A former spy in the KGB and has ruled Russia since the beginning of this century “Who is Vladimir Putin?”

Russian President Vladimir Putin may have shocked the world with his invasion of Ukraine, his biggest move since his 2014 annexation of Crimea, but he has never hidden his insistence on re-establishing Russian influence in his Ukrainian neighbour.

Putin has been in power since 2000, serving as both president and prime minister, and is now Russia's longest-serving leader since Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin, who died in 1953.

In 2020, a controversial referendum on constitutional reforms gave President Putin a chance Remain in office after his fourth term ends in 2024, which means he may stay in the Kremlin until 2036.

But how did he get to his current position? Below we take a look at the political and personal life of a divisive leader whose name is making headlines around the world at the moment.

Ex-spy

Putin's critics say he still has some of the Soviet-era traits that shaped his worldview. Putin was a spy for the infamous KGB spy agency, before his rapid rise to stardom in the chaos of the collapse of the Soviet Union. Many of his aides and close friends are connected, or have been connected in the past, with intelligence work. Putin's political career began in the early 1990s, when he worked as a top aide to Anatoly Sobchak, the then mayor of Saint Petersburg, who before that was one of Putin's professors at the university. In 1997, Putin entered the Kremlin as director of the FSB (the main agency that replaced the KGB), and was soon appointed prime minister. On New Year's Eve 1999, former Russian President Boris Yeltsin stepped down and appointed Putin as acting president.



Putin has remained in power since then, although he was forced to serve as prime minister between 2008 and 2012 when he was barred by the Russian constitution from a third term.

Putin returned to power by winning the 2012 elections with more than 66 percent of the vote, amid accusations of voter fraud.

Putin has brought back the grandiose military parades of the Soviet era, and once banned images of Stalin are starting to appear again.

Even the anti-Covid-19 vaccine produced by Russia was named "Sputnik V" after the Soviet satellite Sputnik, which became the world's first satellite in 1957.

Putin described the collapse of the Soviet Union as "the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the [twentieth] century", and since 1997, repeatedly criticized NATO's expansion towards Russia's borders

Cold relations with the West

Previous tensions between Russia and Ukraine and Moscow's intervention in the Syrian civil war in support of President Bashar al-Assad have reignited the West's suspicion of Putin. The coldness of relations between the two sides mimicked those that characterized the Cold War in the twentieth century, with the exception of relations between Washington and Moscow during the presidency of Donald, who publicly expressed his admiration for his Russian counterpart. His successor, President Joe Biden, called Putin a "murderer."

Putin's popularity

President Putin seems to relish his souvenir photo, which emerged during some of his electoral tricks, such as his travel to Chechnya in a fighter jet in 2000, or his attendance at a Russian cycling festival on the shores of the Black Sea in 2011.

But Russian media have also highlighted Putin's softer side, with videos showing him cuddling his dogs and helping to care for endangered Amur tigers.

According to a poll conducted by Russia's Levada Center in February 2021, 48 percent of Russians would like Putin to remain president beyond 2024.

Many Western politicians would probably envy Putin this percentage, but it was probably indicating that many, simply put They consider Putin a safe bet.

Putin scored political points for his success in maintaining Russia's relative stability in the chaos that followed the collapse of communism in the 1990s.

In addition to restoring his country's sense of national pride, Putin has also allowed the middle class to thrive, even though Moscow remains dominant in the economy and there is still plenty of poverty in rural areas.

Turmoil inside

 Among older Russian citizens is much stronger compared to his popularity among young people. Younger generations have grown up in his era, and many of them seem thirsty for change.

Thousands of young Russians demonstrated in January 2021 across the country in support of Alexei Navalny, Putin's arch-opposition who was arrested upon his return from Berlin.

Navalny is best known for exposing the country's rampant corruption, and has described Putin's United Russia party as "the party of crooks and thieves".

The demonstrations that took place at the time were among the largest in Russia in previous years. The police cracked down on it, and detained thousands of people.

Navalny, who is currently in prison in poor health, was convicted in connection with an old embezzlement case, which sparked controversy and caused another rift in Putin's relations with the West.

In August 2021, Navalny nearly died in a nerve agent novichok attack, which Western governments blamed directly on Putin's Federal Security Service (FSB).

Russia's Novochok weapon was used to poison former Russian intelligence agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in England in 2018.

Putin has denied any connection to those and other attacks on prominent political opponents.

Difficult childhood

Vladimir Putin grew up in an apartment complex in a violent residential district of Leningrad - later Saint Petersburg - and often quarrels with the bigger and stronger local boys.

According to the Kremlin's website, Putin wanted to work for the KGB "even before he finished school."

In October 2015, Putin said, “Fifty years ago, the streets of Leningrad taught me a rule that if the battle is not necessary, you must strike first.”

Putin used the blunt language of street fighters to defend his military assault on separatist rebels in Chechnya, vowing to crush and chase them everywhere "even in the toilet."

It is noteworthy that the fierce fighting that continued between 1999 and 2000 destroyed the Muslim-majority republic of Chechnya, located in the northern Caucasus region, and killed thousands of civilians there.

Georgia was another hot spot for Putin. In 2008, his forces expelled the Georgian army from the separatist regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

It was a very personal struggle with the pro-NATO President of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili, and demonstrated Putin's willingness to act in order to undermine the power of pro-Western leaders in the former Soviet Union.

His friends are billionaires

The entourage of the Russian president is an elite of the very wealthy, and it is believed that he himself owns a huge fortune. Putin succeeded in keeping his family and financial affairs out of the limelight.

The 2016 "Panama Papers" leaks revealed a shady network of foreign companies owned by Russian cellist Sergei Roldugin, a longtime friend of Putin.

In 2013, Putin's divorce from his wife Lyudmila was announced after nearly 30 years of marriage. His ex-wife described him as a workaholic.

According to Reuters news agency, one of Putin's daughters, Katerina, holds a high administrative position at Moscow State University, and is a dancer who participates in rock and roll acrobatics.

Maria, Putin's eldest daughter, is an endocrinologist.

Exclusion of liberals

The Russian media is dominated by nationalism, compatible with Putin's perception, whose coverage is marked by its support for the president, so the true scope of the opposition cannot be assessed.

During his first and second terms, Russia's large income from oil and gas, which are Russia's main exports, bolstered Putin's position.

The living conditions of the majority of Russian citizens have improved. But the price, in the opinion of many, was the erosion of Russia's fledgling democracy.

But since the global financial crisis in 2008, the Russian economy has suffered from weakness and stagnation, and then from the decline in oil prices in the past few years.

Russia has lost many foreign investors and billions of dollars due to capital flight.

President Putin's rule is characterized by conservative Russian nationalism, has strong echoes of the dictatorship of the Czars, and is supported by the Orthodox Church.

Shortly after assuming the presidency, Putin marginalized liberal figures, usually replacing them with strong allies, or neutrals who did not disagree with him.

For example, figures who were close to former President Yeltsin, such as the wealthy businessmen Boris Berezovsky and Vladimir Gusinsky, ended up living in exile abroad.

International concern about the human rights situation in Russia has risen over time, following the imprisonment of famed billionaire businessman and billionaire Mikhail Khedrovsky, once one of the world's richest people, and the imprisonment of activists from the anti-Putin band Pussy Riot.

Now, with the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and President Putin warning that Moscow's response will be "immediate" if anyone tries to intervene, all eyes are on the Russian president to see what his next step will be.