Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime minister from 1999 to 2000 and from 2008 to 2012, and as president from 2000 to 2008 and since 2012.
Vladimir Putin: Putin worked as a KGB foreign intelligence officer for 16 years, rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel before resigning in 1991 to begin a political career in Saint Petersburg. He moved to Moscow in 1996 to join the administration of president Boris Yeltsin. He briefly served as director of the Federal Security Service (FSB) and secretary of the Security Council of Russia, before being appointed as prime minister in August 1999.
Quick Answers about Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Putin’s full name is Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin and his age is about 70 years as of 01 Feb 2022. Height of Vladimir Putin’s – Russian president is 168 cm.
Electoral history of Vladimir Putin
After the resignation of Yeltsin, Putin became Acting President of Russia and, less than four months later, was elected outright to his first term as president. He was reelected in 2004. As he was constitutionally limited to two consecutive terms as president at the time, Putin served as prime minister again from 2008 to 2012 under Dmitry Medvedev. He returned to the presidency in 2012 in an election marred by allegations of fraud and protests and was reelected in 2018. In April 2021, following a referendum, he signed into law constitutional amendments including one that would allow him to run for reelection twice more, potentially extending his presidency to 2036.
Source: Electoral history of Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Putin Family Info
Putin had two daughters in his first marriage to former flight attendant Lyudmila Shkrebneva, who he was married to for three decades before their divorce in 2013.
Their daughter’s names are Maria and Katerina. While Maria was born in Leningrad in 1985, Katerina was born in Germany in 1986 when the family lived there during her father’s time in the KGB.
Both girls are named after their grandmothers. Maria’s nickname is Masha and Katerina’s nickname is Katya.
When the family moved to Moscow in 1996, the girls attended a German-language school. The children were reportedly removed from school when Putin became acting president, and teachers educated them at home.
“Not all fathers are as loving with their children as he is,” Lyudmila said in a quote on Putin’s government website. “And he has always spoiled them, while I was the one who had to discipline them.”
Maria studied biology in college and went to medical school in Moscow, while Katerina majored in Asian Studies in college. Both girls attended university under false identities.
Maria, now 33, is a medical researcher and lives in Moscow with her Dutch husband, Jorrit Faassen.
Maria and Faassen reportedly have a child — Putin told filmmaker Oliver Stone in 2017 that he was a grandfather. When Stone asked if he played with his grandchild, Putin replied, “Very seldom, unfortunately.”
Meanwhile, Katerina reportedly lives a high-flying life, living in lavish apartments and acquiring a fortune.
Katerina, now 31, is an acrobatic dancer and has a senior position at her alma mater, Moscow State University, heading a $1.7 billion startup incubator. Katerina married Russian billionaire Kirill Shamalov in 2013. But the couple divorced earlier this year — revealing they were worth $2 billion. (Source)
Finally, there are rumors that Putin has a third daughter with girlfriend and former Russian rhythmic gymnast Alina Kabaeva.
6 Major Controversies Relating to Putin
• Time & again, Putin has been accused of controlling and influencing the Russian media. For instance, in 2008, when the liberal newspaper ‘Moskovsky Korrespondent’ reported that Putin was planning to marry a rhythmic gymnast named Alina Kabayeva, the editor was forced to resign within hours.
• In July 2016, Putin signed the controversial ‘Big-Brother Law’. According to this law, every telecom/internet service provider has to store users’ calls, messages, photographs and videos for six months, as well as metadata for up to three years. Although, this law has been passed to curb the menace of terrorism, many service providers said that storing so much data would cost them as much as 4 times their annual profit. Moreover, this bill interferes with the private lives of Russian citizens.
• In November 2014, at the APEC summit, Putin made a warm gesture by wrapping a shawl around China’s First Lady, Peng Liyuan. Soon after this video surfaced online, many people started doubting Putin’s intentions. As China is traditionally conservative on public interaction between unrelated men and women, the public show of consideration by Putin was not taken in the way it was intended to be. As a result, the video was completely scrubbed from Chinese TV & Internet.
• In 2014, Putin led Russian government was accused of shooting down a Malaysian passenger Plane, MH-17, flying over the troubled region of eastern Ukraine, which killed all 298 passengers on-board. Putin has denied any wrongdoing and was quoted as saying, “If MH-17 crashed in Ukraine, it is Ukraine’s fault.”
• Allegedly, Putin has also been associated with the assassinations of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko & politician rival Boris Nemtsov.
• The Russo-Ukrainian War is an ongoing international conflict between Russia and Russian-controlled separatists against Ukraine, which began in February 2014. Following Ukraine’s Revolution of Dignity, Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine and supported pro-Russian separatists in the war in Donbas against Ukrainian government forces; fighting for the first eight years of the conflict also included naval incidents, cyberwarfare, and heightened political tensions. In February 2022, the conflict saw a major escalation as Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. (Source)
Five books about Vladmir Putin
Five books that help you understand Vladmir Putin. The global spotlight is on the Russian president – here are a few books that trace his incredible journey to power
- The Man Without a Face – The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin
- First Person: An Astonishingly Frank Self – Portrait by Russia’s President Vladimir Putin
- From Russia with Blood – By Heidi Blake
- Putin’s Kleptocracy
- Putin’s Playbook – Russia’s Secret Plan to Defeat America
Major timeline about Vladmir Putin
1975 – Joins the Committee for State Security (KGB). Is on the staff of the First Chief Directorate for Foreign Intelligence for the KGB, and is assigned to shadow foreign visitors.
1984 – Is selected to attend the Red Banner Institute of Intelligence, where he learns German and English.
1985 – Is assigned to counterintelligence duties in Dresden, East Germany. Reportedly monitors loyalty of Soviet diplomats.
1990 – Becomes assistant rector (dean) for international affairs at Leningrad State University. Reportedly monitors loyalty of students and shadows foreigners.
1991 – Turns towards politics as he becomes an adviser to one of his law school mentors, Anatoly Sobchak, who is running for mayor of Leningrad. After Sobchak wins the election, Putin is tapped to work in city hall as chairman of the committee for international relations. He resigns from the KGB.
1997 – Putin is named deputy chief administrator of the Kremlin under President Boris Yeltsin.
1998 – Chief of the Federal Security Service (FSB).
1999 – Secretary of the Russian Security Council.
August 9, 1999 – Yeltsin appoints Putin as prime minister.
December 31, 1999 – Yeltsin steps down amid scandal and Putin becomes acting president. He grants Yeltsin immunity from prosecution.
March 26, 2000 – Is elected president of Russia.
May 7, 2000 – Putin is sworn in.
June 16, 2001 – Putin meets with US President George W. Bush and the men hold a joint press conference. Bush tells reporters that during the two-hour meeting, he was able to get a sense of Putin’s soul.
May 24, 2002 – Putin and Bush sign the Moscow Treaty on Strategic Offensive Reductions, which requires each country to reduce its stockpiles of strategic nuclear warheads over the course of ten years.
March 15, 2004 – Is reelected after campaigning as an independent.
May 7, 2004 – Putin is sworn in for his second term.
April 27, 2005 – Becomes the first Russian leader to visit Israel.
October 4-5, 2005 – Visits British Prime Minister Tony Blair and announces increased cooperation between Russia and Britain to fight terrorism.
September 5, 2006 – Meets South African President Thabo Mbeki during the first visit to sub-Sarahan Africa by a Russian leader.
December 19, 2007 – Named Time magazine’s Person of the Year.
March 2, 2008 – Dmitry Medvedev is elected president of Russia.
May 7, 2008 – Just two hours after his presidential swearing in, Medvedev names Putin as prime minister.
August 2008 – Russia engages in a military conflict with neighboring Georgia.
September 24, 2011 – Medvedev calls on the ruling United Russia party to endorse Putin for president in 2012. Putin in turn suggests that Medvedev should take over the role of prime minister if the party wins parliamentary elections in December.
March 4, 2012 – Putin wins a third term as president, with just under 65% of the vote. Critics question the results amid complaints of voter fraud.
May 7, 2012 – Putin is sworn in under tight security. Hundreds of protestors are detained by police.
December 14, 2012 – US President Barack Obama signs the Magnitsky Act, a law that imposes travel and financial restrictions on individuals in Russia suspected of human rights violations. The law is named for Sergey Magnitsky, a lawyer who died under mysterious circumstances in 2009 after finding evidence that Russian officials committed tax fraud.
December 28, 2012 – In response to the Magnitsky act, Putin signs into law a bill that effectively bans US citizens from adopting Russian children. The law also bans US-funded civic groups from operating in Russia.
June 6, 2013 – During an interview broadcast on state-run television, Putin and his wife, Lyudmila, announce that their marriage is over.
September 11, 2013 – Putin publishes an op-ed in the New York Times about the Syrian Civil War.
March 2014 – Putin sends troops into Crimea after Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych flees amid violent protests.
August 6, 2014 – Putin signs a decree that bans food and agricultural imports from countries that have imposed sanctions against Russia.
September 28, 2015 – Putin attends the United Nations General Assembly in New York and later meets with Obama. The two leaders discuss Ukraine and Syria, according to senior US officials. It is their first in-person meeting since Russia’s incursion into Ukraine.
January 21, 2016 – A UK inquiry is released, laying out evidence that suggests Putin approved the operation to kill former FSB spy Alexander Litvinenko in 2006.
July 25, 2016 – The FBI announces it has launched an investigation into the hacking of the Democratic National Committee’s computer system. Although the statement doesn’t indicate that the agency has a particular suspect or suspects in mind, US officials tell CNN they think the cyberattack is linked to Russia.
September 1, 2016 – During a Bloomberg News interview, Putin denies that the Russian government had any involvement in the hacking of Democratic National Committee emails.
December 30, 2016 – Putin says that Russia will not expel American diplomats in response to the Obama administration’s new sanctions and expulsion of 35 diplomats from the United States. He says he will instead try to rebuild relations with the incoming administration of US President-elect Donald Trump.
January 6, 2017 – The US Office of the Director of National Intelligence releases a declassified report concluding that Putin ordered an “influence campaign” aimed at hurting Hillary Clinton and helping Trump in the 2016 presidential election.
January 17, 2017 – At a news conference, Putin says that a damning dossier about Trump is “false” and he dismisses allegations that his country’s security services have been monitoring the US president-elect.
July 7, 2017 – Meets Trump for the first time on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany. During a two-hour meeting, the men reportedly discuss allegations of Russian meddling in the US election and the war in Syria, among other things. Hours later, they talk again informally during a dinner with other heads of state.
July 30, 2017 – Putin announces that Russia is implementing a series of measures in response to a new sanctions bill approved by Trump. He says that 755 staffers at US diplomatic missions in Russia will be ousted from their jobs.
March 1, 2018 – During his annual address to Parliament, Putin boasts about the country’s nuclear capabilities, declaring that Russian missiles can elude air defense systems. In a video simulation, nuclear warheads are shown flying through space and raining down on a peninsula that resembles the state of Florida.
March 18, 2018 – Putin wins the election, with 76.7% of the vote, according to Russia’s Central Election Commission. His most prominent challenger, opposition leader Alexei Navalny was barred from running. International election monitors say that the votes were tallied in an orderly manner but they criticize the state-run media coverage of the presidential race, which heavily promoted Putin.
May 7, 2018 – Is sworn in as president for another six years.
July 16, 2018 – Putin and Trump meet in Helsinki and hold a joint news conference. Trump declines to endorse the US government’s assessment that Russia interfered in the election. “I have great confidence in my intelligence people but I will tell you that President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today,” Trump says.
November 28, 2018 – Authorities in the United Kingdom assess that Putin approved a nerve agent attack on a former Russian spy. The attack in Salisbury, England sickened Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia. One other woman who came into contact with the poison died.
April 25, 2019 – North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un meets with Putin in Vladivostok. The summit includes one-on-one talks, but it does not include any signed agreements or joint statements.
May 14, 2019 – Putin meets with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who says that he hopes the United States and Russia can develop a more cooperative relationship. Pompeo says he wants the countries to work together “to make our two peoples more, and frankly the world, more successful too.”
July 3, 2019 – Putin signs a law suspending Russia’s participation in the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty.
October 22, 2019 – Putin meets with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Sochi and the men announce a wide-ranging agreement on Syria, announcing that Russian and Turkish troops will patrol the Turkish-Syrian border. Kurdish forces have about six days to retreat about 20 miles away from the border.
January 15, 2020 – Putin announces plans to push through reforms that would make his successor as president less powerful. Authority would be redistributed giving the Russian parliament and office of prime minister greater clout. The entire government resigns the same day.
March 23, 2021 – Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov tells CNN Putin received a Covid-19 vaccination, though no video or images of the vaccination process were made available. The spokesman did not disclose which vaccine was used, but did say it was one of three Russian vaccines that have been approved: Sputnik V, EpiVacCorona or CoviVac.
April 5, 2021 – Putin signs constitutional amendments into law which would allow him to seek two more six-year terms when his presidency ends in 2024.
February 24, 2022 – Russian military forces enter Ukraine and begin a full scale assault across airfields, military headquarters, major cities and ports. Putin threatens “those who may be tempted to intervene” on Ukraine’s behalf.
September 21, 2022 – During a speech, Putin threatens to turn to nuclear weapons against Ukraine, “In the event of a threat to the territorial integrity of our country and to defend Russia and our people, we will certainly make use of all weapon systems available to us. This is not a bluff.”
September 30, 2022 – In defiance of international law, Putin announces Russia will annex four Ukrainian regions as Russian territory: Luhansk and Donetsk – home to two Russian-backed breakaway republics where fighting has been ongoing since 2014 – as well as Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, two areas in southern Ukraine that have been occupied by Russian forces since shortly after the invasion began.
Source: Britannica – Vladimir Putin