Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born on October 7, 1952) is the current president of Russia and has been in office since May 7, 2012. He was Prime Minister from 1999 to 2000, president from 2000 to 2008, and prime minister again from 2008 to 2012. As prime minister, he was chairman of the ruling United Russia party.

Putin was born in Leningrad, then part of the Soviet Union. Putin graduated from St. Petersburg State University in 1975, studying law. Putin served as KGB foreign intelligence officer for 16 years, promoted to Colonel, and retired into political career in 1991. In St. Petersburg. He moved to Moscow in 1996, joined the government of President Boris Yeltsin, rose rapidly, and became acting president after Yeltsin resigned on December 31, 1999. Putin won the subsequent 2000 presidential election by 53% to 30%, thus avoiding a contest with Gennady Zyuganov, a rival of the Russian Federation. He was re elected president in 2004 with 72% of the vote.

During Putin's first presidency, Russia's economy grew for eight years in a row, with GDP growing 72% in purchasing power terms. This growth was the result of the commodity boom of the 2000s, high oil prices and prudent economic and fiscal policies. Putin is not eligible to run for president for the third time in a row in 2008 because of the constitutional term limit. The 2008 presidential election was won by Dmitry Medvedev, who appointed Putin as prime minister, and ushered in the so-called "great democracy" period. In September 2011, after his presidency was extended from four to six years, Putin announced that he would seek a third term. He won the presidential election in March 2012 with 64% of the vote, which coincided with the vote before the election. Russia's annexation of Crimea and military intervention in eastern Ukraine led to the fall of oil prices and the implementation of international sanctions at the beginning of 2014 led to a 3.7% drop in GDP in 2015, although Russia's economy rebounded at the rate of 0.3% GDP growth in 2016 and officially exited the recession.

Under Putin's leadership, Russia scored very low on both the Economist Intelligence Department's democracy index and Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index. Putin has gained a high degree of domestic recognition in his career, and as one of the most powerful leaders in the world, he has been widely concerned by the international community.