Vladimir Putin is the current president of Russia. He assumed office in 2018 for his fourth term as president,previously holding the same position from 2012 to 2018 (third term) and 2000 to 2008 (first and second terms). He served as the country‘s prime minister in 1999 prior to his first term and served in the same capacity between 2008 and 2012.
On 7th October 1952, Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin was born in Leningrad, the Soviet Union, (currently St Petersburg, Russia) to parents Vladimir Spiridonovich Putin (1911–1999) and Maria Ivanovna Putina (1911–1998). He was the last born in a family of three siblings. However, his brothers Viktor and Albert passed away before his birth. Putin started school on 1stOctober 1960 at School No. 193, which was in close proximity to his home. He later joined Saint Petersburg high school, where he studied German. From 1970 to 1975, Putin was admitted to Saint Petersburg State University, where he graduated with a degree in Law.
In 1975, Putin enrolled for the KGB (Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti), the agency for foreign intelligence and domestic security of the Soviet Union. After training, he served in the Second Chief Directorate dealing with counterintelligence before being transferred to the first chief directorate. He was tasked with monitoring foreigners and consular officials in Leningrad. He was sent to Moscow for further training in 1984, after which he was sent to serve in Dresden, East Germany, between 1985 and 1990. He retired from the KGB in 1990 after 15 years of active service, where he had attained the rank of Lieutenant colonel.
After his retirement, Putin went ahead to join politics and served in different positions for the government. On 9th August 1999, he was appointed one of the three first deputy prime ministers and, later, the acting Prime Minister by president Boris Yeltsin. Boris Yeltsin later on the same day stated that he would like Putin to be his successor. Yeltsin retired unexpectedly on 31st December 1999, leading to Putin assuming office as the acting president of the Russian Federation. An election was conducted on 26th March 2000, three months after the resignation of Yeltsin, which saw Putin win with a 53% margin and was inaugurated on 7th May 2000. In 2004 he was re–elected president with a 72% margin and ruled until his term.The constitution restricted presidential terms to two; Putin could not vie again. Elections were conducted in December 2007,which saw Dimitry Medvedev assume office in 2008.
Medvedev reappointed Putin as the Prime minister, which saw him assert his dominance in politics. During this term,Putin‘s goals were overcoming the effects of the world economic crisis and achieving a stable Russian population that had been collapsing since the 1990s. Medvedev proposed that Putin be his next successor in the 2012 elections, a decision met with strong opposition by the people.
Following some constitutional changes, Putin vied for the presidency again, and on 4th March 2012, he won with a 63.6% vote margin. Many people opposed these results claiming rigging and fraudulence in the electoral process. Many protests were staged, resulting in many casualties during confrontations with the police. The inauguration of Putin was done on 7th May 2012. Putin‘s bid to rule Russia for a fourth term saw him win the 2018 elections with a 76% vote margin. He was inaugurated on 7th May 2018 and continues to rule the nation to date.
