Putin, Vladimir (1952–)

Former Soviet intelligence agent who succeeded Boris Yeltsin as president of the Russian Federation in 2000. Putin has been a controversial figure whose assurances of democratic sympathies stand in contrast to the authoritarianism of many aspects of his administration.

Born in Leningrad on October 7, 1952, Putin received a law degree from Leningrad State University in 1975. After graduation, he began a 15-year career with the foreign intelligence arm of the KGB, the Soviet secret police. Upon the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, he continued in the service of the KGB's successor in Russia, the FSB. Putin served as head of the FSB from 1998 to 1999. In August 1999, Russian president Boris Yeltsin appointed Putin to be Russian prime minister. Four months later, Yeltsin resigned and named Putin as his interim successor. Elections held in March 2000 confirmed Putin as Russia's new president. In March 2004, Russian voters overwhelmingly reelected him to a second term.

After amicable relations under Yeltsin, the tone of the Russia–U.S. relationship has changed under Putin. Whereas Yeltsin worked hard to erase all vestiges of communist influence, including symbols and songs from the Soviet past, Putin has been more open to allowing their return to Russian society. In 2004, Putin went so far as to declare the collapse of the Soviet Union a “national tragedy on an enormous scale.” At the beginning of his first term in office, U.S. president [Page 613]George W. Bush established what seemed to be a good rapport with Putin. Bush met with the Russian leader and declared, “I looked the man in the eye. I was able to get a sense of his soul.”

Since that time, Putin's policies have often proven vexing for the United States. For example, Putin was critical of the expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and European Union into formerly Soviet-dominated countries in Eastern Europe, moves strongly supported by the United States. To counter Western influence in the nations surrounding Russia, Putin moved aggressively to forge closer ties with other members of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), a loose federation of countries composed of the independent republics of the former Soviet Union. Putin has also increased Russian political influence over its western neighbors in Ukraine and Belarus, a step that has put his government at odds with the Bush administration, which accused Russia of interfering in Ukraine's 2004 presidential elections. Putin's opposition to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 has also been a source of strain on U.S.–Russian relations.

Putin has come under fire for the increasingly anti-democratic manner in which he has handled political criticism and opposition. As president, he has led a high-profile campaign to prosecute businessmen who control the Russian media and powerful Russian industries. Critics of Putin claim the trials of these so-called oligarchs, who were accused of tax evasion and other financial misdeeds, were merely an excuse for Putin to seize control of the Russian media and economy. Indeed, by 2005, most of the media outlets in Russia were state controlled. The state also held significant financial interests in Russian oil, gas, and other industries.

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