I’m an ex-KGB spy who was interrogated by Putin…I know how his sadistic mind works and the gruesome fate that awaits him
A FORMER Russian spy who trained at the same KGB school as Putin has revealed how he was interrogated by the "sadistic" dictator.
Sergei Jirnov worked for Russia's secret service for seven years - until he was forced into exile in France in 2001 where he became a refugee.
Born in 1961 in Moscow, Jirnov joined the KGB in 1984.
Like Putin, he is an alumnus of the Red Flag Institute, a secret KGB school that trains the intelligence elite.
But the former spy had met Putin four years before in 1980 while he was a volunteer at the Moscow Olympic Games - and gained a unique insight into his twisted mind.
Jirnov was interrogated by the Russian dictator after he spoke on the phone to a French citizen requesting information about the sporting event.
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Putin suspected Jirnov was a spy for France - and grilled him about his connections.
And Jirnov said the Russian leader took a "strange pleasure" in the interrogation.
During the tense interrogation, Putin thought he caught him out when he referenced a banned book.
But Jirnov revealed he had been gifted the book by the family of Leonid Brejnev - leaving fearful Putin with no choice but to let him go or risk the wrath of Soviet leadership.
"Andrei was a good friend of mine and a faculty colleague. Putin was stunned at that moment and let me go," he said.
Jirnov revealed that Putin was a "jealous" KGB officer who "adored power".
"In 1980, Putin was a person who adored power," he said.
"When he interrogated me, I felt a strange pleasure of him. He had a sadistic pleasure when interrogating people.
"I also felt a jealousy from him regarding the persons who are better than him. And this jealousy increased over the years."
And Jirnov now believes Putin could face the same fate as Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu - who was overthrown and executed by a firing squad in a revolution in 1989.
A lightning mutiny by Russia’s Wagner Group mercenaries exposed cracks in Putin's increasingly weak grip on power.
It's thought Putin may have a leadership crisis on his hands - with plenty of wolves waiting in the wings and willing to claw their way to power.
"He's a street child, he was beaten, maybe abused. He learned cruel things. He had no physical strength, that's why he learned trickery.
"After 23 years in power, Putin began to think of himself as a god.
"His entourage told him what he wanted to hear and distilled bad information.
"He wants to become eternal, which pushes him towards mystical things.
"I'm Russian, and I say Putin is killing Russia. He's a sociopath. He has no empathy. He's not rational anymore."
It comes after The Sun interviewed another former spy who trained at the same top military academy as Putin.
Aliia Roza, 38, now a life coach, said Putin "brainwashed" the Russian population using techniques that the KGB instils "in your DNA".
The mum-of-one believes Putin’s spy training is responsible for his rise to power - and underneath his infamous strongman image is a manipulative and intimidating operator.
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And his ruthless spy techniques have persisted as he tries to maintain his rule during Russia's most unstable period.