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Quick Facts
- NAME: Vladimir Putin
- OCCUPATION: World Leader, Prime Minister
- BIRTH DATE: October 07, 1952 (Age: 60)
- EDUCATION: Leningrad State University
- PLACE OF BIRTH: Leningrad, Russia
- Full Name: Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin
- AKA: Vladimir Putin
- ZODIAC SIGN: Libra
Best Known For
Vladimir Putin served as president of Russia from 2000 to 2008, and was re-elected to the presidency in 2012. He previously served as Russia's prime minister.
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Play NowVladimir Putin. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 02:27, May 26, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/vladimir-putin-9448807.
Vladimir Putin. [Internet]. 2013. The Biography Channel website. Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/vladimir-putin-9448807 [Accessed 26 May 2013].
"Vladimir Putin." 2013. The Biography Channel website. May 26 2013, 02:27 http://www.biography.com/people/vladimir-putin-9448807.
"Vladimir Putin," The Biography Channel website, 2013, http://www.biography.com/people/vladimir-putin-9448807 [accessed May 26, 2013].
"Vladimir Putin," The Biography Channel website, http://www.biography.com/people/vladimir-putin-9448807 (accessed May 26, 2013).
Vladimir Putin [Internet]. The Biography Channel website; 2013 [cited 2013 May 26] Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/vladimir-putin-9448807.
Vladimir Putin, http://www.biography.com/people/vladimir-putin-9448807 (last visited May 26, 2013).
Vladimir Putin. The Biography Channel website. 2013. Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/vladimir-putin-9448807. Accessed May 26, 2013.
Synopsis
In 1999, Russian president Boris Yeltsin dismissed his prime minister and promoted former KGB officer Vladimir Putin in his place. In December 1999, Yeltsin resigned, appointing Putin president, and he was re-elected in 2004. In April 2005, he made a historic visit to Israel—the first visit there by any Kremlin leader. Putin could not run for the presidency again in 2008, but was appointed prime minister by his successor,
Contents
Quotes
"The path towards a free society has not been simple. There are tragic and glorious pages in our history."
Dmitry Medvedev. Putin was re-elected to the presidency in March 2012.
Early Political Career
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin was born in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg), Russia, on October 7, 1952. After graduating from Leningrad State University in 1975, he began his career in the KGB as an intelligence officer. Stationed mainly in East Germany, he held that position until 1989.
Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Putin retired from the KGB with the rank of colonel, and returned to Leningrad as a supporter of Anatoly Sobchak (1937-2000), a liberal politician. After Sobchak won election as mayor of Leningrad (1991), Putin became his head of external relations; in 1994, Putin became Sobchak's first deputy mayor.
After Sobchak's defeat in 1996, Putin resigned his post and moved to Moscow. In 1998, Putin was appointed deputy head of management under Boris Yeltsin's presidential administration. In that position, he was in charge of the Kremlin's relations with the regional governments.
Shortly afterward, Putin was appointed head of the Federal Security, an arm of the former KGB, as well as head of Yeltsin's Security Council. In August 1999, Yeltsin dismissed his then-prime minister Sergey Stapashin, along with his cabinet, and promoted Putin in his place.
President of Russia: 1st and 2nd Terms
In December 1999, Boris Yeltsin resigned as president of Russia and appointed Putin acting president until official elections were held (in early 2000). In September 2001, in response to the terrorist attacks on the United States, he announced Russia's stance as a U.S. ally. Soon after, however, he announced his opposition—along with the French and German governments—to the U.S. "war on terror," which focused on ridding Iraq of its then-leader, Saddam Hussein.
Putin was re-elected to the presidency in 2004. In April 2005, he made a historic visit to Israel for talks with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon—marking the first visit to Israel by any Kremlin leader.
Due to term limits, Putin could not run for the presidency again in 2008. (That same year, presidential terms in Russia were extended from four to six years.) When his protégé Dmitry Medvedev succeeded him as president in March 2008, Putin secured the post of Russia's prime minister, continuing his position among the top Russian leadership after eight years at the helm. It wouldn't be long before Putin was back at the helm, however.
Third Term as President
On March 4, 2012, Vladimir Putin was re-elected to the presidency, and he was inaugurated to his third term as Russia's president on May 7, 2012. Soon after taking office, he nominated Medvedev as prime minister.
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