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| Order: | 2nd President of Russia |
|---|---|
| Term of Office: | December 31, 1999– |
| Predecessor: | Boris Yeltsin |
| Date of Birth: | October 7, 1952 |
| Political Party: | None |
| Profession: | lawyer |
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (Влади́мир Влади́мирович Пу́тин) (born October 7, 1952) has been the President of Russia since the year 2000.
Putin was born in Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg) and graduated from the Law Department of Leningrad State University in 1975. A biography, Ot Pervova Litsa (First Person), based on interviews conducted with Putin in 2000, emphasizes his humble upbringing, including his years living in a communal apartment in a rat-infested tenement. During his KGB officer career from 1975 to 19911991 like 2002, is a palindromic year. It also has the same calendar as 2002, including Easter on March 31. It is a common year starting on Tuesday. Events January January 2 Sharon Pratt Dixon is sworn in as mayor of Washington, DC becoming the first blac he lived several years in the GDR (Eastern GermanyThe Federal Republic of Germany ( German: Bundesrepublik Deutschland is one of the world's leading industrialized countries, located in the middle of the European Union. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark and the Baltic Sea, to the east). He was head of the FSB (the KGB's successor) from JulyJuly is the seventh month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 31 days. July was renamed for Julius Caesar; previously, it was called Quintilis in Latin, since it was the fifth month in the Roman calendar which started in March. Because of its orig 19981998 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar), and was designated the International Year of the Ocean''. Events January January 1998 A massive ice storm, caused by El Nino, strikes New England, southern Ontario and Quebec, resulting to August 1999.
Putin was appointed Prime Minister of the Russian Government by President Boris Yeltsinin August 1999. On December 31, 1999, Yeltsin resigned, and appointed Putin the second ( acting) President of the Russian Federation. Proper Presidential elections were held on March 26, 2000, which Putin won in the first round.
In many ways, Putin is an atypical Russian leader: he is comparatively young and is a sports enthusiast — he has practiced Judo since his youth. He is a practicing member of the Russian Orthodox Church whose conversion to Christianity (following a life-threatening fire at his dacha in the early 1990s) most observers agree was sincere. He speaks German with near-native fluency, and passable English. Putin is married to Liudmila Putina, a former teacher of German in Moscow, and they have two children, Yekaterina (Katya) (born 1985) and Maria (born 1986 in Dresden). Their daughters have attended the German School in Moscow (Deutsche Schule Moskau).
Unlike his predecessor, President Putin has been less enthusiastic about erasing Russia's Soviet past from memory. He has stated his belief that whatever the crimes of the Communist regime, it was nevertheless an important part of Russian history, and an important influence on the creation of modern Russian society. As a result, some Soviet-era symbols have been allowed to return to Russia, such as the trademark red military flag, the "Soviet Star" crest, and the Soviet national anthem (although with revised lyrics). In 2004, Putin declared the collapse of the USSR a "national tragedy on an enormous scale."
During his time in office, Putin has attempted to strengthen relations with other members of the CIS. The 'near abroad' zone of traditional Russian influence has again become a foreign policy priority under Putin as the EU and NATO have grown to encompass much of Central Europe and, more recently, the Baltic states. While tacitly acknowledging the enlargement of NATO into the Baltic states, Putin has increased Russia's influence over Belarus and Ukraine.
Putin opposed the war in Iraq during the Iraq crisis of 2003. After the war ended, American president George W. Bush asked the United Nations for the lifting of sanctions on Iraq. Putin supported lifting of the sanctions in due course, arguing that first UN commission be given a chance to complete its work on the search of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
A pro-Putin United Russia party won a landslide victory in the 2003 parliamentary elections. Foreign observers called the election itself free, but noted that the largely government-run Media, especially Russian national TV, had massively and unfairly campaigned for the governing party only.
Indeed, most Russian TV stations, newspapers and other media are nowadays controlled directly or indirectly by the Kremlin. Western critics accuse Putin of having orchestrated the trials against "oligarchs" such as Boris Berezovsky, Vladimir Gusinsky and later Mikhail Khodorkovsky to regain control over the media and large swathes of the Russian economy.
It is said that there are two factions operating within Putin's Kremlin. One, the siloviki, is associated with the more nationalist elements of the military and security services. The other, tagged the "Family", are people linked with former President Boris Yeltsin and the oligarchs who prospered during his term in office. These two factions often disagree fiercely, as they did in relation to the arrest of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the Russian oil magnate. Putin has been careful not to be seen to be with one faction or the other, with his Chief of Staff Alexander Voloshin identified as linked to the Family. It is believed that Voloshin threatened to resign in protest at the arrest of Khodorkovsky. Putin accepted the resignation and replaced him with Dmitry Medvedev , the chairman of Gazprom the state-owned gas company.
Another linked to the Family is former Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov. Defying Putin's direct instruction to avoid involvement in the matter, Kasyanov expressed great concern about the Khodorkovsky prosecution and declared the freezing of a controlling stake in Yukos unprecedented.
On 24 February 2004, less than a month prior to the elections, Putin dismissed prime minister Mikhail Kasyanov and the entire Russian cabinet and appointed Viktor Khristenko acting prime minister. On March 1, he appointed Mikhail Fradkov to the position.
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