Avellon Williams
RUSSIA- Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin was born on October 7, 1952, in Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg), Russia. He grew up in a working-class family and developed an interest in sports, particularly judo, which he pursued throughout his life.
Putin joined the Soviet Union’s security agency, the KGB, in 1975 after graduating from Leningrad State University with a degree in law. He served in various roles within the KGB, both in domestic and foreign intelligence.
In the early 1990s, after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Putin entered politics. He became the mayor of Saint Petersburg in 1991 and gained a reputation for being pragmatic and efficient. In 1999, then-President Boris Yeltsin appointed him as the Prime Minister of Russia, and later that year, Yeltsin resigned, making Putin the acting President.
Putin’s first presidential term began in 2000, and he was officially elected as President in 2004 and re-elected in 2012. During his early presidency, Putin implemented economic reforms that led to a period of stability and growth in Russia. However, his rule was also marked by a crackdown on media freedom and political opposition, which raised concerns about human rights and democratic values.
Putin’s foreign policy approach was assertive, and he aimed to reestablish Russia as a significant global player. His tenure saw tense relationships with the West, particularly over issues like the expansion of NATO and the war in Ukraine.
In 2008, due to term limits, Putin stepped down as President but continued to wield significant influence as the Prime Minister under Dmitry Medvedev’s presidency. In 2012, he returned to the presidency, and in 2018, he was re-elected for his fourth term as President.
Over the years, Putin’s leadership has been both praised for stabilizing Russia and criticized for its authoritarian tendencies and alleged human rights abuses. His policies have also faced international scrutiny, including sanctions imposed on Russia by various countries.
Putin’s political future remained uncertain, and Russia’s domestic and foreign policies continued to be closely watched by the global community.
How has Vladimir Putin changed Russia?
Over the last two decades, Vladimir Putin has solidified his rule and portrayed Russia as a global power. In addition to turning Russia into an autocratic state, he also expanded Russian influence in the Middle East, strengthened Russian relations with China, and demonstrated a willingness to use force in order to accomplish his goals, as he did when annexing Crimea in 2014 and invading Ukraine in 2022 on a large scale.
Background to Vladimir Putin’s Attack on Ukraine in 2022?
During the decades following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Ukraine became more integrated with Europe. As pro-Russian Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych tried to reverse that trend in 2014, protests forced him from power. As a result of losing an ally, Vladimir Putin invaded and annexed the Ukrainian autonomous republic of Crimea.
Additionally, he provoked separatist uprisings in Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine, where pro-Russian militias and the Ukrainian government fought for years. On a populist reform platform, Volodymyr Zelensky won more than 70 percent of the vote for Ukrainian president in 2019. Putin prepared for a military buildup along the Russian border with Ukraine in 2021, and in February 2022, after announcing a “special military operation,” Russian forces invaded Ukraine.
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