President of the Russian Federation

Born: October 7, 1952, in Leningrad (St. Petersburg), Russia
In office: Acting President since December 31, 1999; elected on March 26, 2000; re-elected on March 14, 2004

After graduating from Leningrad State University in 1975, Putin worked in the KGB. In 1985, he was assigned to a position in East Germany, where he worked until 1990.

In 1990, the year the Soviet Union broke up, Putin returned to Russia and started working his way up, first joining his alma mater as the rector’s assistant in charge of international affairs and then advising the Chairman of the Leningrad City Council.

In June 1991, he started chairing the Council’s International Relations Committee, in 1994 became First Deputy Mayor, by 1996 he was part of Yeltsin’s administration, and by 1998, he was second-in-command in the administration. To this position he added federal security posts, and was appointed Prime Minister in 1999.

On December 31, 1999, Russia’s first president, Boris Yeltsin, made a surprise announcement, filing his resignation. With his blessing, Putin, as the next in line, took over the Kremlin and became Acting President. He won in the subsequent election in March, 2000, and was inaugurated on May 7, 2000.

On March 14, 2004, Putin was re-elected with 71.31 percent of the vote.

While enjoying economic successes (Russia’s credit rating has risen rapidly over the past four years as national debt shrank and the economy stabilized), Putin’s administration has had to cope multiple scandals and calamities. The handling of the drowning of the Kursk nuclear submarine and the NordOst theater siege, the persecution of so-called oligarchs, the unaverted suicide bombings of 2003 and 2004 (Moscow Subway Explosion), have all been decried in Russia and abroad.

Links

President of Russia | Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin

Vladimir Putin - Encyclopædia Britannica

Vladimir Putin - Wikipedia

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