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Vladimir Putin

1952 – ? Russian President of Russia, former KGB officer

Former KGB officer who has dominated Russia since 2000, reasserting state control and launching the war on Ukraine.

Religion
Russian Orthodox
Affiliations
KGB (former), United Russia

Vladimir Putin served as a KGB officer, then rose quickly under Yeltsin from FSB director to prime minister to acting president when Yeltsin resigned at the end of 1999. He won the presidency in 2000 and has held power as president or prime minister ever since. He renewed the Chechen war, brought the oligarchs to heel by jailing Khodorkovsky and driving Berezovsky and Gusinsky into exile, and tightened control over media, courts, and elections. He annexed Crimea in 2014, backed war in the Donbas, and in 2022 launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine that Russia calls a special military operation and most of the world condemns as a war of aggression.

Connections

  • rival of Alexander Litvinenko — A vocal accuser of the Kremlin; a British inquiry linked his killing to the Russian state.
  • rival of Boris Berezovsky — Helped bring him to power, then broke with him and fled into exile.
  • rival of Boris Berezovsky — The oligarch helped bring him to power, then broke with him and fled into exile.
  • successor of Boris Yeltsin — Chose him as successor and handed him the presidency in 1999.
  • successor of Boris Yeltsin — Yeltsin chose him as successor and handed him the presidency.
  • ally of Igor Sechin — A close aide who leads the state-first faction and runs Rosneft.
  • ally of Igor Sechin — A close aide who ran Rosneft and absorbed the assets of the broken-up Yukos.
  • rival of Mikhail Khodorkovsky — Had the oligarch jailed after he funded opposition and challenged the Kremlin.
  • rival of Mikhail Khodorkovsky — Jailed after funding opposition and defying the Kremlin.
  • associate of Roman Abramovich — Stayed close to the Kremlin as other oligarchs were pushed out.
  • ally of Viktor Yanukovych — The Kremlin backed him and sheltered him after his fall.
  • rival of Vladimir Gusinsky — Drove the media owner out of NTV and into exile early in his rule.
  • rival of Vladimir Gusinsky — Lost NTV and was driven into exile early in Putin's rule.
  • rival of Volodymyr Zelensky — The Russian president whose forces invaded his country.
  • rival of Volodymyr Zelensky — The Ukrainian president whose country he invaded in 2022.

In the timeline

Wikipedia