{"id":2952,"date":"2026-09-18T10:38:49","date_gmt":"2026-09-18T10:38:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev95.site\/vladimir-putin-the-kgb-and-the-restoration-of-soviet-russia\/"},"modified":"2026-09-18T10:38:49","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T10:38:49","slug":"vladimir-putin-the-kgb-and-the-restoration-of-soviet-russia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dev95.site\/ar\/vladimir-putin-the-kgb-and-the-restoration-of-soviet-russia\/","title":{"rendered":"Vladimir Putin, the KGB, and the restoration of Soviet Russia"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"dev95-2972220476\" class=\"dev95-- dev95-entity-placement\"><script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl27862732.profitableratecpmnetwork.com\/2ad7a50e0bbc23ac6801d7b77c501463\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-2ad7a50e0bbc23ac6801d7b77c501463\"><\/div><\/div><div>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright size-full is-resized\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"565\" height=\"848\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/malwarwickonbooks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/The-Man-Without-a-Face-book-cover.jpg?resize=565%2C848&#038;ssl=1\" alt='Cover image of \"The Man Without a Face,\" a book about vladimir putin' class=\"wp-image-91983\" style=\"width:250px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/malwarwickonbooks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/The-Man-Without-a-Face-book-cover.jpg 565w, https:\/\/malwarwickonbooks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/The-Man-Without-a-Face-book-cover-333x500.jpg 333w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 565px) 100vw, 565px\"><\/figure>\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap wp-block-paragraph\">Every once in a while I\u2019m shocked to learn anew that the American news media has missed the mark in its reporting of events around the world. Masha Gessen\u2019s portrait of third-term Russian President Vladimir Putin, <em>The Man Without a Face<\/em>, is an excellent case in point. Now, a decade and a half after Gessen\u2019s meticulous account of Putin\u2019s dark history, we know just how much our view of the man has soured in the face of his invasion of Ukraine.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For example, in December 2011, the year before Gessen\u2019s biography appeared, we learned about large demonstrations in Moscow protesting the obviously rigged outcome of the recent Russian elections. They\u2019d awarded nearly 50 percent of the vote to the President\u2019s party, United Russia. What I didn\u2019t learn from the reports I read here in America then was that estimates of the crowd in Moscow ran as high as 150,000 and that \u201c[p]rotests were held [the same day] in ninety-nine cities in Russia and in front of Russian consulates and embassies in more than forty cities around the world.\u201d<\/p><div id=\"dev95-292143582\" class=\"dev95- dev95-entity-placement\"><center>\r\n<script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '4ba6b6513c00e0ba76511f798ae56401',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 50,\r\n    'width' : 320,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highrevenueformat.com\/4ba6b6513c00e0ba76511f798ae56401\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n\t<\/center><\/div>\n<h2 id=\"h-broad-based-opposition-to-an-emerging-dictator\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Broad-based opposition to an emerging dictator<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Reports in <em>The New York Times<\/em> and other U.S. news sources gave the impression that the events were the work of Russia\u2019s tiny, long-beleaguered liberal minority and meant little. In fact, the demonstrations and marches were far more broad-based than the liberals had ever shown themselves to be capable of organizing. Masha Gessen tells the whole story in <em>The Man Without a Face<\/em>.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-css-opacity is-style-wide\">\n<h4 id=\"h-the-man-without-a-face-the-unlikely-rise-of-vladimir-putin-nbsp-by-masha-gessen-2012-315-pages\" class=\"wp-block-heading\"><em>The Man Without a Face: The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin<\/em>\u00a0by Masha Gessen (2012) 315 pages \u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605\u2606<\/h4>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-css-opacity is-style-wide\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"565\" height=\"364\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/malwarwickonbooks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/putin-in-meeting.jpeg?resize=565%2C364&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Photo of Vladimir Putin meeting in Moscow, profiled in this book about vladimir putin\" class=\"wp-image-91985\" style=\"width:565px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/malwarwickonbooks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/putin-in-meeting.jpeg 565w, https:\/\/malwarwickonbooks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/putin-in-meeting-350x225.jpeg 350w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 565px) 100vw, 565px\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>No image more poignantly expresses the primacy of germophobic Russian President Vladimir Putin than this photo of him leading a meeting in Moscow in 2022. Image: Alexei Nikolsky \u2013 Yahoo<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 id=\"h-how-vladimir-putin-literally-locks-out-his-opponents\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">How Vladimir Putin literally locks out his opponents<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Or consider the experience of the brave souls who put themselves forward as candidates for President to replace Putin. It\u2019s possible but unlikely that you came across something back then about Garry Kasparov. He was the world\u2019s most famous Russian and the most celebrated chess player of all time when he announced he was running for President. Kasparov could easily have attracted crowds of thousands anywhere in the vast expanses of Russia. But everywhere he went he found the doors locked at the venues he\u2019d arranged. He often found himself speaking to 50 or 100 people out-of-doors. Kasparov persisted for months nonetheless. Until it was made clear to him that he was risking his life by doing so. Gessen tells the whole story in\u00a0<em>The Man Without a Face<\/em>.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-threats-to-opponents-livelihood-and-their-lives\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Threats to opponents\u2019 livelihood, and their lives<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Roughly the same thing happened to\u00a0Mikhail Prokhorov, the 6\u20198\u2033 Russian billionaire who bought the New Jersey Nets (now the Brooklyn Nets) professional basketball team. When the regime asked him to be the front man for a moribund political party to give the appearance of democratic choice in the 2012 Presidential elections, Prokhorov took the assignment seriously. He mounted a vigorous campaign, fashioning an agenda for reform, traveling throughout the country, and speaking out boldly. Then the Kremlin informed him that if he continued to pursue the Presidency he would lose all his businesses, his freedom, and possibly his life. I\u2019d been aware of Prokhorov\u2019s abortive campaign. But I learned none of the rest of this from news reports in the United States. Gessen tells the whole story in\u00a0<em>The Man Without a Face<\/em>.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"565\" height=\"319\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/malwarwickonbooks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/2011-anti-Putin-demonstration.jpeg?resize=565%2C319&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Photo of anti-Putin demonstration in 2011 described in this book about vladimir putin\" class=\"wp-image-91987\" srcset=\"https:\/\/malwarwickonbooks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/2011-anti-Putin-demonstration.jpeg 565w, https:\/\/malwarwickonbooks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/2011-anti-Putin-demonstration-350x198.jpeg 350w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 565px) 100vw, 565px\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Demonstrations like this one in Moscow in 2011 broke out across Russia in 2011-13. Now, with the country in dire straits because of Putin\u2019s war against Ukraine, people don\u2019t dare to express themselves in opposition so openly. Image: Wikipedia<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 id=\"h-how-vladimir-putin-was-selected\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">How Vladimir Putin was selected<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You might wonder, as I had, how the democratic path that Russia was on through most of the 1990s had veered so sharply, and so suddenly, rightward toward a brand of authoritarianism reminiscent of the tsars and the commissars. Gessen\u2019s answer lies in the circumstances surrounding the selection of Vladimir Putin as Boris Yeltsin\u2019s successor in 2000 by the circle of intimates known as \u201cThe Family\u201d who surrounded the ailing Russian President.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After a decade in office, Yeltsin was gravely ill and acting erratically as a result (not because of heavy drinking, Gessen asserts). His popularity had plunged into the low single digits, and the Russian people were seeking \u201csolace in nostalgia . . . not so much in Communist ideology but in a longing to regain Russia\u2019s superpower status. By 1999, there was palpable aggression in the air, and this was a large part of the reason Yeltsin and the Family were rightly terrified.\u201d They feared the rise of an ultra-right-wing nationalist who might destroy all that they had achieved in a decade and cast about for a like-minded standard-bearer as Yeltsin\u2019s successor who could marshal popular support.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-imagine-you-have-a-country-and-no-one-to-run-it\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u201cImagine you have a country and no one to run it\u201d<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cImagine you have a country and no one to run it,\u201d Gessen writes. \u201cThis was the predicament that Boris Yeltsin and his inner circle thought they faced in 1999.\u201d In desperation, knowing virtually nothing of the man\u2019s character, his work habits, or his political beliefs, they turned to a low-level former KGB operative who had recently been elevated to head the KGB\u2019s successor, the FSB. Vladimir Putin, of course. They named him Premier, then Acting President when Yeltsin resigned. They brought in a team of image-makers and campaign specialists, mobilized the pro-democratic community, pulled together a sanitized biography in three weeks, and ran him for President.\u00a0As\u00a0<em>The Guardian<\/em>\u00a0wrote in its review of this book, \u201c[g]rey, ordinary and seemingly incorruptible, Putin is the man without a face, one to whom others can project whatever they want.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-vladimir-putin-suppresses-his-critics-by-having-them-killed\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Vladimir Putin suppresses his critics\u2014by having them killed<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Tragically, Putin\u2019s true nature only became apparent in the months following his election in 2000. Somehow, his self-description as a \u201cthug\u201d\u2014a claim he made on many occasions\u2014had been overlooked. And the thugocracy he built during his first two terms as Russia\u2019s President came as a total surprise to nearly everyone except the very few who knew him well.<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Investigative journalists who turned up evidence of corruption or worse were simply murdered one after another, their killers never arrested.<\/li>\n<li>While a senseless war in Chechnya went on year after year after year, attacks by Chechen terrorists were brutally put down by the Russian military. Hundreds of civilian hostages lost their lives\u2014even, in one case, while the terrorists were engaged in negotiations with the police.<\/li>\n<li>Business tycoons who refused to support the regime were imprisoned on trumped-up charges and ownership of their businesses transferred to Putin and his cronies.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Putin himself built up a personal fortune rumored to be as high as $40 billion. That estimate might be exaggerated, but the total is certainly somewhere in the tens of billions. Putin built himself a palace on the Black Sea at a cost of more than $1 billion. <\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-about-the-author\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">About the author<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"565\" height=\"637\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/malwarwickonbooks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Masha_Gessen.jpg?resize=565%2C637&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Photo of Masha Gessen, author of this book about vladimir putin\" class=\"wp-image-91989\" style=\"width:300px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/malwarwickonbooks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Masha_Gessen.jpg 565w, https:\/\/malwarwickonbooks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Masha_Gessen-350x395.jpg 350w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 565px) 100vw, 565px\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Masha (now M.) Gessen. Image: Wikipedia<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Masha_Gessen\">Masha Gessen<\/a> (now M. Gessen) is\u00a0nonbinary\u00a0and\u00a0trans\u00a0and uses\u00a0<em>they\/them<\/em>\u00a0pronouns. They are married and have three children. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Russia and things Russian, they know whereof they write. <em>The Man Without a Face<\/em> is one of their 13 books, most of them written in English. Born in Moscow, their family moved to the United States in 1981 when they were a teenager. As an adult, they moved back to Moscow. There they held a series of increasingly high-profile jobs in journalism and led gay rights demonstrations. Their career had barely begun when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. Later, after a career increasingly in opposition to the Russian government, they moved back to New York. <em>The Man Without a Face<\/em> is a personal book, and opinionated, but it represents a lifetime of work\u00a0side-by-side with many of the individuals whose actions they describe. Gessen worked for years as a staff writer for the <em>New Yorker<\/em> and more recently as an opinion columnist for the <em>New York Times<\/em>.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-for-related-reading\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">For related reading<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Gessen also wrote a later book that casts light on Putin\u2019s role in Russian history: <em>The Future Is History: How Totalitarianism Reclaimed Russia<\/em> by Masha Gessen (<a href=\"https:\/\/malwarwickonbooks.com\/putins-autocratic-rule\/\">The road to autocracy in Putin\u2019s Russia<\/a>).<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Click here for more <a href=\"https:\/\/malwarwickonbooks.com\/modern-russia-and-the-russian-oligarchy\/\">Good books about Vladimir Putin<\/a>. But especially see <em>Putin<\/em>\u00a0by Philip Short (<a href=\"https:\/\/malwarwickonbooks.com\/biography_of_vladimir_putin\/\">A revealing new biography of Vladimir Putin<\/a>), which presents a much more balanced (and more deeply researched) account of the Russian President\u2019s life.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Like to read good biography? Check out <a href=\"https:\/\/malwarwickonbooks.com\/great-biographies\/\">10 great biographies<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you enjoy reading nonfiction in general, you might also enjoy <a href=\"https:\/\/malwarwickonbooks.com\/science-explained\/\">Science explained in 10 excellent popular books<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/malwarwickonbooks.com\/nonfiction-books-about-politics\/\">Top 10 nonfiction books about politics<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And you can always find the most popular of my 2,500 reviews, and the most recent ones, on the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/malwarwickonbooks.com\/\">Home Page<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"et_bloom_bottom_trigger\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/malwarwickonbooks.com\/\">Mal Warwick on Books: Insightful Reviews and Recommendations<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"pvc_clear\"><\/div>\n<p id=\"pvc_stats_2952\" class=\"pvc_stats total_only  \" data-element-id=\"2952\" style=\"\"><i class=\"pvc-stats-icon medium\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" version=\"1.0\" viewBox=\"0 0 502 315\" preserveAspectRatio=\"xMidYMid meet\"><g transform=\"translate(0,332) scale(0.1,-0.1)\" fill=\"\" stroke=\"none\"><path d=\"M2394 3279 l-29 -30 -3 -207 c-2 -182 0 -211 15 -242 39 -76 157 -76 196 0 15 31 17 60 15 243 l-3 209 -33 29 c-26 23 -41 29 -80 29 -41 0 -53 -5 -78 -31z\"\/><path d=\"M3085 3251 c-45 -19 -58 -50 -96 -229 -47 -217 -49 -260 -13 -295 52 -53 146 -42 177 20 16 31 87 366 87 410 0 70 -86 122 -155 94z\"\/><path d=\"M1751 3234 c-13 -9 -29 -31 -37 -50 -12 -29 -10 -49 21 -204 19 -94 39 -189 45 -210 14 -50 54 -80 110 -80 34 0 48 6 76 34 21 21 34 44 34 59 0 14 -18 113 -40 219 -37 178 -43 195 -70 221 -36 32 -101 37 -139 11z\"\/><path d=\"M1163 3073 c-36 -7 -73 -59 -73 -102 0 -56 133 -378 171 -413 34 -32 83 -37 129 -13 70 36 67 87 -16 290 -86 209 -89 214 -129 231 -35 14 -42 15 -82 7z\"\/><path d=\"M3689 3066 c-15 -9 -33 -30 -42 -48 -48 -103 -147 -355 -147 -375 0 -98 131 -148 192 -74 13 15 57 108 97 206 80 196 84 226 37 273 -30 30 -99 39 -137 18z\"\/><path d=\"M583 2784 c-38 -19 -67 -74 -58 -113 9 -42 211 -354 242 -373 16 -10 45 -18 66 -18 51 0 107 52 107 100 0 39 -1 41 -124 234 -80 126 -108 162 -133 173 -41 17 -61 16 -100 -3z\"\/><path d=\"M4250 2784 c-14 -9 -74 -91 -133 -183 -95 -150 -107 -173 -107 -213 0 -55 33 -94 87 -104 67 -13 90 8 211 198 130 202 137 225 78 284 -27 27 -42 34 -72 34 -22 0 -50 -8 -64 -16z\"\/><path d=\"M2275 2693 c-553 -48 -1095 -270 -1585 -649 -135 -104 -459 -423 -483 -476 -23 -49 -22 -139 2 -186 73 -142 361 -457 571 -626 285 -228 642 -407 990 -497 242 -63 336 -73 660 -74 310 0 370 5 595 52 535 111 1045 392 1455 803 122 121 250 273 275 326 19 41 19 137 0 174 -41 79 -309 363 -465 492 -447 370 -946 591 -1479 653 -113 14 -422 18 -536 8z m395 -428 c171 -34 330 -124 456 -258 112 -119 167 -219 211 -378 27 -96 24 -300 -5 -401 -72 -255 -236 -447 -474 -557 -132 -62 -201 -76 -368 -76 -167 0 -236 14 -368 76 -213 98 -373 271 -451 485 -162 444 86 934 547 1084 153 49 292 57 452 25z m909 -232 c222 -123 408 -262 593 -441 76 -74 138 -139 138 -144 0 -16 -233 -242 -330 -319 -155 -123 -309 -223 -461 -299 l-81 -41 32 46 c18 26 49 83 70 128 143 306 141 649 -6 957 -25 52 -61 116 -79 142 l-34 47 45 -20 c26 -10 76 -36 113 -56z m-2057 25 c-40 -58 -105 -190 -130 -263 -110 -324 -59 -707 132 -981 25 -35 42 -64 37 -64 -19 0 -241 119 -326 174 -188 122 -406 314 -532 468 l-58 71 108 103 c185 178 428 349 672 473 66 33 121 60 123 61 2 0 -10 -19 -26 -42z\"\/><path d=\"M2375 1950 c-198 -44 -350 -190 -395 -379 -18 -76 -8 -221 19 -290 114 -284 457 -406 731 -260 98 52 188 154 231 260 27 69 37 214 19 290 -38 163 -166 304 -326 360 -67 23 -215 33 -279 19z\"\/><\/g><\/svg><\/i> <img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"16\" height=\"16\" alt=\"Loading\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dev95.site\/wp-content\/plugins\/page-views-count\/ajax-loader-2x.gif?resize=16%2C16&#038;ssl=1\" border=0 \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"pvc_clear\"><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Every once in a while I\u2019m shocked to learn anew that the American news media has missed the mark in its reporting of events around the world. Masha Gessen\u2019s portrait of third-term Russian President Vladimir Putin, The Man Without a<\/p>\n<div class=\"hosteria-entry-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/dev95.site\/ar\/vladimir-putin-the-kgb-and-the-restoration-of-soviet-russia\/\" class=\"no-underline font-light  group-hover:text-primary-800 dark:group-hover:text-primary-300 py-1\">Read more &gt;&gt;&gt;<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"pvc_clear\"><\/div>\n<p id=\"pvc_stats_2952\" class=\"pvc_stats total_only\" data-element-id=\"2952\" style=\"\"><i class=\"pvc-stats-icon medium\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" version=\"1.0\" viewbox=\"0 0 502 315\" preserveaspectratio=\"xMidYMid meet\"><g transform=\"translate(0,332) scale(0.1,-0.1)\" fill=\"\" stroke=\"none\"><path d=\"M2394 3279 l-29 -30 -3 -207 c-2 -182 0 -211 15 -242 39 -76 157 -76 196 0 15 31 17 60 15 243 l-3 209 -33 29 c-26 23 -41 29 -80 29 -41 0 -53 -5 -78 -31z\"\/><path d=\"M3085 3251 c-45 -19 -58 -50 -96 -229 -47 -217 -49 -260 -13 -295 52 -53 146 -42 177 20 16 31 87 366 87 410 0 70 -86 122 -155 94z\"\/><path d=\"M1751 3234 c-13 -9 -29 -31 -37 -50 -12 -29 -10 -49 21 -204 19 -94 39 -189 45 -210 14 -50 54 -80 110 -80 34 0 48 6 76 34 21 21 34 44 34 59 0 14 -18 113 -40 219 -37 178 -43 195 -70 221 -36 32 -101 37 -139 11z\"\/><path d=\"M1163 3073 c-36 -7 -73 -59 -73 -102 0 -56 133 -378 171 -413 34 -32 83 -37 129 -13 70 36 67 87 -16 290 -86 209 -89 214 -129 231 -35 14 -42 15 -82 7z\"\/><path d=\"M3689 3066 c-15 -9 -33 -30 -42 -48 -48 -103 -147 -355 -147 -375 0 -98 131 -148 192 -74 13 15 57 108 97 206 80 196 84 226 37 273 -30 30 -99 39 -137 18z\"\/><path d=\"M583 2784 c-38 -19 -67 -74 -58 -113 9 -42 211 -354 242 -373 16 -10 45 -18 66 -18 51 0 107 52 107 100 0 39 -1 41 -124 234 -80 126 -108 162 -133 173 -41 17 -61 16 -100 -3z\"\/><path d=\"M4250 2784 c-14 -9 -74 -91 -133 -183 -95 -150 -107 -173 -107 -213 0 -55 33 -94 87 -104 67 -13 90 8 211 198 130 202 137 225 78 284 -27 27 -42 34 -72 34 -22 0 -50 -8 -64 -16z\"\/><path d=\"M2275 2693 c-553 -48 -1095 -270 -1585 -649 -135 -104 -459 -423 -483 -476 -23 -49 -22 -139 2 -186 73 -142 361 -457 571 -626 285 -228 642 -407 990 -497 242 -63 336 -73 660 -74 310 0 370 5 595 52 535 111 1045 392 1455 803 122 121 250 273 275 326 19 41 19 137 0 174 -41 79 -309 363 -465 492 -447 370 -946 591 -1479 653 -113 14 -422 18 -536 8z m395 -428 c171 -34 330 -124 456 -258 112 -119 167 -219 211 -378 27 -96 24 -300 -5 -401 -72 -255 -236 -447 -474 -557 -132 -62 -201 -76 -368 -76 -167 0 -236 14 -368 76 -213 98 -373 271 -451 485 -162 444 86 934 547 1084 153 49 292 57 452 25z m909 -232 c222 -123 408 -262 593 -441 76 -74 138 -139 138 -144 0 -16 -233 -242 -330 -319 -155 -123 -309 -223 -461 -299 l-81 -41 32 46 c18 26 49 83 70 128 143 306 141 649 -6 957 -25 52 -61 116 -79 142 l-34 47 45 -20 c26 -10 76 -36 113 -56z m-2057 25 c-40 -58 -105 -190 -130 -263 -110 -324 -59 -707 132 -981 25 -35 42 -64 37 -64 -19 0 -241 119 -326 174 -188 122 -406 314 -532 468 l-58 71 108 103 c185 178 428 349 672 473 66 33 121 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