Putin 1992: A Glimpse of Sobchak’s Finland Trip

Peek into a rare 43-second snippet of a 1992 home video capturing Vladimir Putin, then a 39-year-old aide to St. Petersburg Mayor Anatoly Sobchak, on a family vacation in Finland. Filmed in early May at a corporate villa 100 kilometers west of Helsinki, hosted by the Finnish timber company Thomesto, this silent black-and-white clip—part of a lost 12-minute tape—shows Putin and Sobchak’s families in casual moments: chatting, fishing, or perhaps playing ping-pong, as noted in fuller accounts. Unearthed from obscurity, this fragment reveals a relaxed Putin before his rise, alongside his mentor Sobchak, offering a fleeting, humanizing glimpse for history buffs, lost media enthusiasts, and Putin watchers.