Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin President of Russia

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2nd and 4th President of Russia
Incumbent
Assumed office 7 May 2012
Prime Minister	Viktor Zubkov Dmitry Medvedev
Preceded by	Dmitry Medvedev
In office 7 May 2000 – 7 May 2008 Acting: 31 December 1999 – 7 May 2000
Prime Minister	Mikhail Kasyanov Mikhail Fradkov Viktor Zubkov
Preceded by	Boris Yeltsin
Succeeded by	Dmitry Medvedev
Prime Minister of Russia
In office 8 May 2008 – 7 May 2012
President	Dmitry Medvedev
Deputy	Igor Shuvalov
Preceded by	Viktor Zubkov
Succeeded by	Dmitry Medvedev
In office 9 August 1999 – 7 May 2000 Acting: 9 August 1999 – 16 August 1999
President	Boris Yeltsin
Deputy	Viktor Khristenko Mikhail Kasyanov
Preceded by	Sergei Stepashin
Succeeded by	Mikhail Kasyanov
Leader of United Russia
In office 1 January 2008 – 30 May 2012
Preceded by	Boris Gryzlov
Succeeded by	Dmitry Medvedev
Director of the Federal Security Service
In office 25 July 1998 – 29 March 1999
President	Boris Yeltsin
Preceded by	Nikolay Kovalyov
Succeeded by	Nikolai Patrushev
Personal details
Born	Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin 7 October 1952 (age 62) Leningrad, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Political party	Communist Party of the Soviet Union (1975–1991) Our Home-Russia (1995–1999) Unity (1999–2001) Independent (1991–1995; 2001–2008) United Russia (2008–present)
Other political affiliations	People's Front (2011–present)
Spouse(s)	Lyudmila Shkrebneva (1983–2014)[1]
Children	Mariya (b. 28 April 1985) Yekaterina (b. 31 August 1986)[2]
Alma mater	Leningrad State University
Religion	Russian Orthodoxy
Awards	Order of Honor
Signature
Website	Official website
Military service
Allegiance	Soviet Union
Service/branch	KGB
Years of service	1975–1991
Rank	Lieutenant colonel

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Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (/ˈpuːtɪn/; Russian: Влади́мир Влади́мирович Пу́тин; IPA: [vlɐˈdʲimʲɪr vlɐˈdʲimʲɪrəvʲɪtɕ ˈputʲɪn] ( listen), born 7 October 1952) has been the President of Russia since 7 May 2012. Putin previously served as President from 2000 to 2008, and as Prime Minister of Russia from 1999 to 2000 and again from 2008 to 2012. During his last term as Prime Minister, he was also the Chairman of United Russia, the ruling party.
For 16 years Putin was an officer in the KGB, rising to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel before he retired to enter politics in his native Saint Petersburg in 1991. He moved to Moscow in 1996 and joined President Boris Yeltsin's administration where he rose quickly, becoming Acting President on 31 December 1999 when Yeltsin unexpectedly resigned. Putin won the subsequent 2000 presidential election, despite widespread accusations of vote-rigging,^[3] and was reelected in 2004. Because of constitutionally mandated term limits, Putin was ineligible to run for a third consecutive presidential term in 2008. Dmitry Medvedev won the 2008 presidential election and appointed Putin as Prime Minister, beginning a period of so-called "tandemocracy".^[4] In September 2011, following a change in the law extending the presidential term from four years to six,^[5] Putin announced that he would seek a third, non-consecutive term as President in the 2012 presidential election, an announcement which led to large-scale protests in many Russian cities. In March 2012 he won the election, which was criticized for procedural irregularities, and is serving a six-year term.^[6][7]
Many of Putin's actions are regarded by the domestic opposition and foreign observers as undemocratic.^[8] The 2011 Democracy Index stated that Russia was in "a long process of regression [that] culminated in a move from a hybrid to an authoritarian regime" in view of Putin's candidacy and flawed