Vladimir Putin's Time In The KGB

He was posted to Dresden in 1985, where he looked for East Germans who had plausible reasons to travel abroad and then recruited them to help spy on the West. Unconfirmed reports also have Mr Putin working in New Zealand in the 1980s. During his time in the KGB, he worked as a case officer and reached the rank of lieutenant colonel. Mr Putin was recalled to Leningrad in 1990 as part of the KGB's "active reserve", as the USSR was on the verge of collapse.