Vladimir Putin Biography

Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, the President of Russia who has been voted as the most powerful person more than three times in a row between 2013 and 2016 has clearly shown his country’s influence and his dominance over the rest of the world. There are a lot of factors due to which European countries are dependent on Russia and it fuels his international influence. Oil and gas are one of the major factors of dependence of the other countries on Russia.

He graduated in law and started his career as a foreign intelligence officer in the KGB. Before joining politics, he worked as a translator in the intelligence bureau of the KGB, while he retired with the rank of a Lieutenant Colonel in 1991. Before becoming the President of Russia in 2012, he served twice as the prime minister during 1999-2000 and 2008-2012. He is the second longest-serving European President in terms of tenure after the president of Belarus. 

Vladimir Putin Early Life

Vladimir Putin was born on 7th October 1952 in Petersburg (formerly known as Leningrad), Russia. He lived in a communal apartment with his family. Now we will discuss Vladimir Putin education. He started his education in the local grammar and high school. He developed his interest in sports in high school. He completed his graduation with a law degree from Leningrad State University in 1975. He started his early career as an intelligence officer in the KGB (Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti). His working region was mainly East Germany and he worked in this position till 1990. He was a lieutenant colonel when he retired from his work. 

Life After KGB and Political Life

After returning to Russia, Putin became an administrative member of the University of Leningrad. In 1991, he became an adviser to liberal politician Anatoly Sobchak after the fall of communism. When Anatoly Sobchak became the mayor of Leningrad, Putin was his head of external relations. Later, he became Sobchak's first deputy mayor in 1994. In 1996, Putin moved to Moscow resigning his post after Sobchak's defeat. Putin was the deputy head of management there under Boris Yeltsin's presidential administration in 1998. He was in charge of the relationship between the Kremlin and the regional governments. After that, he was appointed head of the Federal Security Service, head of Yeltsin's Security Council, and an arm of the former KGB at the same time.

Yeltsin's prime minister, Sergey Stepashin, was dismissed in August 1999 with his cabinet. After that, Putin was replaced in his place. And here Putin started his political career by becoming the prime minister of the country. Although he was in position for a year till 2000, he later went on to become the prime minister for the second term during 2008-2012 after which he won the presidential election and was elected as the president of Russia. 

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President of Russia

Boris Yeltsin resigned as president of Russia in December 1999. Putin was appointed acting president till further official elections. He was elected to his first term with 53 percent of the vote in March 2000. For the political and economical development of the country, he restructured the government and launched criminal investigations into the business dealings of high-profile Russian citizens. In September 2001, Putin announced Russia's support for the United States in its anti-terror campaigns against the terrorist attacks. 

Putin was re-elected the president in 2004. After that, he visited Israel for talks with the prime minister, Ariel Sharon, in April 2004. It was a historic event marking the first visit by any Kremlin leader to Israel. Putin was unable to run for the presidency in 2008 due to the constitutional term limits. Dmitry Medvedev became the president that year. He was appointed the prime minister of Russia and was allowed to maintain a primary position of influence for the next four years. 

Vladimir Putin was re-elected to his third term as president on 4th March 2012. According to Vladimir Putin's biography, widespread protests and allegations of electoral fraud happened before his inauguration on 7th May 2012. He appointed Medvedev the prime minister of Russia. In the third term of his presidency, Putin started making controversial changes to Russia's domestic affairs and foreign policies. In December 2012, Putin signed into law the U.S adoption of Russian children, which created an international controversy. Later, Putin strained relations with the U.S. many times through his different actions. At that time, he passed new anti-gay laws, which made it illegal for gay couples to adopt in Russia. He banned nontraditional sexual relationships in Russia, which upset many people. Putin continued his third term of the presidency from 2012 to 2018.

On the 18th of March, 2018, Russian citizens elected Putin in his fourth term of the presidency with 76 percent of the vote. This time, Russian citizens expected a little change in Putin's strategy to rebuild the country as a global power. In July 2018, Putin met with President Trump for the first formal task. In April 2019, he met with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un for the first time and discussed the issue of the North Korean labourers in Russia. In January 2020, Putin made amendments transferring the power to select the cabinet and the prime minister to the Parliament which was previously held by the president. 

Vladimir Putin Personal Life

Vladimir Putin married in 1983, a girl named Lyudmila Alexandrovna, whom he met as a flight attendant in 1980 during a flight. They have two daughters, one born in 1985 and the other in 1986. They were together for 30 years and then, they got separated in June 2013. Putin and his wife made clear statements on their separation and were quite mutual about it. 

Conclusion

Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin had a very versatile life working at different levels in the administration. A graduate of law working as an intelligence officer to go on to start his political life being the Prime Minister to become the first person of the nation, his life teaches us to play different roles at different times of our life. We get a lot to know about this man from the Vladimir Putin biography. He is the longest-serving Russian president to date.