Vladimir Putin is the current president of Russia. He was also a former foreign intelligence officer, and the prime minister of Russia in between his presidential terms, working closely with his associate Dmitry Medvedev.
Putin graduated in 1975 from the Leningrad State University where he studied law. He worked as KGB intelligence officer for 16 years then resigned in 1991 to pursue his political career in Saint Petersburg. In 1996 he relocated to Moscow to joined the Boris Yeltsin’s Administration. In this administration, he served as director of the FSB, the KGB’s successor agency, then as Prime Minister. When Yeltsin resigned on December 31, 1999, Vladimir took up the position of Acting President.
His fourth term as President began on May 7, 2018, and on the same day, he invited Dmitry Medvedev to form a new government.
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Vladimir Putin is the youngest of three children. He was born on October 7, 1952, in Leningrad, Russian SFSR, in the Soviet Union. His parents are Vladimir Spiridonovich Putin who was a conscript in the Soviet Navy, and Maria Ivanovna Putin who was a factory worker. His father, Vladimir, and mother, Maria, were born in 1911. His father died in 1999 and his mother died in 1998.
Putin started attending No.193 school at Baskov Lane near his home on September 1, 2019. At the age of 12, he practiced sambo and judo. He has a judo black belt and is a national master of sports. Putin also speaks fluent German.
Putin studied law at Leningrad State University and graduated In 1975. The focus of his thesis was “The Most Favored Nation Trading Principle in International Law.” While in University, he joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and was a member up until December 1991.
Putin held several positions throughout his political career. For example, in 1990, during his Saint Petersburgh administration, he was appointed advisor on international affairs to the Major of Leningrad, Anatoly Sobchak.
In 1991, he was appointed the head of the External Relations Committee and was responsible for promoting international relations, foreign investments, and business venture registration. Although he was under investigation by the city legislative council for understating prices and permitting the export of metals valued at $93 million in exchange for foreign food, he remained in this position until 1996.
He also held several other governmental positions in Petersburgh. He was appointed the first Deputy Chairman of the Government of Saint Petersburg in March 1994. In 1995, he organized and managed the legislative election campaign of Our Home Russia Political Party. He was also the leader of the Saints Petersburgh branch from 1995 to 1997.
From 1996 - 1998 his political career was based in Moscow. In June 1996, when the Major of Leningrad, Anatoly Sobchak, lost his re-election bid in Saints Petersburgh, Putin was appointed Deputy Chief of the Presidential Property Management Department. He held this position until March 1997 then was appointed deputy chief of Presidential staff on March 26, 1997. A year later, on July 25, 1998, Putin was appointed Director of the Federal Security Service.
On August 9, 1999, Putin was appointed as one of three First Deputy Prime Minister of Russia. On the same day, he was appointed acting Prime Minister. In addition, he agreed to run for the presidency later that day.
By August 16, 1999, his appointment as Prime Minister of Russia was approved by the State of Duma. Later that year, on December 31, Yeltsin resigned from his Presidential post without warning and Vladimir Putin became the acting President of Russia.
On May 7, 2000, Putin took his presidential oath for his first presidential term and appointed Mikhail Kasyanov, who was the minister of Finance, as the Prime Minister. After serving his presidential term, he was re-elected for a second term on March 14, 2004.
In 2008, the constitution barred Putin from a third consecutive term so Dmitry Medvedev, the first deputy prime minister was elected. However, in 2011, Dmitry Medvedev announced that he would recommend Putin for President. On March 4, 2012, Putin won the presidential election for a third consecutive term. This sparks several protests. Putin and The United Russia Party were accused of fraud by the opposition.
Vladimir Putin and Lyudmila Shkrebneva got married on July 28, 1983. They resided in East Germany with their two daughters, Mariva Putina, and Yekaterina Putina. Mariva was born on April 28, 1985, while Yekaterina was born on August 31, 1986. Vladimir and Lyudmila were divorced on April 1, 2014.
Putin owns a Dacha in a gated community with a group of seven friends on the Karelian Isthmus in Priozeersky District of Leningrad Oblast, near St. Petersburg. He also has an Italian –style mansion under construction near the Black Sea village of Praskoveevka.
Vladimir Putin is Russian Orthodox.
Iran is already a member of BRICS and other economic groups that bring it close to Russia.
The US State Department-backed research identified 314 Ukrainian children taken to Russia in the early months of the war in Ukraine.
Russian President Putin demonstrated a similar approach by threatening nuclear retaliation against Ukrainian ballistic missiles—a strategy that has been effective in deterring direct threats.
The launch was the latest sign of rapidly mounting tensions in the 33-month-old war after Ukraine fired US and British missiles at targets inside Russia.
Zelensky said he also spoke with European and US officials to help him get Israel to lend Ukraine support, especially with air defenses.
"Out of an abundance of caution, the embassy will be closed, and embassy employees are being instructed to shelter in place," the statement said.
With Ukraine entering uncharted territory, a sense of escalation has been palpable as Moscow and Kyiv push to improve their battlefield positions ahead of any negotiations.
“It is certain that the war will end sooner with the policies of the team that will now lead the White House. This is their approach, their promise to their citizens.”
On Friday, the Kremlin said Putin was ready to discuss Ukraine with Trump but that did not mean that he was willing to alter Moscow's demands.
Russia's gold reserves exceed $200 billion for the 1st time. The share of gold in the country's international reserves is now at 32.9%.
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