A veteran cabaret singer claims she apprehended a young Vladimir Putin posing as a security guard on a cruise ship to spy for the KGB during the Cold War.
Australian Lynn Rogers, 81, and several of her musician friends told they remember the future despot lurking around on board the ocean liner Aleksandr Pushkin during their performances.
British company CTC Cruises leased the Soviet-built boat in 1985 to sail from Europe to Australasia, retaining the original Russian crew but bringing in Western entertainers.
Lynn says one character in particular stood out: a sinister, petrified-faced security guard who followed her to her cabin without saying a word after each performance.
Years later, she couldn’t believe her eyes when she saw the same creepy agent installed as Russia’s new president after Boris Yeltsin resigned in 1999.
“When he came into power, I remember looking at him and saying, ‘This guy was security on the damn cruise ship.’ I was shocked,” said Lynn, who lives on Australia’s Gold Coast.
Russian President Vladimir Putin was in his early 30s and was working as an intelligence officer around the time Lynn Rogers claims to have seen him working on a cruise ship. He is pictured leaving a young man aboard a ship in 1975
Australian Lynn Rogers, a former entertainer on the ocean liner Aleksandr Pushkin, claims she saw a young Vladimir Putin posing as a security guard on a cruise ship to spy for the KGB during the Cold War
British company CTC Cruises hired the Aleksandr Puskin, a Soviet-built boat, in 1985 to sail from Europe to Australasia, keeping her original Russian crew but catching up with Western entertainers
“I distinctly remember when I finished my show he would follow me back into the booth and walk about ten feet behind me.
“I would open the cabin door and turn and wave and smile and say thank you. He never smiled. He never spoke to me, not a single word.
“If only we’d known what he had planned for the world, we could have ditched the bastard and done everyone a favor.”
Four-year-old Russian President Putin was in his early 30s around the time Lynn claims to have discovered him.
By this time he was already a veteran intelligence officer, having joined the KGB in 1975, his first job was to monitor foreigners and consular officers in Leningrad.
Putin was later posted to Germany and Singapore, where it is believed his duties included gathering intelligence on tiny communist movements in Australia, New Zealand and Fiji.
While there is no direct evidence of Putin being placed on a cruise ship in Australia, several reports suggest that he visited New Zealand several times in the 1980s and at one point posed as a shoe salesman.
Author Graeme Hunt, in his 2007 book Spies and Revolutionaries: A History of New Zealand Subversion, claims that a man bearing a “striking resemblance” to Putin took part in the 1986 investigation into the sinking of the Russian cruise ship Mikhail Lermontov, which was collided with rocks in the Marlborough Sounds off New Zealand’s South Island.
Rogers, who hails from Australia’s Gold Coast, rose to fame in her home country with her 1968 single “Just Loving You” and has performed alongside the likes of Tom Jones, Dusty Springfield and Sammy Davis Jr
Rogers told the petrified-faced security guard, who she believes is the future president of Russia, would follow her back to her changing room after each performance
The Australian singer shared footage captured on board the Pushkin boat when she was a member of the entertainment crew
“We assumed he was the head of security, but you never really knew,” added Lynn, who rose to fame in her native Australia with her 1968 single “Just Loving You,” alongside the likes of Tom Jones, Dusty Springfield and more performed Sammy Davis Jr.
“He was always floating around. If you had entered the bar, he would have just left the bar. If you sat down to eat in the restaurant, he would pass by.
“He had such a sour look on him. If he managed a smile, it would have split his face. He was never pleasant.
“But of course it’s difficult to separate my feelings for him at the time from what we know now.
“What he did to Ukraine is the most disgusting, most grotesque thing anyone has done since Hitler.”
Named after Russia’s great national poet, Aleksandr Pushkin was built in East Germany and entered service in 1966, initially plying back and forth between Montreal and Leningrad.
The 20,000-ton ship became a full-time cruise ship in 1975, with ample accommodation for 915 passengers and 356 crew.
Seen with his first daughter Mariya in 1985, Putin joined the KGB in 1975 and was later believed to be tasked with gathering intelligence on tiny communist movements in Australia, New Zealand and Fiji
While there is no direct evidence of Putin being placed on a cruise ship in Australia, several reports suggest that he visited New Zealand several times in the 1980s and at one point posed as a shoe salesman. He is pictured above in the 80’s
Renamed Marco Polo after the end of the Cold War, it remained in service for various cruise lines before being scrapped last year.
“It was a huge ship that called at every port in the world, but there were more crew than passengers,” added Lynn.
“A friend of mine, the bandmaster on the ship, told me that one day he noticed a door with a sign that said ‘Crew Only’.
Retired entertainer Sylvia Raye, who appeared alongside Lynn, said it was an open secret that the KGB had men on board the ship
“So he went down all these stairs and started exploring and all of a sudden he’s in a huge room with all these computers everywhere and people walking around in white suits.
“They grabbed him and threw him out of the room and told him not to come back.”
Sylvia Raye, a retired entertainer who appeared alongside Lynn, said it was an open secret that the KGB had men on board the ship when she worked there in the 1980s.
“The ship was pretty cheap and the food was disgusting. You felt like you were in Russia,” remembers Sylvia, 79.
“We are very social people, entertainers. But the Russians were afraid to speak to you, you couldn’t get a word out of them.’
In the late ’80s, Sylvia recalled inviting her Russian bandmates to a barbecue at their home in Australia. She was told that only three of them could go ashore.
Years later, Rogers recognized Putin immediately when he was installed as Russia’s new president following the resignation of Boris Yeltsin in 1999. He is pictured above in Moscow on Monday
Renamed the Marco Polo (pictured) after the end of the Cold War, the ship remained in service with various cruise lines before being scrapped last year
‘The captain said something if someone tries to defect, there must be two to hold them and drag them back to the ship.
“I remember my husband saying to me, ‘Oh god, what have you gotten yourself into,'” she giggled.
“When they reached the house, they were not allowed in. I have a security system and one of them saw the sensors on the wall upstairs. They thought I took them there for surveillance. I ended up taking her to the park.”