Vladimir Putin is undoubtedly one of the most powerful leaders in the world. The 73-year-old has been serving as the President of Russia since 2012, making him the longest-serving president of the country since its independence from the Soviet Union. Those who are interested in Russian politics or Putin’s influence over geopolitics must have also noticed one interesting aspect of her body language.
If you pay even the slightest attention to Putin’s walk, you’ll realize that he freely swings his left arm while he barely moves his right arm. This makes his walking style unique. Interestingly, his walk isn’t a random style statement or a health issue.
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High profile people who are always in the middle of controversies always have a risk of assassination. Take the history of the US, for example. Even the leaders with the biggest security are always at risk. Experts have gathered that Putin’s unique walk stems from the KGB manual, where the agents carry a weapon on their right-hand side at all times.
Putin’s walk has intrigued many people over the years. Experts have often shared their opinions about the same. The best explanation comes from Neurology professor Bastiaan Bloem of the Radboud University Medical Center in the Netherlands. He, along with his colleagues, did research on Putin’s walk and published their findings in the online version of the British Medical Journal in 2015.
They debunked the myth that Putin has Parkinson’s disease, which can be described as a brain disorder that affects movement, mood, and other systems in the body. They emphasized Putin’s walk is actually The ‘Gunslinger’s Gait’ or the KGB walk.
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They wrote in their paper, “We were struck to find several consecutive YouTube recordings of Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, manifesting a clearly reduced right-sided arm swing. Searching for possible explanations, we encountered a training manual of the former Russian KGB.”
Shedding light on the KGB manual, they wrote, “According to this manual, KGB operatives were instructed to keep their weapon in their right hand close to their chest and to move forward with one side, usually the left, presumably allowing subjects to draw the gun as quickly as possible when confronted with a foe.”
The researchers explained that Putin may have developed a habit of walking with his right arm closer to his chest as he worked as a KGB intelligence officer. Before joining politics, he worked as an agent for 16 years, rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel.
“We propose that this new gait pattern, which we term ‘gunslinger’s gait,’ may result from a behavioral adaptation, possibly triggered by KGB or other forms of weapons training where trainees are taught to keep their right hand close to the chest while walking, allowing them to quickly draw a gun when faced with a foe,” the researchers concluded in their findings.
The researchers also pointed out that the similar walking style was noticed in several other prominent Russian leaders, including former Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, former Russian Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov, senior official Sergei Ivanov, and former general Anatoly Sidorov.
So, it’s safe to conclude that their unique walk is directly correlated to their military training and years of experience as KGB officers.
However, Putin remains in the international headlines over the war with Ukraine. The unrest between both countries has been going on for nearly a decade, but in February 2022, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. It has now become the biggest conflict in Europe since World War 2. Trump is constantly trying to negotiate a peace deal between both countries, but Russia seems hesitant about it. Meanwhile, the UK has extended full support to Ukraine.
