His grandfather, Spiridon Putin (1879–1965), was a personal cook to Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin. Putin was born on 7 October 1952 in Leningrad, Soviet Union (now Saint Petersburg, Russia), the youngest of three children of Vladimir Spiridonovich Putin (1911–1999) and Maria Ivanovna Putina ( née Shelomova 1911–1998).

Putin is the longest-serving Russian president and the second-longest-serving European president, following Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus.įive-year-old Putin in 1958, his parents Vladimir and Maria Putin's Russia has consistently received low scores on Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index, The Economist Democracy Index, Freedom House's Freedom in the World index, and the Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index. His rule has been marked by endemic corruption and widespread human rights violations, including the imprisonment and suppression of political opponents, intimidation and censorship of independent media in Russia, and a lack of free and fair elections. Under Putin's leadership, Russia has undergone democratic backsliding and a shift towards authoritarianism. In June 2023, he survived the Wagner Group rebellion. In March 2023, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Putin for war crimes related to his alleged criminal responsibility for illegal child abductions during the war. In September 2022, he announced a partial mobilisation and forcibly annexed four Ukrainian oblasts into Russia. In his fourth presidential term, he launched a significant invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, which prompted international condemnation and led to expanded sanctions. He also ordered a military intervention in Syria to support his ally Bashar al-Assad during the Syrian civil war, ultimately securing permanent naval bases in the Eastern Mediterranean. In his third presidential term, Russia annexed Crimea and supported a war in eastern Ukraine through several military incursions, resulting in international sanctions and a financial crisis in Russia. While serving as prime minister under Medvedev, he oversaw a military conflict with Georgia and enacted military and police reforms. Additionally, Putin led Russia in a conflict against Chechen separatists, reestablishing federal control over the region. ĭuring Putin's initial presidential tenure, the Russian economy grew on average by seven percent per year, driven by economic reforms and a fivefold increase in the price of oil and gas. In April 2021, after a referendum, he signed into law constitutional amendments that included one allowing him to run for reelection twice more, potentially extending his presidency to 2036. He returned to the presidency in 2012, following an election marked by allegations of fraud and protests, and was reelected in 2018. Due to constitutional limitations of two consecutive presidential terms, Putin served as prime minister again from 2008 to 2012 under Dmitry Medvedev. Following Yeltsin's resignation, Putin became acting president and, in less than four months, was elected to his first term as president. He briefly served as the director of the Federal Security Service (FSB) and then as secretary of the Security Council of Russia before being appointed prime minister in August 1999.

In 1996, he moved to Moscow to join the administration of President Boris Yeltsin.

Putin worked as a KGB foreign intelligence officer for 16 years, rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel before resigning in 1991 to begin a political career in Saint Petersburg. Putin has held continuous positions as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime minister from 1999 to 2000 and from 2008 to 2012, and as president from 2000 to 2008 and since 2012. Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has been President of Russia since 2012. 2022 annexation of four Ukrainian regions.Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Union Stateįirst Deputy Chief of the Presidential Administrationĭeputy Chief of the Presidential Administration - Head of the Main Supervisory Department

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