Moscow - The Acting President, Mr Vladimir Putin, a year ago the unknown head of the former KGB and now Russia's leader, was secretly baptised during the Communist era, he said in a newspaper interview published yesterday. Mr Putin made the revelation during a telephone phone-in with readers of the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper which revealed more of his personality which remains a mystery to many Russians.
Mr Putin dealt with religion, land reform, the businessman Mr Boris Berezovsky, the war in Chechnya and welfare for single mothers during the phone-in, which was on Wednesday. The newspaper reproduced a fuller version than excerpts shown on television.
"When I was a few months old, my mum and her neighbour in the communal apartment where we lived took me to church without telling my father, he was a Communist Party member, and baptised me," he was quoted by the daily as saying. "This was my first visit to church and, as you understand, it is difficult for me to remember," he said.
