‘Putin tours’ retrace Russian leader’s life in St Petersburg

SAINT PETERSBURG: Rounding a corner in central Saint Petersburg with a group in tow, Georgy Rusanov stops in front of the grey building of the city’s oldest maternity hospital -- the first attraction on his Vladimir Putin walking tour.

"This is where Vladimir Putin was born on October 7, 1952," he announces to the small crowd, a mix of curious Russians and a Russian-American couple.

"Volodya was not a model child," Rusanov continues using the diminutive version of Vladimir, to giggles from his audience, as he walks along Baskov Street, the stomping ground of the Russian president in his early years.

Saint Petersburg is known for its White Nights when the sun never fully sets, gilded palaces and elegant parks, but the 63-year-old Russian leader and native of Russia’s second largest city has created a market of his own.

Putin was born and lived in the city previously named Leningrad for some 40 years, excluding his time as a KGB officer in East Germany, before moving to Moscow in the mid-1990s.

Rusanov launched his Putin tour several years ago. Since then he has seen more foreigners turn up, he says, while colleagues are planning Putin tours of their own.

"It is popular, especially with foreign tourists," he says.

His tour promises to show a courtyard where the president "chased rats" as a boy and another where he had his "first date" with his now ex-wife Lyudmila.

Rusanov insists the tour has no political affiliation but paints an unequivocally positive picture of Putin, whose ratings have soared above 80 percent since Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.

"This is the local headquarters of the FSB, the former KGB, where Vladimir Putin was recruited in 1975 after being one of the best students at the Saint Petersburg University law faculty," Rusanov says at the foot of the imposing building.

Putin decided to become an agent after watching a spy film as a boy, he says.

In his 16 years in power, Putin has remarkably managed to keep his private life a tightly-guarded secret, despite allegations of high-level nepotism and corruption.

Publications that dared to investigate the activities of his two daughters, Yekaterina and Maria, or his love life, have been shut down or seen major staff shakeups, though the Kremlin always denies any meddling.

Putin’s impenetrable secrecy is part of the allure that keeps Rusanov’s business going.

"The tour lets people see a more human side of him, beyond official business," he says.

"Putin is an enigmatic person," said Sam Roberts, a 45-year-old American who came on the tour with his Russian wife Galina to better understand the Russian leader and his politics, which often leave the West guessing.

"He interests me a lot, and he interests the United States, where we don’t know much about him," he said.

A surge in interest from foreign tourists is encouraging other guides to launch Putin tours of their own.

"I want to try leading these tours for Chinese tourists, I’m sure this will be a hit," said Ilya Ivannikov, 28, who came on Rusanov’s walk to gain experience in Putin geography.

Russian visitors to the city also said they enjoyed the walk.

"My friend and I are fans of our president," said Anna Kuznetsova, a visitor from the town of Kaluga southwest of Moscow.  "I share many of his views," she added.