Vladimir Putin

Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin ( Russian: Влади́мир Влади́мирович Пу́тин, born 7 October 1952) is a Russian statesman serving as the current President of Russia since 7 May 2012, previously holding the position from 2000 to 2008.[2][3][4] He was Prime Minister from 1999 to 2000, and again from 2008 to 2012.[5] During his second term as Prime Minister, he was the chairman of the ruling United Russia party.[2]

Born in Leningrad, then part of the Soviet Union, Putin studied law at the Saint Petersburg State University, graduating in 1975.[6] Putin was a KGB foreign intelligence officer for 16 years, rising to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel before retiring in 1991 to enter politics in Saint Petersburg. He moved to Moscow in 1996 and joined President Boris Yeltsin's administration, rising quickly through the ranks and becoming Acting President on 31 December 1999, when Yeltsin resigned. Putin won the subsequent 2000 presidential election by a 53% to 30% margin, thus avoiding a runoff with his Communist Party of the Russian Federation opponent, Gennady Zyuganov.[7] He was re-elected President in 2004 with 72% of the vote.

During Putin's first presidency, the Russian economy grew for eight straight years, and GDP measured in purchasing powerincreased by 72%.[8][9] The growth was a result of the 2000s commodities boom, high oil prices, and prudent economic and fiscal policies.[10][11] Because of constitutionally mandated term limits, Putin was ineligible to run for a third consecutive presidential term in 2008. The 2008 presidential election was won by Dmitry Medvedev, who appointed Putin Prime Minister, what some opponents considered the beginning of a period of "tandemocracy".[12] In September 2011, after presidential terms were extended from four to six years,[13] Putin announced he would seek a third term as president. He won the March 2012 presidential election with 64% of the vote, a result which aligned with pre-election polling.[14] Falling oil prices coupled with international sanctions imposed at the beginning of 2014 after Russia's annexation of Crimea and military intervention in Eastern Ukraine led to GDP shrinking by 3.7% in 2015, though the Russian economy rebounded in 2016 with 0.3% GDP growth and is officially out of the recession.[15][16][17][18]

Under Putin's leadership, Russia has scored poorly in Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index and experienced democratic backsliding according to both the Economist Intelligence Unit's Democracy Index and Freedom House's Freedom in the World index. Experts no longer consider Russia a democracy.[19][20] Putin has enjoyed high domestic approval ratings during his career, and received extensive international attention as one of the world's most powerful leaders. U.S. intelligence agencies have accused him of launching an influence campaign against Hillary Clinton in the 2016 United States presidential election.

Early life and education
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin was born on 7 October 1952 in Leningrad, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union (now Saint Petersburg),[21][22] the youngest of three children of Vladimir Spiridonovich Putin (1911–1999) and Maria Ivanovna Putina (née Shelomova; 1911–1998). His birth was preceded by the death of two brothers, Viktor and Albert, born in the mid-1930s. Albert died in infancy and Viktor died of diphtheria during the Siege of Leningradin World War II.[23] Putin's mother was a factory worker and his father was a conscript in the Soviet Navy, serving in the submarine fleet in the early 1930s. Early in World War II, his father served in the destruction battalionof the NKVD.[24][25][26] Later, he was transferred to the regular army and was severely wounded in 1942.[27] Putin's maternal grandmother was killed by the German occupiers of Tver region in 1941, and his maternal uncles disappeared at the war front.[28]

On 1 September 1960, Putin started at School No. 193 at Baskov Lane, near his home. He was one of a few in the class of approximately 45 pupils who was not yet a member of the Young Pioneer organization. At age 12, he began to practice sambo and judo. He is Judo black belt and national master of sports in Sambo. He wished to emulate the intelligence officers portrayed in Soviet cinema.[29] Putin studied German at Saint Petersburg High School 281, and speaks German fluently.[30][31]

Putin studied Law at the Saint Petersburg State University in 1970 and graduated in 1975.[6] His thesis was on "The Most Favored Nation Trading Principle in International Law".[32] While there, he was required to join the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, and remained a member until December 1991.[33] Putin met Anatoly Sobchak, an Assistant Professor who taught business law (khozyaystvennoye pravo), and who would be influential in Putin's career.