Putin's dark childhood from mother's eye gouged out to being chased by rats

The world has been watching President Trump's meeting with Vladimir Putin with baited breath - and whilst the US leader is determined to forge a reputation as a peacemaker, it is yet to be seen how much success can be found in his Alaska summit with the President of the Russian Federation, with no deal being reached.

Putin might now hold a formidable reputation, but he undoubtedly has come a long way since the early years of his childhood, which were mired by poverty and violence in Leningrad - now called St. Petersburg.

Some experts have gone so far as to claim the Russian President's unrelenting attitude to his invasion of Ukraine can be traced back to these early experiences. The Mirror looks back at his childhood as Putin warns of nuclear war after unleashing another night of hell on Ukraine.

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Putin was born on 7 October 1952, seven years after the Second World War ended, in St. Petersburg, then known as Leningrad.

His parents, Vladimir and Maria, had previously had two sons before he was born, both of whom had died. Putin is reported to be notoriously reticent about mentioning his deceased siblings, and only the name of one is known: Viktor.

The other sibling is said to have died whilst an infant, but Viktor's death during the 872-day German siege on Leningrad is reported to have occurred in "terrible circumstances" - per Psychology Today.

Aged just one year old, Maria, who was "near death" due to starvation caused by the siege, put Viktor into a children's home, hoping that he would be protected there.

Heartbreakingly, he was no safer in the home in reality, and he died from diphtheria and was buried in an unmarked mass grave - one that Putin is said to visit during official commemorations of the long siege.

By the time Putin was even born, his life was marked by tragedy, and not just that of the death of his elder brothers.

Before his parents even married, a terrifying attack from Vladimir Senior against Maria is claimed to have been the start of their relationship, due to the "disgrace" he brought upon her with his violence.

An explosive book, The Tsar in Person: How Vladimir Putin Fooled Us All, about the Russian President's life, claimed that in a "fit of rage" his father gouged out his mother's eye with a pitchfork.

The book alleges that Putin's father went with male friends to Maria's home - who was known as Marusya - when she was there by herself in 1928, according to someone who lived in the village in the Tver region.

The young woman refused to let them in, causing Vladimir Senior to become enraged. "They took the pitchfork that was standing by the fence and started breaking down the gate. She got scared, ran out of the house, and raced up to the fence.

"And Volodka [Vladimir senior, Putin’s father] at that moment broke through the gate with the pitchfork and hit Marusya right in the face.

"In short, he accidentally gouged out her eye. He took her to the hospital right away. There, Marusya's eye was removed."

This was seen as a "disgrace" so Maria's mother "threatened Volodka: if you don't marry, I'll put you on trial. So they got married. Marusya was very embarrassed about her glass eye later, never looked you in the face when talking, and tilted her head to the side."

The villager added that Putin's father was notorious for abusing and terrorising local girls, "He liked to lift up girls' skirts and tie them in a knot over their heads," so that he and other local men could see their underwear.

Putin totally denies that this interpretation of his parents' characters, but he has admitted that he had a tough childhood in some respects.

In his memoir, Putin described the vermin-ridded neighbourhood he grew up in, and wrote about a time he had an encounter with a rat.

"It had nowhere to run,” Putin said. "Suddenly it lashed around and threw itself at me… Luckily, I was a little faster and I managed to slam the door shut in its nose.”

Some have argued that experiences like this one, along with the fact that he was scrawny, small and often bullied and attacked in his area as a child, have influenced his attitude that there can be no backing down from a fight.

His close pal from his schooldays is reported to have said about him, "He could get into a fight with anyone… He had no fear… If some hulking guy offended him, he would jump straight at him – scratch him, bite him, pull out clumps of his hair."

At home his parents are said to have doted on him wildly, but outside of the house, this certainly was not the case, "As he himself admits, it was then, in neighbourhood brawls, that he learned lessons that he has followed ever since – to take on any and all adversaries, never to retreat, and to fight to the finish," reports The Week.

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