Vladimir (Vladimirovich) Putin - Life and career, Prime Minister and first term as President, Second term as President, Chechnya

Russian politician and president (1999– ), born in Leningrad (now St Petersburg), NW Russia. He graduated from Leningrad State University in 1975 and began his career in the KGB as an intelligence officer stationed mainly in East Germany (1975–89). Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, he retired from the KGB with the rank of colonel, and returned to Leningrad as a supporter of Anatoly Sobchak (1937–2000), a liberal politician. On the latter's election as mayor of Leningrad (1991), Putin became his head of external relations and first deputy mayor (1994). After Sobchak's defeat in 1996, Putin resigned his post and moved to Moscow. In 1998 he was appointed deputy head of management in Boris Yeltsin's presidential administration, in charge of the Kremlin's relations with the regional governments. Shortly afterwards, he was appointed head of the Federal Security, an arm of the former KGB, and head of Yeltsin's Security Council. In August 1999 Yeltsin dismissed his prime minister Sergey Stapashin (1952– ) together with his cabinet, and promoted Putin in his place. In December 1999 Yeltsin resigned as president, appointing Putin acting president until official elections were held (in early 2000). He was re-elected in 2004. In April 2005 he made a historic visit to Israel for talks with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, the first visit there by any Kremlin leader.

Vladimir Putin
Владимир Путин

2nd President of the Russian Federation
Incumbent
In office since December 31, 1999
Preceded by	Boris Yeltsin
Succeeded by	Incumbent
Born	October 7, 1952 Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg)
Political party	United Russia (not officially a member)
Spouse	Ludmila Putina
Religion	Russian Orthodox

Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (Russian: Влади́мир Влади́мирович Пу́тин (help·info)) (born October 7, 1952) is a Russian politician, and the current President of Russia.

Life and career

Putin was born in Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg) in 1952. His biography, От Первого Лица (Romanization: Ot Pervogo Litsa), translated into English under the title First Person and based on interviews conducted with Putin in 2000 was paid for by his election campaign.

In the same book, Putin notes that his paternal grandfather, a chef by profession, was brought to the Moscow suburbs to serve as a cook, at one of Stalin's dachas. In "The Court of the Red Tsar" by Simon Sebag Montefiore, a footnote on page 300 cites Putin as saying that while his grandfather did not discuss his work very often, he recalled serving meals to Rasputin as a boy and also prepared food for Lenin.

Putin graduated from the International Department of the Law Faculty of the Leningrad State University in 1975 and was recruited into the KGB. In First Person, Putin described to journalists his early duties in the KGB, which included suppressing dissident activities in Leningrad.

From 1985 to 1990 the KGB stationed Putin in Dresden, East Germany, in what he regards as a minor position. Following the collapse of the East German regime, Putin was recalled to the Soviet Union and returned to Leningrad, where in June 1990 he assumed a position with the International Affairs section of Leningrad State University, reporting to the Vice-Rector.

Putin formally resigned from the state security services on August 20, 1991, during the KGB-supported abortive putsch against Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev.

During the 1990s, Putin received a graduate level degree in economics from a mining institute in St Petersburg.

Prime Minister and first term as President

Putin was appointed Chairman (predsedatel', or prime minister) of the Government of the Russian Federation by President Boris Yeltsin in August 1999, making him Russia's fifth prime minister in less than eighteen months. On his appointment, few expected Putin, a virtual unknown, to last any longer than his predecessors. Yeltsin's main opponents and would-be successors, Moscow Mayor Yuriy Luzhkov and former Chairman of the Russian Government Yevgeniy Primakov, were already campaigning to replace the ailing president, and fought hard to prevent Putin's emergence as a potential successor. Putin's law-and-order image and his unrelenting approach to the renewed crisis in Chechnya (see below) soon combined to raise his popularity and allowed him to overtake all rivals. While not formally associated with any party, Putin was supported by the newly formed Edinstvo (unity) faction, which won the largest percentage of the popular vote in the December 1999 Duma elections. Putin was reappointed as Chairman of the Government, and seemed ideally positioned to win the presidency in elections due the following summer. His rise to Russia's highest office ended up being even more rapid: on December 31, 1999, Yeltsin unexpectedly resigned and, according to the constitution, Putin was appointed as the second (acting) President of the Russian Federation. Presidential elections were held March 26, 2000, which Putin won in the first round. Later Putin granted the former president and his family full immunity from prosecution (via presidential decree).

After many years of scandal, erratic policy making and a general sense of national malaise under the aged, awkward and ailing Yeltsin, Putin's election appeared to mark a new beginning in Russia's post-Soviet history. However, the new president's election was due in no small measure to Yeltsin's inner circle, who had selected and supported Putin with a view to maintaining their own power and privilege. As Putin's new administration took shape, members of the Yeltsin-era nomenklatura – including Chief of Staff Alexander Voloshin and Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov – retained significant control over the policies and direction of the new government. On the other hand, Putin was also backed by a team of economic reformers from his native St Petersburg, and could rely as well on support from the siloviki. (The latter group are defined as members of Russia's still-powerful security services, who regard themselves as the defenders of Russia's permanent national interests in the face of rapacious politicians and officials, and who are also well-informed about all aspects of Russia's political and economic life.) The tension – and cooperation – between these various groups was a central feature of Putin's first term in office.

Upon his election, Putin undertook measures to restore the primacy of the Kremlin in Russia's political life. One of Putin's first acts, therefore, was to attempt to restore what he referred to as the "power vertical" – i.e. As a first step, Putin announced the appointment of seven presidential "plenipotentiary representatives" who were explicitly charged with coordinating federal activity in newly-defined super-regions. Of more lasting significance, Putin also instituted a major reform of Russia's upper house of parliament, the Federation Council. Putin and his team also entered into head-on confrontations with several uncooperative governors accused of corruption, though with only mixed success.

The initial months of Putin's first term were also marked by a settling of scores among elite financial-industrial groups, whose monetary resources and media empires had been critical weapons in the domestic political war that had been waged over the previous year. Within a year of Putin's election, Gusinsky went from being a would-be kingmaker to living in self-imposed exile;

The first acute crisis which Putin faced as president arose in August 2000, when the Russian nuclear submarine Kursk sank off the Kola peninsula, killing 118 sailors on board. After several days of mounting public confusion and anger, Putin cut short his vacation and returned to Moscow to take charge of the crisis. While Putin was criticized by the Russian media for his inaction during the initial stages of the crisis, it did not have a lasting effect on his image and popularity.

Putin has been unenthusiastic about erasing Russia's Soviet past from memory — the previous policy of Boris Yeltsin aimed primarily at his Communist rivals. He has stated his belief that whatever the crimes of the Communist regime, it was nevertheless an important part of Russian history and has a formative 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) – all of which have resonated well with the majority of Russia's population. In responding to critics of these moves, Putin has argued that he is the president of all Russians — including those such as the retirees who lost out in the post-Soviet transformation, and who understandably cling to symbols of the past.

A pro-Putin United Russia party won a landslide victory in the 2003 parliamentary elections.

In a surprise move in mid-2003, President Putin ordered a restructuring of the Russian Federation's security services. Many in the Russian and western media had believed that Putin would order the establishment of a "Ministry of State Security" on par with Kazakhstan's Ministry of National Security (MNB), which would have been a super ministry reminiscient of the former Soviet KGB. Putin decided against the concept of a super security ministry and opted for a significant restructuring instead.

Domestic and foreign critics accuse Putin of having orchestrated the trials of oligarchs such as Boris Berezovsky, Vladimir Gusinsky, and later Mikhail Khodorkovsky as part of an effort by his Kremlin to gain control over the media and large sectors of the Russian economy. For its part, Putin's administration has argued that its actions against the oligarchs are founded in the letter and spirit of the law, and are intended to contain and reverse serious damage inflicted on Russia's economy by years of insider capitalism.

On 24 February 2004, less than a month prior to the elections, Putin dismissed Prime Minister Kasyanov and the entire Russian cabinet and appointed Viktor Khristenko acting prime minister.

Second term as President

On March 14, 2004, Putin won re-election to the presidency for a second term, earning 71 percent of the vote. Again, there was massive and one-sided campaigning for Putin by Russian television channels, most of which are state owned and controlled.

On September 13, 2004, following the Beslan school hostage crisis, and nearly-concurrent Chechen terrorist attacks in Moscow, Putin launched an initiative to replace the election of regional governors with a system whereby they would be proposed by the President and approved or disapproved by regional legislatures. On that same day, Putin also publicly backed a plan by the Central Elections Commission for the election of Duma deputies based entirely on proportional representation, ending the election of half of the legislators from single-member constituencies.

On April 25, 2005, Putin caused some controversy when, in a nationally televised speech before the Federal Assembly, he referred to the collapse of the Soviet Union as "the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century." Putin subsequently clarified that he was not praising the former Soviet Union but rather highlighting in an altogether objective fashion the dramatic impact the collapse of the USSR had had on the world, particularly on the economic and social well-being of the populace from countries making up the former USSR and the displacement of people caused in part by the anti-Russian backlash in many of these countries .

One of the most controversial aspects of Putin's second term was the prosecution of Russia's richest man, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, President of Yukos oil company.

A significant amount of Putin's second term has been focused on domestic issues. According to various Russian and western media reports, Putin is extremely concerned about the ongoing demographic problems (death rate being higher than birth rate and immigration rate), cyclical poverty, and housing concerns within the Russian Federation. In his May 2006 annual speech, Putin proposed increasing maternity benefits and prenatal care for women. Putin has also been quite strident about the need to reform the judiciary.

Chechnya

Putin's rise to public office in August 1999 coincided with an aggressive resurgence of the near-dormant conflict in the North Caucasus, when Chechen nationalists regrouped and invaded neighbouring Daghestan. Both in Russia and abroad, Putin's public image was forged by his tough handling of this dire challenge. During the autumn 1999 campaign for the Duma, Kremlin-controlled or allied media accused Putin's chief rivals of being soft on terrorism. On assuming the role of acting President on December 31, 1999, Putin proceeded on a previously scheduled visit to Russian troops in Chechnya; Throughout the winter of 2000, Putin's government regularly claimed that victory was at hand.

Foreign policy

While President Putin is criticized as an autocrat by some of his Western counterparts, his relationships with US President George W. Putin's relationship with Germany's new Chancellor, Angela Merkel, is expected to be "cooler" and "more business-like" than his partnership with Gerhard Schröder .

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 accepting the enlargement of NATO into the Baltic states, Putin attempted to increase Russia's influence over Belarus and Ukraine.

Putin surprised many Russian nationalists and even his own defense minister when, in the wake of the September 11 attacks in the United States, he agreed to the establishment of coalition military bases in Central Asia before and during the US-led invasion of Afghanistan. Russian nationalists objected to the establishment of any US military presence on the territory of the former Soviet Union, and had expected Putin to keep the US out of the Central Asian republics, or at the very least extract a commitment from Washington to withdraw from these bases as soon as the immediate military purpose had passed.

During the Iraq crisis of 2003, Putin opposed Washington's move to invade Iraq without the benefit of a United Nations Security Council resolution explicitly authorizing the use of military force. Putin supported lifting of the sanctions in due course, arguing that the UN commission first be given a chance to complete its work on the search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

During the 2004 Ukrainian presidential election, Putin visited Ukraine twice before the election to show his support for Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych and congratulated him on his alleged victory before the official election results had been announced. Putin's direct support for pro-Russian Yanukovych was widely criticized as unwarranted interference in the affairs of post-Soviet Ukraine.

In 2005, Putin and former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder negotiated the construction of a major oil pipeline over the Baltic exclusively between Russia and Germany. Schröder also attended Putin's 53rd birthday in Saint Petersburg the same year.

Family and personal life

Putin is married to Lyudmila Putina, a former airline stewardess and teacher of German, who was born in Kaliningrad, (formerly Königsberg).

Putin is a practising member of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Putin speaks German with near-native fluency.

Putin also speaks passable English.

Popular support for President Putin

Although many reforms taken in modern Russia under Putin’s rule were generally criticized by Western media, "neither the Russian nor the American publics are convinced Russia is headed in an anti-democratic direction" and "Russians generally support Putin’s concentration of political power and strongly support the re-nationalization of Russia’s oil and gas industry", as shown in a joint poll by World Public Opinion in the U. Moreover, Russians generally support reforms initiated by Putin's team.

Trivia

Judo

Putin works out regularly, spending much of his free time exercising. One of Putin's favorite sports is the martial art of judo. Putin began judo at the age of 13 and he continues to study judo even today. Putin won competitions in his hometown of Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg), including the senior championship of Leningrad. Putin co-authored a book on his favorite sport, published in English under the title Judo: History, Theory, Practice.

Though he is not the first world leader to practice judo, Putin is the first leader to move forward in the advanced levels. Currently, Putin is a black belt (6th dan) and is best known for his Harai goshi, a sweeping hip throw.

After a state visit to Japan, Putin was invited to the Kodokan Institute and showed the students and Japanese officials different judo techniques.

Vladimir Putin is also a fan of Thoroughbred horse racing and often attends races at racecourses throughout Russia.

Decorations

In September 2006, France's president Jacques Chirac awarded Vladimir Putin the dignity of the Grand Cross of the Legion d'Honneur, the French highest decoration, to celebrate his contribution to the friendship between the two countries.

Attire

Putin wears a $60,000 Patek Philippe Calatrava watch, worth approximately his Presidential salary. Although he is right handed, he wears the watch on his right hand because "...if I wear it on the left wrist, the little winding mechanism faces the hand and is always rubbing against it."

Accusation of plagiarism

Vladimir Putin has been accused by fellows Clifford Gaddy and Igor Danchenko at the Brookings Institution of plagiarism. As alleged in the article by The Washington Post, "[l]arge chunks of Putin's economics dissertation on planning in the natural resources sector were lifted straight out of a management text published by two University of Pittsburgh academics nearly 20 years earlier."

Quotations

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Vladimir Putin

About himself

On December 2005, Putin said to a group FSB officers: "There is no such thing as a former KGB man" After becoming prime minister of Russia, Putin said at a meeting with FSB officers:

"A group of FSB colleagues dispatched to work undercover in the government has successfully completed its first mission." (Los Angeles Times, January 12, 2000)

Terrorism and Chechnya

Putin on Chechen extremists, on September 24, 1999: "We'll follow terrorists everywhere. ("мочить в сортире" in Russian): In response to those who called Putin to enter talks with Chechen separatists after the Beslan school hostage crisis, on September, 2004: "Why don't you meet Osama bin Laden, invite him to Brussels or to the White House and engage in talks, ask him what he wants and give it to him so he leaves you in peace? Putin snapping back at a reporter from Le Monde who asked a critical question about the conduct of the war in Chechnya, in November 2002. When a reporter asked Putin why his government didn't negotiate with the leaders of Chechen separatists, Putin answered "Russia doesn't negotiate with terrorists. Russia destroys them." When a reporter asked why he invited Hamas to the Kremlin for talks, Putin answered "Burning bridges – especially in politics – is the easiest, but not the most effective thing to do. This is why we don't rush to declare an organization to be terrorist, and try to work with everyone in this explosive region." After the tragedy of Beslan, Putin explained the failure of Russia's Security Services with the sentence "We were weak. And the weak are being beaten."

From Putin's Address to the Inhabitants of the Chechen Republic on March 17, 2003:

"Today I address those who live in Chechnya and to whom the destiny of the Chechen Republic is precious.

In 2006 Putin said in his Annual Address to the Federal Assembly:

"The terrorist threat remains very real.

Democracy

After meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on October 10, 2006, Putin said that murder of Russian journalist, Anna Politkovskaya, "inflicts much greater damage to the government than any of her writing." "This journalist was a sharp critic of the government in Russia but the level of her influence on political life in Russia was very minor," he said.

In response to criticism from US journalist Mike Wallace that his plan to end the direct election of governors and appoint them ran counter to the spirit of democracy, Putin replied:

"The principle of appointing regional leaders is not a sign of a lack of democracy.

Answering the question of Netherlands TV "Can you imagine a situation in which you would decide to remain in office for a third term?", Putin said:

"I realise that 2008 will be an important test for Russia, and not an easy one. At the same time, the Constitution of the Russian Federation states that the President, the head of state, is elected for four years through direct secret ballot and cannot stay in office for more than two consecutive terms.

At the joint press conferess with President George Bush in 2005, Slovakia, Putin said:

"Russia has made its choice in favor of democracy.

From interview with TF-1 Television Channel (France), taken on July 12, 2006:

"I see that not everyone in the West has understood that the Soviet Union has disappeared from the political map of the world and that a new country has emerged with new humanist and ideological principles at the foundation of its existence."

Life in Russia

Putin about emigration of talented people from Russia, on June 6, 2003: "If brains are draining, then they exist.

From Putin's Annual Address to the Federal Assembly, 2005:

"I will recall once more Russia’s most recent history. Read more...

From Putin's Annual Address to the Federal Assembly on May 10, 2006:

"Our efforts today focus precisely on the areas that directly determine the quality of life for our citizens. (Putin proposed a vast programme to encourage childbirth, including 250,000 roubles pay for giving birth to a second child.

On comparing Russia's defence spending as a share of GDP to that of France and Britain, Putin mentioned the United States:

"Their defence budget in absolute figures is almost 25 times bigger than Russia's.

Foreign policy

After saying the US shouldn't have gone into Iraq in the first place: "But if the U.S. were to leave and abandon Iraq without establishing the grounds for a united and sovereign country, that would definitely be a second mistake."

From Meeting with the Leaders of the News Agencies of G8 Member Countries:

[About role of UN] "The fact that today issues are discussed openly within the UN and that the UN remains a platform for settling international problems rather than serving the foreign policy interests of any one state makes it not only more universal but absolutely necessary for developing acceptable decisions in today’s international arena. [About separatism] "Russia never raised the issue about joining any territories beyond its borders to the Russian state. Kononenko wrote that some of these stories were brought to Putin. Andrey Dorofeev's vision of Putin compares Putin (a former KGB agent) to Dzerzhinsky, the founder of the KGB. In We will follow a different path, Putin is depicted as Yeltsin's successor determined to follow a better political approach (for comparison see this famous painting by Belousov). On June 28, 2005, Putin made headlines in an unusual incident involving a New England Patriots Super Bowl XXXIX championship ring. Three days earlier Putin had met with U.S. business executives, including Patriots owner Robert Kraft. Near the end of the meeting Kraft showed Putin the ring, which features 124 diamonds, and the president was clearly impressed. At this point Kraft handed the ring to Putin who tried it on for a moment, then slipped it into his pocket and promptly left. Kraft, who has Russian ancestors, later told the Associated Press that he gave the ring to Putin as a gift and token of respect. In the South Park episode Free Willzyx, Putin is shown as a president that badly needs money for the Russian economy. On June 28, 2006 Putin, while walking by a small crowd of tourists in a Kremlin courtyard, gave a "belly kiss" to a young boy of five or six years old. In a transcript published July 12th, 2006, Putin is reported to have responded to U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney's political criticism by saying, "I think the statements of your Vice-President of this sort are the same as an unsuccessful hunting shot." During the 32nd G8 summit in July of 2006, Putin was quoted as saying, "We certainly would not want to have the same kind of democracy as they have in Iraq, I will tell you quite honestly." Also during the 32nd G8 summit, following journalists' criticisms of the Russian government's record on Human rights, Putin was quoted as remarking that, "There are also other questions, questions let's say about the fight against corruption. Several comedic sources have commented on the fact that Putin bears a resemblance to Dobby from the film version of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. On October 19, 2006, Putin allegedly made disturbing remarks to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel about Moshe Katsav. Putin reportedly said, "Say hello to your president. It was later confirmed that he actually said "had ten women"

See also

List of national leaders

References and notes

Vladimir Putin, First Person, Public Affairs, 2000, 208 pp. ^ Putin, Vladimir V., Vasilii Shestakov, Alexey Levitsky, Aleksei Levitskii (July 2004). ^ Putin wears a 60,000-dollar watch in comparison with George W. ^ Questions posed to Vladamir Putin. Researchers Peg Putin as a Plagiarist over Thesis. ^ "Putin rejects "child-killer talks"", BBC News, 2004-09-07. Russia's mothers aren't persuaded., Christian Science Monitor, May 19, 2006 ^ Different translation: Comrade Wolf knows whom to eat, it eats without listening and it’s clearly not going to listen to anyone.

External links and references

The official site of the President of the Russian Federation Artiom Malgin, Jaroslav Skvortsov, Alexandr Tchechevishnikov (Moscow State Institute of International Relations, MGIMO); XV Economic Forum Krynica 7-10 September, 2005 The Accidental Autocrat, in The Atlantic Monthly, March 2005 (may require subscription) Russia's Foreign Policy in a resurgent mode: An Analysis Transcript of the Interactive Webcast with the President, held on July 7, 2006 (BBC version). RussianSpy: Vladimir Putin BBC – Vladimir Putin: Spy turned politician Putin and his judo activities Vladimir.Vladimirovich.ru political satire site www.noputin.com Vladimir Putin Fan Club Petroleum Music composition is devoted to Putin V.V. "Putin versus Cheney", International Herald Tribune, May 11, 2006.

Preceded by: Nikolai Dmitrievich Kovalev	Director of FSB 1998-1999	Succeeded by: Nikolay Patrushev
Preceded by: Sergei Stepashin	Prime Minister of Russia August 8, 1999–May 7, 2000	Succeeded by: Mikhail Kasyanov
Preceded by: Boris Yeltsin	President of Russia December 31, 1999 – present	Incumbent
Preceded by: Tony Blair	Chair of the G8 2006	Succeeded by: (Angela Merkel is expected to succeed)

Presidents of the Russian Federation
Boris Yeltsin • Vladimir Putin

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