the voice-overs in the film adaptations; for example: Stierlitz continues to be a popular character in modern Russia. Despite the fact that references and Stierlitz jokes still penetrate contemporary speech, Seventeen Moments of Spring is very popular mainly because it is quite patriotic. It is repeated annually on Russian television, usually around Victory Day. Stierlitz also continues to have a political significance. When his actor Vyacheslav Tikhonov died in December 2009, the Foreign Intelligence Service—one of the successor organisations of the former Soviet KGB—sent its condolences to his family. Ivan Zassoursky notes that Russian Prime Minister (and former and current President) Vladimir Putin, a former KGB agent, has been portrayed as "embod[ying] the image—very important for the Russian television audience—of Standartenführer von Stierlitz... If anyone missed the connection between Putin, who served in Germany, and von Stierlitz, articles in the press reminded them of the resemblance and helped create the association." The connection went both ways; Putin was strongly influenced by the novels, commenting: "What amazed me most of all was how one man's effort could achieve what whole armies could not." Putin himself first came to public attention in 1991 when as an aide to Anatoly Sobchak, the mayor of Leningrad (modern St. Petersburg), he performed for Soviet television an iconic scene from the television mini-series, making much of the fact that both he and Stierlitz were Chekisty. Stierlitz movies contributed a number of catchphrases, such as "Character: nordic, robust" (Характер — нордический, выдержанный, a personal characteristic, usually mocking or ironic). In the movie Seventeen Moments of Spring Stierlitz has the longest scene of complete silence in the history of Russian sound cinema. Five and a half minutes Stirlitz silently meets with his wife. Novels with Stierlitz Adaptations Parodies Video games See also Hans Kloss (fictional character) James Bond Books and articles Notes and references Fictional secret agents and spies Cinema of the Soviet Union Fictional Russian people Fictional colonels Male characters in literature Male characters in television Male characters in film Literary characters introduced in 1966 Russian folklore Fictional KGB agents hu:A tavasz 17 pillanata