Israel Matzav

Who's the 'tourist' with the camera?

This picture of Ronald Reagan meeting a boy in Russia in 1988 has been floating around the internet all week. Who's the guy with the camera standing behind the boy? I've seen several reports that it's a KGB agent named Vladimir Putin.

The most interesting part of the trip, though, was unscheduled and was initially unremarkable.

Gorbachev was introducing the president to tourists. When Pete Souza, the photographer, remarked to secret service that he was surprised by the pointed questions, the agent told him that they were all KGB families. Looks like he was right.

In the photo above, Reagan is talking to a young boy. The man standing behind the kid with a camera around his neck? Vladimir Putin.

Turns out that Putin, a KGB agent, was undercover as a tourist. Can’t have the American president meeting random citizens in 1988 Russia.

Russian authorities, however, deny that the camera-wearing tourist is Putin.

Who believes the big bad wolf bear?

Labels: KGB, Ronald Reagan, Russia, Vladimir Putin

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 11:15 AM