 in Moscow, but a bunch of KGB agents pretending to be tourists.