Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952 in Leningrad) is a Russian statesman and former KGB foreign intelligence officer who has dominated Russian politics since the end of the Yeltsin era. After serving in the KGB in East Germany and later directing the FSB, Putin was appointed Prime Minister in August 1999 and became Acting President on 31 December 1999 following Boris Yeltsin's resignation.
He has since alternated between the presidency (2000–2008, 2012–present) and the premiership (2008–2012, under President Dmitry Medvedev), a rotation widely described as the "tandem." Constitutional amendments approved in a 2020 nationwide vote reset presidential term limits, potentially allowing him to remain in office until 2036.
Putin's tenure has reshaped Russia's domestic and foreign policy posture:
- Centralization of power: curbing of regional governors' autonomy, restructuring of the oligarch class (notably the 2003 arrest of Mikhail Khodorkovsky), and tightened control over major media.
- Military interventions: the Second Chechen War (1999–2009), the 2008 Russo-Georgian War, the 2014 annexation of Crimea and support for separatists in the Donbas, intervention in Syria from 2015, and the full-scale invasion of Ukraine launched on 24 February 2022.
- Energy statecraft: leveraging Gazprom and Rosneft as instruments of foreign policy, particularly toward Europe.
In March 2023 the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Putin in connection with the alleged unlawful deportation of children from occupied areas of Ukraine. He has been subject to extensive sanctions by the European Union, United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, and others since 2022.
For MUN and IR researchers, Putin is a central reference point in debates on great-power competition, the post–Cold War European security order, the erosion of arms-control regimes (INF Treaty withdrawal in 2019, New START suspension announced in 2023), and the limits of international criminal accountability for sitting heads of state.
Example
In February 2022, Vladimir Putin authorized what the Kremlin termed a "special military operation" against Ukraine, triggering the largest sanctions package ever imposed by the EU and G7.
Frequently asked questions
He became Acting President on 31 December 1999 after Yeltsin's resignation and won his first presidential election in March 2000.
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