JTA
Putin holds up Israel as a model of unity for Ukrainians and Russians
by Cnaan Liphshiz
July 1, 2021

…Another influential Jewish figure for Putin was his wrestling coach, Anatoly Rakhlin, who sparked the young Putin’s interest in sports and got him off the rough streets of Leningrad, where Putin would get into fights while his parents worked. At Rakhlin’s funeral in 2013, Putin reportedly was overcome by emotion and ditched his security detail to take a short, solitary walk. In 2014, during a visit to Israel, he met his former German teacher, Mina Yuditskaya Berliner, another influential figure in his life because she gave him the language skills that later helped him climb the ranks of the KGB. They had a two-hour chat in her rented apartment; afterward he bought the place for her. READ MORE