Vladimir Putin (second from the left) with Boris Yeltsin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is the fourth and current President of Russia, from 2000 to 2008 and again from 2012 to the present. He previously
In May 1990, Putin was appointed as an advisor on international affairs to the Mayor of Leningrad Anatoly Sobchak. In a 2017 interview with Oliver Stone, Putin said that he resigned from the KGB in 1991, following the coup against Mikhail Gorbachev, as he did not agree with what had happened and did not want to be part of the intelligence in the new administration. He described this in "The Putin interviews".[51]
On 28 June 1991, he became head of the Committee for External Relations of the Mayor's Office, with responsibility for promoting international relations and foreign investments[52] and registering business ventures. Within a year, Putin was investigated by the city legislative council led by Marina Salye. It was concluded that he had understated prices and permitted the export of metals valued at $93 million in exchange for foreign food aid that never arrived.[53][54] Despite the investigators' recommendation that Putin be fired, Putin remained head of the Committee for External Relations until 1996.[55][56] From 1994 to 1996, he held several other political and governmental positions in Saint Petersburg.[57]
In March 1994, Putin was appointed as First Deputy Chairman of the Government of Saint Petersburg. In May 1995, he organized the Saint Petersburg branch of the pro-government Our Home – Russia political party, the liberal party of power founded by Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin. In 1995, he managed the legislative election campaign for that party, and from 1995 through June 1997, he was the leader of its Saint Petersburg branch.[57]
1996–1999: Early Moscow career
In June 1996 Sobchak lost his bid for reelection in Saint Petersburg, so Putin moved to Moscow and was appointed as Deputy Chief of the Presidential Property Management Department headed by Pavel Borodin. He occupied this position until March 1997. During his tenure, Putin was responsible for the foreign property of the state and organized the transfer of the former assets of the Soviet Union and Communist Party to the Russian Federation.[39] [1] Putin as FSB director, 1998On 26 March 1997, President Boris Yeltsin appointed Putin deputy chief of Presidential Staff, which he remained until May 1998, and chief of the Main Control Directorate of the Presidential Property Management Department (until June 1998). His predecessor on this position was Alexei Kudrin and the successor was Nikolai Patrushev, both future prominent politicians and Putin's associates.[39]
On 27 June 1997, at the Saint Petersburg Mining Institute, guided by rector Vladimir Litvinenko, Putin defended his Candidate of Science dissertation in economics, titled "The Strategic Planning of Regional Resources Under the Formation of Market Relations".[58] This exemplified the custom in Russia for a rising young official to write a scholarly work in mid-career.[59] When Putin later became president, the dissertation became a target of plagiarism accusations by fellows at the Brookings Institution; although the dissertation was referenced,[60][61] the Brookings fellows asserted that it constituted plagiarism albeit perhaps unintentional.[60] The dissertation committee denied the accusations.[61][62]
On 25 May 1998, Putin was appointed First Deputy Chief of Presidential Staff for regions, replacing Viktoriya Mitina; and, on 15 July, he was appointed head of the commission for the preparation of agreements on the delimitation of power of regions and the federal center attached to the president, replacing Sergey Shakhray. After Putin's appointment, the commission completed no such agreements, although during Shakhray's term as the Head of the Commission 46 agreements were signed.[63] Later, after becoming president, Putin canceled all those agreements.[39]
On 25 July 1998, Yeltsin appointed Putin as Director of the Federal Security Service (FSB), the primary intelligence and security organization of the Russian Federation and the successor to the KGB.[64]
1999: First premiership
Main article: Vladimir Putin's First CabinetOn 9 August 1999, Putin was appointed one of three First Deputy Prime Ministers, and later on that day, was appointed acting Prime Minister of the Government of the Russian Federation by President Yeltsin.[65] Yeltsin also announced that he wanted to see Putin as his successor. Later on that same day, Putin agreed to run for the presidency.[66]
On 16 August, the State Duma approved his appointment as Prime Minister with 233 votes in favor (vs. 84 against, 17 abstained),[67] while a simple majority of 226 was required, making him Russia's fifth PM in fewer than eighteen months. On his appointment, few expected Putin, virtually unknown to the general public, to last any longer than his predecessors. He was initially regarded as a Yeltsin loyalist; like other prime ministers of Boris Yeltsin, Putin did not choose ministers himself, his cabinet was determined by the presidential administration.[68]
Yeltsin's main opponents and would-be successors were already campaigning to replace the ailing president, and they fought hard to prevent Putin's emergence as a potential successor. Following the Russian apartment bombings, Putin's law-and-order image and his unrelenting approach to the Second Chechen War against the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, soon combined to raise Putin's popularity and allowed him to overtake all rivals.
While not formally associated with any party, Putin pledged his support to the newly formed Unity Party,[69] which won the second largest percentage of the popular vote (23.3%) in the December 1999 Duma elections, and in turn he was supported by it.
1999–2000: Acting presidency
[2] Putin in 1999On 31 December 1999, Yeltsin unexpectedly resigned and, according to the Constitution of Russia, Putin became Acting President of the Russian Federation. On assuming this role, Putin went on a previously scheduled visit to Russian troops in Chechnya.[70]
The first Presidential Decree that Putin signed, on 31 December 1999, was titled "On guarantees for former president of the Russian Federation and members of his family".[71][72] This ensured that "corruption charges against the outgoing President and his relatives" would not be pursued.[73] This was most notably targeted at Mabetex bribery case in which Yeltsin's family members were involved. On 30 August 2000, a criminal investigation (number 18/238278-95) was dropped in which Putin himself was one of the suspects[74][75] as a member of the Saint Petersburg city government. On 30 December 2000, yet another case against the prosecutor general was dropped "for lack of evidence", in spite of thousands of documents passed by Swiss prosecution.[76] On 12 February 2001, Putin signed a similar federal law which replaced the decree of 1999. The case of Putin's alleged corruption in metal exports from 1992 was brought back by Marina Salye, but she was silenced and forced to leave Saint Petersburg.[77]
While his opponents had been preparing for an election in June 2000, Yeltsin's resignation resulted in the Presidential elections being held within three months, on 26 March 2000; Putin won in the first round with 53% of the vote.[78]
2000–2004: First presidential term
[3] Putin taking presidential oath beside Boris Yeltsin, May 2000The inauguration of President Putin occurred on 7 May 2000. Putin appointed the Minister of Finance, Mikhail Kasyanov, as the Prime Minister.
The first major challenge to Putin's popularity came in August 2000, when he was criticized for the alleged mishandling of the Kursk submarine disaster.[79] That criticism was largely because it was several days before Putin returned from vacation, and several more before he visited the scene.[79]
Between 2000 and 2004, Putin set about the reconstruction of the impoverished condition of the country, apparently winning a power-struggle with the Russian oligarchs, reaching a 'grand bargain' with them. This bargain allowed the oligarchs to maintain most of their powers, in exchange for their explicit support for—and alignment with—Putin's government.[80][81]
In 2003, a referendum was held in Chechnya, adopting a new constitution which declares that the Republic of Chechnya is a part of Russia; on the other hand, the region did acquire autonomy.[82] Chechnya has been gradually stabilized with the establishment of the Parliamentary elections and a Regional Government.[83][84] Throughout the Second Chechen War, Russia severely disabled the Chechen rebel movement; however, sporadic attacks by rebels continued to occur throughout the northern Caucasus.[85]
2004–2008: Second presidential term
[4] Vladimir Putin with Junichiro Koizumi, Jacques Chirac, Gerhard Schröder, Silvio Berlusconi, George W. Bush and other state leaders in Moscow, 9 May 2005[86][87][88]On 14 March 2004, Putin was elected to the presidency for a second term, receiving 71% of the vote.[78] The Beslan school hostage crisis took place in September 2004, in which hundreds died. Many in the Russian press and in the international media warned that the death of 130 hostages in the special forces' rescue operation during the 2002 Moscow theater hostage crisis would severely damage President Putin's popularity. However, shortly after the siege had ended, the Russian president enjoyed record public approval ratings – 83% of Russians declared themselves satisfied with Putin and his handling of the siege.[89]
The near 10-year period prior to the rise of Putin after the dissolution of Soviet rule was a time of upheaval in Russia.[90] In a 2005 Kremlin speech, Putin characterized the collapse of the Soviet Union as the "greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the Twentieth Century."[91] Putin elaborated "Moreover, the epidemic of disintegration infected Russia itself."[92] The country's cradle-to-grave social safety net was gone and life expectancy declined in the period preceding Putin's rule.[93] In 2005, the National Priority Projects were launched to improve Russia's health care, education, housing and agriculture.[94][95] [5] Putin with Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel in March 2008The continued criminal prosecution of Russia's then richest man, President of Yukos oil and gas company Mikhail Khodorkovsky, for fraud and tax evasion was seen by the international press as a retaliation for Khodorkovsky's donations to both liberal and communist opponents of the Kremlin.[citation needed] The government said that Khodorkovsky was "corrupting" a large segment of the Duma to prevent changes to the tax code.[citation needed] Khodorkovsky was arrested, Yukos was bankrupted and the company's assets were auctioned at below-market value, with the largest share acquired by the state company Rosneft.[96] The fate of Yukos was seen as a sign of a broader shift of Russia towards a system of state capitalism.[97][98] This was underscored in July 2014 when shareholders of Yukos were awarded $50 billion in compensation by the Permanent Arbitration Court in The Hague.[99]
On 7 October 2006, Anna Politkovskaya, a journalist who exposed corruption in the Russian army and its conduct in Chechnya, was shot in the lobby of her apartment building, on Putin's birthday. The death of Politkovskaya triggered international criticism, with accusations that Putin has failed to protect the country's new independent media.[100][101] Putin himself said that her death caused the government more problems than her writings.[102]
In 2007, "Dissenters' Marches" were organized by the opposition group The Other Russia,[103] led by former chess champion Garry Kasparov and national-Bolshevist leader Eduard Limonov. Following prior warnings, demonstrations in several Russian cities were met by police action, which included interfering with the travel of the protesters and the arrests of as many as 150 people who attempted to break through police lines.[104]
On 12 September 2007, Putin dissolved the government upon the request of Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov. Fradkov commented that it was to give the President a "free hand" in the run-up to the parliamentary election. Viktor Zubkov was appointed the new prime minister.[105]
In December 2007, United Russia won 64.24% of the popular vote in their run for State Duma according to election preliminary results.[106] United Russia's victory in the December 2007 elections was seen by many as an indication of strong popular support of the then Russian leadership and its policies.[107][108]
2008–2012: Second premiership
Main article: Vladimir Putin's Second CabinetPutin was barred from a third consecutive term by the Constitution. First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev was elected his successor. In a power-switching operation on 8 May 2008, only a day after handing the presidency to Medvedev, Putin was appointed Prime Minister of Russia, maintaining his political dominance.[109] [6] Putin with Dmitry Medvedev, March 2008Putin has said that overcoming the consequences of the world economic crisis was one of the two main achievements of his second Premiership.[95] The other was the stabilizing the size of Russia's population between 2008 and 2011 following a long period of demographic collapse that began in the 1990s.[95]
At the United Russia Congress in Moscow on 24 September 2011, Medvedev officially proposed that Putin stand for the Presidency in 2012, an offer Putin accepted. Given United Russia's near-total dominance of Russian politics, many observers believed that Putin was assured of a third term. The move was expected to see Medvedev stand on the United Russia ticket in the parliamentary elections in December, with a goal of becoming Prime Minister at the end of his presidential term.[110]
After the parliamentary elections on 4 December 2011, tens of thousands of Russians engaged in protests against alleged electoral fraud, the largest protests in Putin's time. Protesters criticized Putin and United Russia and demanded annulment of the election results.[111] Those protests sparked the fear of a colour revolution in society.[112][113][114] Putin allegedly organized a number of paramilitary groups loyal to himself and to the United Russia party in the period between 2005 and 2012.[115]
2012–2018: Third presidential term
On 24 September 2011, while speaking at the United Russia party congress, Medvedev announced that he would recommend the party nominate Putin as its presidential candidate. He also revealed that the two men had long ago cut a deal to allow Putin to run for president in 2012.[116] This switch was termed by many in the media as "Rokirovka", the Russian term for the chess move "castling". Medvedev said he himself would be ready to perform "practical work in the government".[117]
On 4 March 2012, Putin won the 2012 Russian presidential elections in the first round, with 63.6% of the vote, despite widespread accusations of vote-rigging.[78][118][119] Opposition groups accused Putin and the United Russia party of fraud.[120][121] While efforts to make the elections transparent were publicized, including the usage of webcams in polling stations, the vote was criticized by the Russian opposition and by international observers from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe for procedural irregularities.[122] [7] Anti-Putin protesters march in Moscow, 4 February 2012Anti-Putin protests took place during and directly after the presidential campaign. The most notorious protest was the Pussy Riot performance on 21 February, and subsequent trial.[123] An estimated 8,000–20,000 protesters gathered in Moscow on 6 May,[124][125] when eighty people were injured in confrontations with police,[126] and 450 were arrested, with another 120 arrests taking place the following day.[127] A counter-protest of Putin supporters occurred which culminated in a gathering of an estimated 130,000 supporters at the Luzhniki Stadium, Russia's largest stadium. Some of the attendees stated that they had been paid to come, were forced to come by their employers, or were misled into believing that they were going to attend a folk festival instead.[128][129][130][131] The rally is considered to be the largest in support of Putin to date.[132]
Putin's presidency was inaugurated in the Kremlin on 7 May 2012.[133] On his first day as president, Putin issued 14 Presidential decrees, which are sometimes called the "May Decrees" by the media, including a lengthy one stating wide-ranging goals for the Russian economy. Other decrees concerned education, housing, skilled labor training, relations with the European Union, the defense industry, inter-ethnic relations, and other policy areas dealt with in Putin's program articles issued during the presidential campaign.[134]
In 2012 and 2013, Putin and the United Russia party backed stricter legislation against the LGBT community, in Saint Petersburg, Archangelsk and Novosibirsk; a law called the Russian gay propaganda law, that is against "homosexual propaganda" (which prohibits such symbols as the rainbow flag as well as published works containing homosexual content) was adopted by the State Duma in June 2013.[135][136][137][138] Responding to international concerns about Russia's legislation, Putin asked critics to note that the law was a "ban on the propaganda of pedophilia and homosexuality" and he stated that homosexual visitors to the 2014 Winter Olympics should "leave the children in peace" but denied there was any "professional, career or social discrimination" against homosexuals in Russia.[139]
In June 2013, Putin attended a televised rally of the All-Russia People's Front where he was elected head of the movement,[140] which was set up in 2011.[141] According to journalist Steve Rosenberg, the movement is intended to "reconnect the Kremlin to the Russian people" and one day, if necessary, replace the increasingly unpopular United Russia party that currently backs Putin.[142]
Intervention in Ukraine and annexation of Crimea
Main article: Russian military intervention in Ukraine[8] Putin, with St. George ribbon, greets local residents during a visit to the Crimean city of Sevastopol on 9 May 2014In 2014, Russia made several military incursions into Ukrainian territory. After Euromaidan protests and the fall of Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych, Russian soldiers without insignias took control of strategic positions and infrastructure within the Ukrainian territory of Crimea. Russia then annexed Crimea after a disputed referendum in which Crimeans voted to join the Russian Federation, according to official results.[143][144][145] Subsequently, demonstrations by pro-Russian groups in the Donbass area of Ukraine escalated into an armed conflict between the Ukrainian government and the Russia-backed separatist forces of the self-declared Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics. In August, Russian military vehicles crossed the border in several locations of Donetsk Oblast.[146][147][148][149] The incursion by the Russian military was seen as responsible for the defeat of Ukrainian forces in early September.[150][151] [9] Putin in talks with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President François Hollande, 17 October 2014In November 2014, the Ukrainian military reported intensive movement of troops and equipment from Russia into the separatist controlled parts of eastern Ukraine.[152] The Associated Press reported 80 unmarked military vehicles on the move in rebel-controlled areas.[153] An OSCE Special Monitoring Mission observed convoys of heavy weapons and tanks in DPR-controlled territory without insignia.[154] OSCE monitors further stated they observed vehicles transporting ammunition and soldiers' dead bodies crossing the Russian-Ukrainian border under the guise of humanitarian aid convoys.[155] As of early August 2015, OSCE observed over 21 such vehicles marked with the Russian military code for soldiers killed in action.[156] According to The Moscow Times, Russia has tried to intimidate and silence human rights workers discussing Russian soldiers' deaths in the conflict.[157] OSCE repeatedly reported that its observers were denied access to the areas controlled by "combined Russian-separatist forces".[158]
The majority of members of the international community and organizations such as Amnesty International have condemned Russia for its actions in post-revolutionary Ukraine, accusing it of breaking international law and violating Ukrainian sovereignty. Many countries implemented economic sanctions against Russia, Russian individuals or companies – to which Russia responded in kind. [10] Putin and Turkish President Erdoğan attend Moscow's Cathedral Mosque opening ceremony, 23 September 2015In October 2015, The Washington Post reported that Russia has redeployed some of its elite units from Ukraine to Syria in recent weeks to support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.[159] In December 2015, Russian Federation President Putin admitted that Russian military intelligence officers were operating in Ukraine.[160] Many members of the international community assumed that Putin's annexation of Crimea initiated the start of a completely new kind of foreign policy from Russia.[161] They took the annexation of Crimea to mean that his foreign policy shifted "from state-driven foreign policy" to taking an offensive stance to re-create the Soviet Union.[161] However, this policy shift can be understood as Putin trying to defend nations in Russia's sphere of influence from encroaching western power. While the act to annex the Crimea was bold and drastic, his "new" foreign policy may have more similarities to his older
nuclear power and industry development before 2015.[202] A large number of nuclear power stations and units are currently being constructed by the state corporation Rosatom in Russia and abroad.[citation needed] [11] On 21 May 2014, Russia and China signed a $400 billion gas dealA construction program of floating nuclear power plants is intended to provide power to Russian served as Prime Minister of Russia from 1999 to 2000 and again from 2008 to 2012. Before his political career, he was known as one of the greatest agents of the KGB, the Russian secret police.
Putin has connections to the Templar organization Abstergo Industries, which helped put his friend, mentor and predecessor Boris Yeltsin in power in 1991. In September 1999, Chechen terrorists bombed apartment buildings in the Russian cities of Buynaksk, Moscow, and Volgodonsk. Secretly orchestrated by Abstergo, these bombings boosted Putin's popularity as a presidential candidate.
Appearance
Reference
