RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin has revealed a significant secret about his previous espionage career, admitting for the first time to working in “illegal intelligence” for the KGB.

The stunning revelation means the former KGB officer was involved in dangerous spy operations without diplomatic cover. It’s believed the President did not personally work as an illegal agent, but may have led such operations.

The stunning admission was made in a TV interview in Moscow marking the 95th anniversary of the Soviet intelligence directorate dealing with unofficial spies.

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“All my work in the USSR foreign intelligence agencies was connected not just with the Foreign Intelligence Service, but specifically with illegal intelligence,’ he said during the interview on Saturday.

President Putin also praised Russia’s network of intelligence officers as “unique people” who are devoted to the country.

“To give up their life, their nearest and dearest and leave the country for many years, and to dedicate one’s life to the Fatherland, not everyone is capable of doing that,” the former KGB officer said on state television.

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“These are people not like the rest,” who have qualities, convictions and character out of the ordinary, Putin added on the Russia-1 channel.

“These are unique people. I wish them happiness and prosperity,” he added. The Russian strongman said that his own service in the country’s main security agency during the Soviet era had involved “especially, undercover intelligence”.

Putin was stationed in Dresden, in what was then East Germany, for the Soviet espionage service from 1985-1990, according to his official biography.

“Even before I’d finished my school studies, I already wanted to be an intelligence officer,” Putin said in the biography, adding that he had been attracted to the service by spy novels.