
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (Russian language: Владимир Владимирович Путин ; born October 7, 1952) is a Politics of Russia and the current President of Russia of the Russian Federation. He succeeded Boris Yeltsin on December 31, 1999. ==Life and Career== Putin was born in Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg). His biography, translated into English under the title ''First Person'' and based on interviews conducted with Putin in 2000, speaks of humble beginnings, including early years in a rat-infested tenement in a communal apartment. In the same book, Putin notes that his paternal grandfather, a chef by profession, was brought to the Moscow suburbs to serve as a cook at one of Stalin's dachas. (In "The Court of the Red Tsar" by Simon Sebag Montefiore, a footnote on page 300 cites Putin as saying that while his grandfather did not discuss his work very often, he recalled serving meals to Rasputin as a boy and also prepared food for Lenin). His mother was a factory worker and his father was conscripted into the navy, where he served in the submarine fleet in the early 1930s. (His father subsequently served with the land forces during the Second World War). Two older brothers were born in the mid-1930s; one died within a few months of birth; the second succumbed to diphtheria during the siege of Leningrad. Putin graduated from the International Department of the Law Faculty of the Saint Petersburg State University in 1975 and was recruited into the KGB. In ''First Person'', Putin described to journalists his early duties in the KGB, which included suppressing dissident activities in Leningrad. From 1985 to 1990 the KGB stationed Putin in East Germany, in what he himself acknowledges was a minor position. Following the collapse of the East German regime, Putin was recalled to the USSR and returned to Leningrad, where in June 1990 he assumed a position with the International Affairs section of Leningrad State University, reporting to the Vice-Rector. In June 1991 he was appointed head of the International Committee of the Saint Petersburg Mayor's office, with responsibility for promoting international relations and foreign investments. [[Image:Vladimir_putin_kgb.jpg|200px|thumb|right|KGB Service Photos]] Putin formally resigned from the state security services on August 20, 1991, during the abortive putsch against the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. In 1994 he became First Deputy Chairman of the city of Saint Petersburg, a position he retained until he was called to Moscow, in August 1996, to serve in a variety of senior positions in Yeltsin's second Administration. He was head of the Federalnaya Sluzhba Bezopasnosti (one of the successor agencies to the KGB) from July 1998 to August 1999, and also served as Secretary of the Security Council March-August 1999. ==Prime Minister and first term as President== Putin was appointed Chairman (predsedatel', or prime minister) of the Government of the Russian Federation by President Boris Yeltsin in August 1999, making him Russia's fifth prime minister in less than eighteen months. On his appointment, few expected Putin, a virtual unknown, to last any longer than his predecessors. Yeltsin's main opponents and would-be successors, Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov and former Chairman of the Russian Government Yevgeniy Primakov, were already campaigning to replace the ailing president, and fought hard to prevent Putin's emergence as a potential successor. Nevertheless, Putin's law-and-order image and a fiercely nationalist public relations campaign combined to help him overtake all rivals by late September 1999. While not formally associated with any party, Putin was supported by the newly formed Edinstvo (unity) faction, which won the largest percentage of the popular vote in the December 1999 Duma elections. Putin was reappointed as Chairman of the Government, and seemed ideally positioned to win the presidency in elections due the following summer. His rise to the highest office ended up being even more rapid: on December 31, 1999, Yeltsin unexpectedly resigned and appointed Putin the second (acting (law)) President of the Russian Federation. Presidential elections were held on March 26, 2000, which Putin won in the first round. After years of scandal, erratic policy making and a general sense of national malaise under the aged and ailing Yeltsin, Putin's election seemed to many Russians to mark a new beginning in their post-Soviet history. At the same time, however, the new president's election was due in no small measure to Yeltsin's inner circle, who had selected and supported Putin with a view to maintaining their own power and privilege. As Putin's new administration took shape, it was clear that members of the Yeltsin-era nomenklatura - including Chief of Staff Alexander Voloshin and Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov - retained significant control over the policies and direction of the new government. On the other hand, Putin was also backed by a team of economic reformers from his native St Petersburg, and could rely as well on support from the ''siloviki''. (The latter group are defined as members of Russia's still-powerful security services, who regard themselves as the defenders of Russia's permanent national interests in the face of rapacious politicians and officials, and who are also well-informed about all aspects of Russia's political and economic life.) The tension -- and cooperation -- between these various groups was a central feature of Putin's first term in office. Upon his election, Putin undertook measures to restore the primacy of the Kremlin in Russia's political life. Under Yeltsin, Russia's 89 Subdivisions of Russia (republics, oblasts, krai, and Moscow and St Petersburg) had been granted unprecedented autonomy. While this move had been intended to help Yeltsin break the hold of the old Communist party over Russia in the early 1990s, it also led to a highly irregular federalism and contributed to the growth of separatist movements, most notably in Chechnya. One of Putin's first acts, therefore, was to attempt to restore what he referred to as the "power vertical" -- i.e. a return to the traditional top-down federal system. As a first step, Putin announced the appointment of seven presidential "plenipotentiary representatives" who were explicitly charged with coordinating federal activity in newly-defined super-regions. While billed as a seminal break with Yeltsin-era federalism, for a variety of reasons the plenipotentiary system never really took hold. Of more lasting significance, Putin also instituted a major reform of Russia's upper house of parliament, the Federation Council. Putin and his team also entered into head-on confrontations with several uncooperative governors accused of corruption, though with only mixed success. The first months of Putin's first term were also marked by a settling of scores among elite financial-industrial groups, whose monetary resources and media empires had been critical weapons in the domestic political war that had been waged over the previous year. Leading members of the old Yeltsin group - known informally as "the Family" - were determined to punish the losing camp, headed by Vladimir Gusinsky, which had backed the Primakov/Luzhkov ticket. Within a year of Putin's election, Gusinsky went from being a would-be kingmaker to living in self-imposed exile; his once-influential media conglomerate (Media-MOST) disintegrated in the face of a withering assault by state-owned and state-allied businesses and under the weight of criminal and civil court decisions. Putin faced his first acute crisis in August 2000, when the Russian nuclear submarine ''Kursk'' sank off the Kola peninsula, killing all of the over 120 sailors on board. His government's handling of this tragedy engendered significant criticism across a wide spectrum of Russian society. Many Russians were angered by the failure of the government and the military to release credible information about the scale and certainty of the disaster. After several days of mounting public confusion and anger, Putin cut short his vacation and returned to Moscow to take charge of the crisis. A careful public relations campaign brought the matter to closure, though it would be many months before the Kremlin dropped its whisper campaign that a collision with a "NATO submarine" was to blame for the disaster. Putin has been unenthusiastic about erasing Russia's Soviet Union past from memory. He has stated his belief that whatever the massive crimes of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union regime, it was nevertheless an important part of History of Russia and has an important influence on the creation of modern Russian society. As a result, some Soviet-era symbols have been allowed to return to Russia, such as the trademark red military flag, the "Soviet Star" crest, and the Hymn of the Soviet Union (although with revised lyrics) -- all of which have resonated well with the majority of Russia's population. A pro-Putin United Russia party won a landslide victory in the 2003 parliamentary system. Foreign observers called the election itself free, but noted that the largely government-run media, especially Russian national TV, had massively and unfairly campaigned for the governing party only. Indeed, most Russian TV stations, newspapers, and other media are now controlled directly or indirectly by the Kremlin. Domestic and foreign critics accuse Putin of having orchestrated the trials of oligarchs such as Boris Berezovsky, Vladimir Gusinsky, and later Mikhail Khodorkovsky as part of an effort by his Kremlin to gain control over the media and large sectors of the Russian economy. On 24 February 2004, less than a month prior to the elections, Putin dismissed Prime Minister Kasyanov and the entire Russian cabinet and appointed Viktor Khristenko acting prime minister. On March 1, he appointed Mikhail Fradkov to the position. ==Second term as President== On March 14, 2004, Putin won re-election to the presidency for a second term, earning 71 percent of the vote. Again, there was massive and one-sided campaigning for Putin by Russian television channels, most of which are state owned and controlled. Nevertheless, the election campaign and the actual balloting were both declared "free and fair" by an international observation mission run by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights. Although Russian Presidents are not limited in the number of terms they can serve, they cannot serve for more than two successive terms. So Putin is not permitted under the Constitution of Russian Federation to run for a third successive term in 2008 (following the 2003 parliamentary elections he gained a sufficient majority to change the Constitution, but so far has not announced any intention to do so.) On September 13, 2004, following the Beslan school hostage crisis, and nearly-concurrent terrorism attacks in Moscow, Putin launched an initiative to replace the election of regional governors with a system whereby they would be proposed by the President and approved or disapproved by regional legislature. Opponents of this measure, including Mikhail Gorbachev, Boris Yeltsin, and Colin Powell, criticised it as a step away from democracy in Russia and a return to the centrally run political apparatus of the Soviet era. Also on that day, Putin publicly backed a plan by the Central Elections Commission for the new proportional, and not mixed system, as before. In the previous system half of the 450 deputies in the Duma were elected based on proportional representation, while the other half of deputies are elected individually in single-member districts. This measure is also seen as an attempt by the President at consolidating power. On April 25, 2005, Putin caused some controversy when, in a nationally televised speech before the Duma, he referred to the collapse of the Soviet Union as "the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century." This remark was poorly received in the West and in some neighbouring states; Putin subsequently repeated earlier protestations that he was not praising the former Soviet Union but rather highlighting in an altogether objective fashion the dramatic impact the collapse of the USSR had had on the world. ==Chechnya== Putin's rise to public office coincided with an aggressive resurgence of the war in Chechnya in August 1999. Both in Russia and abroad, Putin's public image was forged by his tough handling of the dire challenge posed by Chechen extremists and their foreign supporters. During the bitter autumn 1999 campaign for the Duma, pro-Kremlin politicians and media accused Putin's chief rivals of being soft on terrorism, and ratcheted up accusations that the Chechens' military campaign was being supported and supplied by Western intelligence agencies bent on humiliating and weakening Russia. On assuming the role of acting President on December 31, 1999, Putin proceeded on a previously scheduled visit to Russian troops in the North Caucasus; carefully orchestrated public relations coverage showed him presenting hunting knives to soldiers. Throughout the winter of 2000, Putin's government regularly claimed that victory was at hand. In recent years, Putin has distanced himself from the management of the continuing conflict. ==Foreign policy== While President Putin is criticized as an autocrat by some of his Western counterparts, his relationships with US President George W. Bush, German chancellor Gerhard Schröder, French President Jacques Chirac, and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi are apparently friendly. During his time in office, Putin has attempted to strengthen relations with other members of the Commonwealth of Independent States. The "near abroad" zone of traditional Russian influence has again become a foreign policy priority under Putin, as the EU and NATO have grown to encompass much of Central Europe and, more recently, the Baltic states. While tacitly accepting the enlargement of NATO into the Baltic states, Putin has increased Russia's influence over Belarus and Ukraine. During the 2004 Ukrainian_ presidential_election,_2004, Putin twice visited Ukraine before the election to show his support for Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych. Yanukovych's alleged victory was rejected as fraudulent soon after. Putin's direct support for Yanukovych was criticized by some commentators as unwarranted interference in the affairs of post-Soviet Ukraine. Putin surprised many Russian nationalists and even his own defence minister when, in the wake of the September 11 attacks in the United States, he agreed to the establishment of coalition military bases in Central Asia before and during the US-led attack on the Taliban government in Afghanistan. Russian nationalists objected to the establishment of any US military presence on the territory of the former Soviet Union, and had expected Putin to keep the US out of the Central Asian republics, or at the very least extract a commitment from Washington to withdraw from these bases as soon as the immediate military purpose had passed. During the Iraq crisis of 2003, Putin opposed Washington's move to invade Iraq without the benefit of a United Nations Security Council resolution explicitly authorising the use of military force. After the official end of the war was announced, American president George W. Bush asked the United Nations to lift sanctions on Iraq. Putin supported lifting of the sanctions in due course, arguing that the United Nations commission first be given a chance to complete its work on the search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. == Family and personal life == Putin is married to Liudmila Putina, a former airline stewardess and teacher of German. They have two daughters, Yekaterina (Katya) (born 1985) and Maria (born 1986 in Dresden). The daughters attended the German School in Moscow (Deutsche Schule Moskau) until his appointment as prime minister. Putin is a practicing member of the Russian Orthodox Church, whose conversion to Christianity (following a life-threatening fire at his dacha in the early 1990s) most observers agree was sincere. Putin speaks German language with near-native fluency, and passable English language. == Activities == One of Putin's favorite sports is the martial art of judo. It has been stated that Putin began judo at the age of 14 and he continues to study judo even today. Putin has won competitions in his home town of Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg), including senior champion of Leningrad. Now he is President of the Yawara Dojo, the same St. Petersburg dojo he studied at as a youth. After a state visit to Japan, Putin was invited to the Kodokan Institute and showed the students and Japanese officials different judo techniques. Though he is not the first world leader to practice judo (Teddy Roosevelt was the first to do so), Putin is the first leader to move forward in the advanced levels. Currently, Putin is a black belt (6th Degree) and is best known for a "wicked" sweeping leg throw called the Haraigoshi.
==Quotations==
In response to US and EU leaders who have criticised Putin on taking a hardline in dealing with the Chechens ''"Why don't you meet Osama bin Laden, invite him to Brussels or to the White House and engage in talks, ask him what he wants and give it to him so he leaves you in peace? You find it possible to set some limitations in your dealings with these bastards, so why should we talk to people who are child-killers? No one has a moral right to tell us to talk to childkillers."''
Putin, deadpan, said of the very recently and thoroughly briefed US President Bush, "This is a man who ''reads.''"
When a reporter asked Putin why his government didn't negotiate with the leaders of Chechen rebels, Putin answered ''"Russia doesn't negotiate with terrorists. It destroys them."''
After the tragedy of Beslan, Putin explained the failure of Russia's Security Services with the sentence ''"We were weak. And the weak are being beaten."''
Putin on Chechen rebels: "We'll follow terrorists everywhere. Should we catch them in a shithouse, we'll kill them in a shithouse." ("мочить в сортире" in Russian): [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-1397914_2,00.html]
In response to criticism from US journalist Mike Wallace (journalist) that his plan to end the direct election of governors and simply appoint them ran counter to the spirit of democracy, Putin replied:
:"The principle of appointing regional leaders is not a sign of a lack of democracy. For instance, India is called the largest world democracy. But their governors have always been appointed by the central government and nobody disputes that India is a democracy."
:"In the United States, you first elect the electors and then they vote for the presidential candidates. In Russia, the president is elected through the direct vote of the whole population. That might be even more democratic," Putin says. "And you have other problems in your elections," he tells Wallace. "Four years ago your presidential election was decided by the court. The judicial system was brought into it. But we're not going to poke our noses into your democratic system because that's up to the American people."
:After saying the US shouldn't have gone into Iraq in the first place: "But if the U.S. were to leave and abandon Iraq without establishing the grounds for a united and sovereign country, that would definitely be a second mistake." [http://www.drudgereport.com/flash9.htm]
=== Putin-related humor ===
*Weekly TV-show ''Kukly'' showed the most known and powerful Russian politicians as puppets, a puppet-president having been the head of them. It started in 1994, and was shut down in 2002 or 2003. The success of ''Kukly'' was to a great extent due to its scriptwriter Victor Shenderovich.
*Short humorous stories about Vladimir Vladimirovich's everyday life and work, by the journalist Maxim Kononenko, popularly known under the internet handle of "Mr. Parker". In them Parliament is depicted as consisting of androids, a Deputy Chief of Staff being both their constructor and programmer; Vladimir Vladimirovich is fond of collecting things concerned with important historical events or people; etc. The stories are daily published on the Web and weekly go on Ekho Moskvy radio. Their [http://vladimir.vladimirovich.ru/deutsch translation in German] and [http://vladimir.vladimirovich.ru/english English] is available as well.
Some particular jokes can also be mentioned:
* In early 2003, a comparison was made between the looks of Putin and Harry Potter character Dobby. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/world/newsid_2677000/2677981.stm]
==See also==
*List of national leaders
== Reference ==
*Vladimir Putin, ''First Person'', Public Affairs, 2000, 208 pp. (collection of interviews). Russian title: ''Ot Pervogo Litsa. Razgovory s Vladimirom Putinym'' (''From the First Person. Conversations with Vladimir Putin''), Moscow, Vagrius, 2000.
== External links ==
*[http://www.kremlin.ru/eng/ The official site of the President of the Russian Federation]
*[http://www.uncommonknowledge.org/800/826.html Transcript of an American TV discussion held in November 2003; discusses whether Putin is a democrat or a dictator]
*[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/415124.stm BBC - Vladimir Putin: Spy turned politician]
*[http://putinru.com/ PutinRu.com - Vladimir Putin - President of Russian Federation]
*[http://www.ocnus.net/artman/publish/article_16286.shtml Atlantic Monthly- The Accidental Autocrat]
*[http://www.fightingarts.com/content01/putin.html Putin and his judo activities]
*[http://www.noputin.com Noputin.com]
Presidents of the Russian Federation
Russian Prime Ministers
Russian politicians
KGB
1952 births
Teetotalers
Current national leaders
Judoka
Martial arts practitioners
ga:Vladímír Pútín
jv:Vladimir Putin
nds:Wladimir Putin
simple:Vladimir Putin
th:วลาดิเมียร์ ปูติน
zh-min-nan:Vladimir Putin
== Is the article written from a US perspective? == What US-propaganda is this? If you want neutral and objective information about Vladimir Putin you'd better turn to the European Wikipedia pages. :Please state the parts which you don't agree with (or better, rework them yourself). -- User:Cordyph 17:38, 24 Sep 2003 (UTC) :What's the European Wikipedia? User:MrJones 11:02, 8 Mar 2004 (UTC) : I think the part "Putin is a rather atypical Russian leader: He is comparatively young, never touches alcohol, and is a sports enthusiast" is pretty ignorant and discriminating. Just because Yeltsin had an alcohol problem, you cannot call it typical for a Russian leader. Or can you give some other examples of alcohol-sick Russian Presidents? Gorbachev, Andropov, Brezhnev, Stalin? This is the level of the Tonight Show but not of the Wikipedia. Voevoda 11:08, 4 Oct 2004 (UTC) Putin indeed is youngest of all Russian leaders. Stalin, Kruschev and Brezhnev were heavy drinkers, Lenin, Andropov and Chernenko were terminally ill, but you are right - Boris Yeltsin is also a sport enthusiast - he plays tennis. Uncle Joe. :Putin does not have a drinking problem, he is young than most leaders, worked his way up from the bottom, active participant in Judo. User:Zscout370 User_talk:Zscout370 14:21, 11 May 2005 (UTC) Most of the exclusively US perspective has been removed. A few people seem to think that it is relevant to include in this article the allegation that US President George W. Bush refers to Putin as "Pootie-Poot". It's a cute nickname, and it probably tells us something about Bush, but this artcle isn't the place for American political trivia. I think this bloke you guys are on about is gay. this comment was from Jáck Hóllóbréád Thanks for sharing, Jäck. == Why is Putin popular? == Why and how is Putin so popular (and his opponents so unpopular)? Isn't Russia in a bit of a state? I've heard it suggested that the Russians have remained in a Soviet-era mindset, favouring a strong, stable, central leader over uncertainty and debate. What do people think? Any Russians or other ex-Soviets about? Is it about nostalgia for the USSR, the invasion of Chechnya or more than just those two? User:MrJones 10:23, 8 Mar 2004 (UTC) :Dear Mr. Jones, Is it really a Soviet minset to favor a strong personality over uncertainty? Would you, whatever nation is yours, want a weak president for yourself? User:Mikkalai 01:37, 17 Mar 2004 (UTC) ::I wouldn't vote for Kerry for US. Putin's handling of the school hostage situation just tells me what kind of president he is. Putin is reverting Russia back to the USSR. User:Ilyanep — Ilγαηερ">User:Ilyanep (Tαlκ)">User talk:Ilyanep 17:52, 19 Sep 2004 (UTC) :I think Putin flipped some trigger in everyones head, people now feel very much like USSR - no one ever says anything about Putin, if you mention him, everyone says something very loyal about him. It's called self-censorship you know what if you say something wrong, you'll probably get trouble with other people who are loyal, thus you do the same.IMHO it is wrong, even if Mr.President is good, any of his actions are subject to debate, and it's not a matter of loyalty, because not people need to be loyal - it's president must be loyal to people, he's no tsar. In general I agree what he is doing, but what he is doing to political system is unbearable. Yeah I know what no politician will EVER refuse the power if he might take it, but that's not the deeds of a real father of the nation - bringing in his party which has no position but only to help current president, ruining governors elections, it's selfish, how is he going to give up all this to someone else, and to whom? or is he? Every democratic leader needs an opponent, otherwise he gets no feedback, but Putin is not totally responsible for zero competition - his opponents on the last election were so weak, so there was no matter how are they are covered, but it still means he's on the loose - no matter what he does no one can replace him, how can he get an opponent now? IMHO may be he is OK for economy, yet not so good for democracy.User:Gnomz007 ::Sorry, you say so loud words.. You really lived in USSR??
I'm too young to be able to remember how it was in USSR, but i'm sure situation in the country now is different.
You have something to say against Putin? Say it. You won't get in prison or somewhere, and you know it! You want to debate? Debate!
I agree with most of you wrote, but.. You say that things are going bad, but how could they be done better?? What are Putin's mistakes?
You, if you really have anything to say, why are you so silent?
Sorry, User:Ellol 21:53, 17 Feb 2005 (UTC), Evgeniy V. Filatov. :Ok, I don't remember much of USSR and I'm really not NPOV about Putin. His mistake is simple, he does not adhere to the spirit of democracy, making subtle but steady shifts towards something which is not democracy, call it whatever you like. Making it OK for some harmless people to say something against Putin is not enough, do you think that they need to grab any common idiot like, I know, they did in USSR if he says something that nobody listens to. In US if Mr.President goes wrong there is senate(two parties with at least some kind of ''competitive'' programs) court, press and thousand of other guys to override or impeach him(does not work perfect but works), and what do we have in Russia, no use to critique president if nothing is making him respond, whoever fault is that it is a problem. I '''don't want a debate here, I just want to validate that if someone writes that he is not democratic enough to US standards, then I think that is true.
User:Gnomz007 22:46, 20 Feb 2005 (UTC),your Anonymous Coward. ::I seem to understand you. It might be bitterly to watch your mothercountry turning into monster. And, really, antidemocratic tendency keeps for last years. Nevertheless, Russia is not a tyranny''', no matter what "The Wall Street Journal" writes.
Don't forget there are some things getting better in Russia, e.g. economics grow [and as you probably know, the life 'level' in Moscow is comparable with that in Europe; ''so -- welcome back :-)'' ].
What about democracy, the 2008 pres. election is a key moment. I'm almost sure Putin will not play too rude (as if trying to participate in election). Russians still are not idiots, and he can't not to understand it.
User:Ellol 13:21, 23 Feb 2005 (UTC) The Problem with the critising Putin is that he is really popular. If you saying something against his politics, you sonn will be terribly unpopular. There are a lot of independent medias in Russia, but all they are super- liberal, pro-oligarch (corrupter enterpreneurs) and anti- Russian (especiaaly the Berezovsky's media-holding). His Excellence :Once again this discussion rejuvenated (feels like a response to my earlier rant in here :) ), 195.190.103.83, the question was what exacly brings this guy to such prominence. I doubt that the notion "anti-Russian" makes any sense at all. But that was said is a good illustration - it was the Shock therapy (economics) which made many people associate economic hardships with liberal wing, and the chaos of transition created such people as Berezovsky. Maybe the less-liberal image of Putin helped him a little, to get the trust of people blaming the Yeltsin's team for every problem. I guess this article will feature a good explanation to this phenomenon then it will be time for Putin to go. User:Gnomz007 22:05, 12 May 2005 (UTC) == What is Putin? == There should really be at least *something* in the article about the sharply divergent views of him in Western media: dictator or democrat, strong leader or weak puppet. If you're a native English speaker (or just better than me) and can come up with something that doesn't violate NPOV, please add it. User:82.83.132.165 23:05, 16 Mar 2004 (UTC) :Is it absolutely necessary to rubberstamp him with a cliche? Do you think it will help to understand what he is doing? Even without this the article looks like a sophomore essay in politology. What really missing is descriptions of Putin's actions, i.e., ''facts'' are missing. Only newspaper sensations are mentioned. So, why don't you ask instead what did Putin do for Russian economy so far besides the arrest of Mikhail Khodorkovsky? What is more important to know: what Putin does or what Western tabloids write about him? User:Mikkalai 01:53, 17 Mar 2004 (UTC) Well, it's not what tabloids write about him. It's what mainstream journalism writes about him. Certainly the article ought to mention Putin's alleged attacks on a free press in Russia. I think that in general the article ought to be considerably more detailed, to be honest. User:John Kenney 04:13, 15 Apr 2004 (UTC) ---- :I agree with User:John Kenney. We can stay NPOV and mention that some aspects of Putin's politics are highly criticized on the western opinion. This is not tabloid, this is just ''facts''. For exemple, the way he handles the Chechnya "problem", the way he tries to control the Russian press (see the latest repression on the journalists that have not covered the Beslan hostage crisis in way that has pleased him), ... I'm far from Russia, and I think that, if we may be subject to anti-Putin propaganda, Russian people may be also subject to ''pro''-Putin propaganda. So I guess that without entering into any dispute, we could mention the way US/Europe sees Putin. If someone could do that, it will be great. Otherwise, I will go back to my favorite newspapers... User:Lvr 14:57, 10 Sep 2004 (UTC) == Photos with GW Bush == Once again what I already mentioned at GW Bush discussion page. [http://www.uvi.si/eng/media/photo/ Here] (and then US-Russian summit) are some photos from Bush-Putin summit in Slovenia in 2001. The photos are not really public domain but may be published freely if the source and photographer are mentioned. So if you like them and would like to include them into an article, go ahead... : There's a wealth of damning information on Putin that isn't even touched on here. To name but a few things: :- Putin's ruthless control of the media; :- Mishandling of the budget (only tiny fracion of budget revenue goes to health and education, with disastrous and probably permanent consequences on life expectancy, literacy rates etc., while vastly more goes to the still over-sized military and police); :- The circumstances surrounding Putin's rise to power - the "Yeltsin family"'s need to install a leader who would allow them to hold on to the vast fortunes they had amassed by pillaging state resources, thus making permanent and irreversable the catastrophic series of mass thefts from the people and capital flight which went on throughout the nineties. Also allegations that the Chechnyan conflict was provoked by Putin (as FSB head) and the oligarchs propelling him to power in order to divert attention from the chasm of poverty, lawlessness, and decay which the country was slipping (as a direct result of the ruthless theft of those oligarchs), and to create the consequent atmosphere of fear, in which Putin could pose as a powerful, decisive figurehead, allowing him to rise from virtual anonymity to universal popularity and win an easy election; the strong evidence that the apartment bombings in Moscow and Volgodonsk, and the averted one in Ryazan (1999 I think) were orchestrated by the FSB to this end. :All of these things deserve a mention. :User:Palefire 14 Sep 2004 == Some changes == In the table: I put 'None' as the political party, just so people know there's no association (he's just a one-man propoganda machine, but let's not get into that) In the bottom: I left the link, but I made the text say "prime minister of modern russia" to differentiate between the office held now and the office held before the communist revolution. User:Ilyanep — Ilγαηερ">User:Ilyanep (Tαlκ)">User talk:Ilyanep 17:50, 19 Sep 2004 (UTC) == Is this issue article really NPOV ? == I removed the NPOV placed by 80.139.9.254 ( or User:Voevoda ?). There are no arguments except the sentence "''Putin is a rather atypical Russian leader: He is comparatively young, never touches alcohol, and is a sports enthusiast''" which is definitely not something major in this article. User:Lvr 11:16, 6 Oct 2004 (UTC) What's Putin's ideology? I know he's a former Communist but I've never heard him called a socialist or social democrat. User:Pimpalicious 2:46, 7 Nov 2004 (UTC) == How old are you, kids? == "I looked the man in the eye. I was able to get a sense of his soul." by US President George W. Bush, June 16, 2001, evidently finding Putin to be trustworthy and straight forward. ??? What a naive *******t! Evidently? Can we really find out what politicians think of each other? Can we really trust their diplomatic speeches? You know, when some come country posesses a nuclear arsenal, and becoming more and more hostile to the West, and you're U.S. president, you just can't say "that ex-spy looks like a stupid duck". User:AlexPU Isn't it kinda naive to take what a President says about his meeting with another President at face value? As you said - people are complicated. Bush might not mean what he said - but merely to impress the idea that Putin and he are close. == Gazprom == I have edited the sentence pertaining to Gazprom. The sentence implied Gazprom is completely state owned when in actuality, the Russian government has a 38% stake in it. It may push that above 50% by merging Gazprom with Rosneft. Source - The Economist p74 Dec11th-17th 2004 User:miltonjackson == Quotations == Ahem...those two are unflattering, feels like those two guys quoted want to exchange some ''not so'' subtle insults. I would rather remove them both and move to Wikiquote. The translation from Times is also innacurate. User:Gnomz007 21:06, 6 Feb 2005 (UTC) == Putin's rating == The head of [http://www.wciom.ru/?new_lang=2 All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center, WCIOM] Fedorov expressed opinion that [http://lenta.ru/news/2005/03/04/rating/ Putin's command had been ordered to arise his successor's rating]. The rating of president was falling in the last two months and achieved it's 'historical minimum' (41%) in February. According to Fedorov, the president sacrificed his rating for modernization of the country. However, Putin has so far no evident successor. According to WCIOM data, ratings of the most of probable successors are less than several percents. Nevertheless political scientists(e.g. the chief of [http://www.cpt.ru/english.php Center of Political Technologies] Makarkin) consider thesis that Putin's rating is neglected to be absurd. Oreshkin, the head of Mercator group (in RAS Institute of Geography), reminds that thesis of president sacrificing his rating for sake of realization of unpopular but necessary reforms was offered people during Yeltsin term and sounds unconvincingly now. Oreshkin says that without any respect to reforms the effect of people getting tired of their president works now. Sorry for the article above is not in english. And sorry for my bad english. People, are any of Russian media being translated into English?? User:Ellol 10:22, 4 Mar 2005 (UTC) == KGB Photo == Dear All, A photo of President Putin in the KGB can be located at [http://images.evrazia.org/images/putin-kgb3.jpg http://images.evrazia.org/images/putin-kgb3.jpg]. Enjoy. User:Zscout370 01:50, 10 Apr 2005 (UTC) *And more here [http://www.ticketsofrussia.ru/gov/putin/kgb.html http://www.ticketsofrussia.ru/gov/putin/kgb.html]. User:Zscout370 01:51, 10 Apr 2005 (UTC) == Judo Section == What do yall think of it? User:Zscout370 14:36, 13 Apr 2005 (UTC) == New Photo == FYI: I uploaded a new photo of Putin, who is talking in this one. I personally think this is a better one, and it still comes from the website of the Russian Presidency. The earlier photo had Putin "looking stoned (in my POV)." User:Zscout370 User_talk:Zscout370 03:04, 29 Apr 2005 (UTC) ==90s Batch== South and East Asian governments have a tradition of thinking about 'batches' of leaders based on their cohort. I usually think of Vladimir Putin as part of the larger group of positive centrist politicians who have emerged: George W. Bush, Tony Blair, Spain's Zapatero, Hu Jin Tao and Junichiro Koizumi. This perspective might be useful in contextualizing Russia under Putin in terms of its foreign relations against the backdrop of a world recently united by airplane and computer technology.User:McDogm--User:64.12.116.13 15:01, 1 May 2005 (UTC) == On Power Personified. == There is a delicious portrait of the very inner workings of power: It is of Russian President Vladimir Putin and champion Olympic Greco-Roman wrestler Alexander Karelin. Karelin towers over Putin in a protective posture while Putin shows a hovering glee. The "pinnicle" of society "needs" the more "base" elements for its existence. Find it at: [http://www.karelin.ru/eng/?foto-portraits3] --User:Scroll1 22:43, 14 May 2005 (UTC) ==Putin's nickname== A common nickname for Putin in Russia is Iron fist Putin, which is an attempt to liken him to Stalin, I think it should be added to this article that many Russians liken him to the murderous despot.
#REDIRECT Vladimir Putin
See other meanings of words starting from letter:
Words begining with Vladimir_Putin:
Vladimir_Putin
Vladimir_Putin
Vladimir_putin
Vladimir_Putin.jpg
Vladimir_putin_kgb.jpg
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (Russian language: Владимир Владимирович Путин ; born October 7, 1952) is a Politics of Russia and the current President of Russia of the Russian Federation. He succeeded Boris Yeltsin on December 31, 1999. ==Life and Career== Putin was born in Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg). His biography, translated into English under the title ''First Person'' and based on interviews conducted with Putin in 2000, speaks of humble beginnings, including early years in a rat-infested tenement in a communal apartment. In the same book, Putin notes that his paternal grandfather, a chef by profession, was brought to the Moscow suburbs to serve as a cook at one of Stalin's dachas. (In "The Court of the Red Tsar" by Simon Sebag Montefiore, a footnote on page 300 cites Putin as saying that while his grandfather did not discuss his work very often, he recalled serving meals to Rasputin as a boy and also prepared food for Lenin). His mother was a factory worker and his father was conscripted into the navy, where he served in the submarine fleet in the early 1930s. (His father subsequently served with the land forces during the Second World War). Two older brothers were born in the mid-1930s; one died within a few months of birth; the second succumbed to diphtheria during the siege of Leningrad. Putin graduated from the International Department of the Law Faculty of the Saint Petersburg State University in 1975 and was recruited into the KGB. In ''First Person'', Putin described to journalists his early duties in the KGB, which included suppressing dissident activities in Leningrad. From 1985 to 1990 the KGB stationed Putin in East Germany, in what he himself acknowledges was a minor position. Following the collapse of the East German regime, Putin was recalled to the USSR and returned to Leningrad, where in June 1990 he assumed a position with the International Affairs section of Leningrad State University, reporting to the Vice-Rector. In June 1991 he was appointed head of the International Committee of the Saint Petersburg Mayor's office, with responsibility for promoting international relations and foreign investments. [[Image:Vladimir_putin_kgb.jpg|200px|thumb|right|KGB Service Photos]] Putin formally resigned from the state security services on August 20, 1991, during the abortive putsch against the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. In 1994 he became First Deputy Chairman of the city of Saint Petersburg, a position he retained until he was called to Moscow, in August 1996, to serve in a variety of senior positions in Yeltsin's second Administration. He was head of the Federalnaya Sluzhba Bezopasnosti (one of the successor agencies to the KGB) from July 1998 to August 1999, and also served as Secretary of the Security Council March-August 1999. ==Prime Minister and first term as President== Putin was appointed Chairman (predsedatel', or prime minister) of the Government of the Russian Federation by President Boris Yeltsin in August 1999, making him Russia's fifth prime minister in less than eighteen months. On his appointment, few expected Putin, a virtual unknown, to last any longer than his predecessors. Yeltsin's main opponents and would-be successors, Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov and former Chairman of the Russian Government Yevgeniy Primakov, were already campaigning to replace the ailing president, and fought hard to prevent Putin's emergence as a potential successor. Nevertheless, Putin's law-and-order image and a fiercely nationalist public relations campaign combined to help him overtake all rivals by late September 1999. While not formally associated with any party, Putin was supported by the newly formed Edinstvo (unity) faction, which won the largest percentage of the popular vote in the December 1999 Duma elections. Putin was reappointed as Chairman of the Government, and seemed ideally positioned to win the presidency in elections due the following summer. His rise to the highest office ended up being even more rapid: on December 31, 1999, Yeltsin unexpectedly resigned and appointed Putin the second (acting (law)) President of the Russian Federation. Presidential elections were held on March 26, 2000, which Putin won in the first round. After years of scandal, erratic policy making and a general sense of national malaise under the aged and ailing Yeltsin, Putin's election seemed to many Russians to mark a new beginning in their post-Soviet history. At the same time, however, the new president's election was due in no small measure to Yeltsin's inner circle, who had selected and supported Putin with a view to maintaining their own power and privilege. As Putin's new administration took shape, it was clear that members of the Yeltsin-era nomenklatura - including Chief of Staff Alexander Voloshin and Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov - retained significant control over the policies and direction of the new government. On the other hand, Putin was also backed by a team of economic reformers from his native St Petersburg, and could rely as well on support from the ''siloviki''. (The latter group are defined as members of Russia's still-powerful security services, who regard themselves as the defenders of Russia's permanent national interests in the face of rapacious politicians and officials, and who are also well-informed about all aspects of Russia's political and economic life.) The tension -- and cooperation -- between these various groups was a central feature of Putin's first term in office. Upon his election, Putin undertook measures to restore the primacy of the Kremlin in Russia's political life. Under Yeltsin, Russia's 89 Subdivisions of Russia (republics, oblasts, krai, and Moscow and St Petersburg) had been granted unprecedented autonomy. While this move had been intended to help Yeltsin break the hold of the old Communist party over Russia in the early 1990s, it also led to a highly irregular federalism and contributed to the growth of separatist movements, most notably in Chechnya. One of Putin's first acts, therefore, was to attempt to restore what he referred to as the "power vertical" -- i.e. a return to the traditional top-down federal system. As a first step, Putin announced the appointment of seven presidential "plenipotentiary representatives" who were explicitly charged with coordinating federal activity in newly-defined super-regions. While billed as a seminal break with Yeltsin-era federalism, for a variety of reasons the plenipotentiary system never really took hold. Of more lasting significance, Putin also instituted a major reform of Russia's upper house of parliament, the Federation Council. Putin and his team also entered into head-on confrontations with several uncooperative governors accused of corruption, though with only mixed success. The first months of Putin's first term were also marked by a settling of scores among elite financial-industrial groups, whose monetary resources and media empires had been critical weapons in the domestic political war that had been waged over the previous year. Leading members of the old Yeltsin group - known informally as "the Family" - were determined to punish the losing camp, headed by Vladimir Gusinsky, which had backed the Primakov/Luzhkov ticket. Within a year of Putin's election, Gusinsky went from being a would-be kingmaker to living in self-imposed exile; his once-influential media conglomerate (Media-MOST) disintegrated in the face of a withering assault by state-owned and state-allied businesses and under the weight of criminal and civil court decisions. Putin faced his first acute crisis in August 2000, when the Russian nuclear submarine ''Kursk'' sank off the Kola peninsula, killing all of the over 120 sailors on board. His government's handling of this tragedy engendered significant criticism across a wide spectrum of Russian society. Many Russians were angered by the failure of the government and the military to release credible information about the scale and certainty of the disaster. After several days of mounting public confusion and anger, Putin cut short his vacation and returned to Moscow to take charge of the crisis. A careful public relations campaign brought the matter to closure, though it would be many months before the Kremlin dropped its whisper campaign that a collision with a "NATO submarine" was to blame for the disaster. Putin has been unenthusiastic about erasing Russia's Soviet Union past from memory. He has stated his belief that whatever the massive crimes of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union regime, it was nevertheless an important part of History of Russia and has an important influence on the creation of modern Russian society. As a result, some Soviet-era symbols have been allowed to return to Russia, such as the trademark red military flag, the "Soviet Star" crest, and the Hymn of the Soviet Union (although with revised lyrics) -- all of which have resonated well with the majority of Russia's population. A pro-Putin United Russia party won a landslide victory in the 2003 parliamentary system. Foreign observers called the election itself free, but noted that the largely government-run media, especially Russian national TV, had massively and unfairly campaigned for the governing party only. Indeed, most Russian TV stations, newspapers, and other media are now controlled directly or indirectly by the Kremlin. Domestic and foreign critics accuse Putin of having orchestrated the trials of oligarchs such as Boris Berezovsky, Vladimir Gusinsky, and later Mikhail Khodorkovsky as part of an effort by his Kremlin to gain control over the media and large sectors of the Russian economy. On 24 February 2004, less than a month prior to the elections, Putin dismissed Prime Minister Kasyanov and the entire Russian cabinet and appointed Viktor Khristenko acting prime minister. On March 1, he appointed Mikhail Fradkov to the position. ==Second term as President== On March 14, 2004, Putin won re-election to the presidency for a second term, earning 71 percent of the vote. Again, there was massive and one-sided campaigning for Putin by Russian television channels, most of which are state owned and controlled. Nevertheless, the election campaign and the actual balloting were both declared "free and fair" by an international observation mission run by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights. Although Russian Presidents are not limited in the number of terms they can serve, they cannot serve for more than two successive terms. So Putin is not permitted under the Constitution of Russian Federation to run for a third successive term in 2008 (following the 2003 parliamentary elections he gained a sufficient majority to change the Constitution, but so far has not announced any intention to do so.) On September 13, 2004, following the Beslan school hostage crisis, and nearly-concurrent terrorism attacks in Moscow, Putin launched an initiative to replace the election of regional governors with a system whereby they would be proposed by the President and approved or disapproved by regional legislature. Opponents of this measure, including Mikhail Gorbachev, Boris Yeltsin, and Colin Powell, criticised it as a step away from democracy in Russia and a return to the centrally run political apparatus of the Soviet era. Also on that day, Putin publicly backed a plan by the Central Elections Commission for the new proportional, and not mixed system, as before. In the previous system half of the 450 deputies in the Duma were elected based on proportional representation, while the other half of deputies are elected individually in single-member districts. This measure is also seen as an attempt by the President at consolidating power. On April 25, 2005, Putin caused some controversy when, in a nationally televised speech before the Duma, he referred to the collapse of the Soviet Union as "the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century." This remark was poorly received in the West and in some neighbouring states; Putin subsequently repeated earlier protestations that he was not praising the former Soviet Union but rather highlighting in an altogether objective fashion the dramatic impact the collapse of the USSR had had on the world. ==Chechnya== Putin's rise to public office coincided with an aggressive resurgence of the war in Chechnya in August 1999. Both in Russia and abroad, Putin's public image was forged by his tough handling of the dire challenge posed by Chechen extremists and their foreign supporters. During the bitter autumn 1999 campaign for the Duma, pro-Kremlin politicians and media accused Putin's chief rivals of being soft on terrorism, and ratcheted up accusations that the Chechens' military campaign was being supported and supplied by Western intelligence agencies bent on humiliating and weakening Russia. On assuming the role of acting President on December 31, 1999, Putin proceeded on a previously scheduled visit to Russian troops in the North Caucasus; carefully orchestrated public relations coverage showed him presenting hunting knives to soldiers. Throughout the winter of 2000, Putin's government regularly claimed that victory was at hand. In recent years, Putin has distanced himself from the management of the continuing conflict. ==Foreign policy== While President Putin is criticized as an autocrat by some of his Western counterparts, his relationships with US President George W. Bush, German chancellor Gerhard Schröder, French President Jacques Chirac, and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi are apparently friendly. During his time in office, Putin has attempted to strengthen relations with other members of the Commonwealth of Independent States. The "near abroad" zone of traditional Russian influence has again become a foreign policy priority under Putin, as the EU and NATO have grown to encompass much of Central Europe and, more recently, the Baltic states. While tacitly accepting the enlargement of NATO into the Baltic states, Putin has increased Russia's influence over Belarus and Ukraine. During the 2004 Ukrainian_ presidential_election,_2004, Putin twice visited Ukraine before the election to show his support for Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych. Yanukovych's alleged victory was rejected as fraudulent soon after. Putin's direct support for Yanukovych was criticized by some commentators as unwarranted interference in the affairs of post-Soviet Ukraine. Putin surprised many Russian nationalists and even his own defence minister when, in the wake of the September 11 attacks in the United States, he agreed to the establishment of coalition military bases in Central Asia before and during the US-led attack on the Taliban government in Afghanistan. Russian nationalists objected to the establishment of any US military presence on the territory of the former Soviet Union, and had expected Putin to keep the US out of the Central Asian republics, or at the very least extract a commitment from Washington to withdraw from these bases as soon as the immediate military purpose had passed. During the Iraq crisis of 2003, Putin opposed Washington's move to invade Iraq without the benefit of a United Nations Security Council resolution explicitly authorising the use of military force. After the official end of the war was announced, American president George W. Bush asked the United Nations to lift sanctions on Iraq. Putin supported lifting of the sanctions in due course, arguing that the United Nations commission first be given a chance to complete its work on the search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. == Family and personal life == Putin is married to Liudmila Putina, a former airline stewardess and teacher of German. They have two daughters, Yekaterina (Katya) (born 1985) and Maria (born 1986 in Dresden). The daughters attended the German School in Moscow (Deutsche Schule Moskau) until his appointment as prime minister. Putin is a practicing member of the Russian Orthodox Church, whose conversion to Christianity (following a life-threatening fire at his dacha in the early 1990s) most observers agree was sincere. Putin speaks German language with near-native fluency, and passable English language. == Activities == One of Putin's favorite sports is the martial art of judo. It has been stated that Putin began judo at the age of 14 and he continues to study judo even today. Putin has won competitions in his home town of Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg), including senior champion of Leningrad. Now he is President of the Yawara Dojo, the same St. Petersburg dojo he studied at as a youth. After a state visit to Japan, Putin was invited to the Kodokan Institute and showed the students and Japanese officials different judo techniques. Though he is not the first world leader to practice judo (Teddy Roosevelt was the first to do so), Putin is the first leader to move forward in the advanced levels. Currently, Putin is a black belt (6th Degree) and is best known for a "wicked" sweeping leg throw called the Haraigoshi.
Vladimir Putin
== Is the article written from a US perspective? == What US-propaganda is this? If you want neutral and objective information about Vladimir Putin you'd better turn to the European Wikipedia pages. :Please state the parts which you don't agree with (or better, rework them yourself). -- User:Cordyph 17:38, 24 Sep 2003 (UTC) :What's the European Wikipedia? User:MrJones 11:02, 8 Mar 2004 (UTC) : I think the part "Putin is a rather atypical Russian leader: He is comparatively young, never touches alcohol, and is a sports enthusiast" is pretty ignorant and discriminating. Just because Yeltsin had an alcohol problem, you cannot call it typical for a Russian leader. Or can you give some other examples of alcohol-sick Russian Presidents? Gorbachev, Andropov, Brezhnev, Stalin? This is the level of the Tonight Show but not of the Wikipedia. Voevoda 11:08, 4 Oct 2004 (UTC) Putin indeed is youngest of all Russian leaders. Stalin, Kruschev and Brezhnev were heavy drinkers, Lenin, Andropov and Chernenko were terminally ill, but you are right - Boris Yeltsin is also a sport enthusiast - he plays tennis. Uncle Joe. :Putin does not have a drinking problem, he is young than most leaders, worked his way up from the bottom, active participant in Judo. User:Zscout370 User_talk:Zscout370 14:21, 11 May 2005 (UTC) Most of the exclusively US perspective has been removed. A few people seem to think that it is relevant to include in this article the allegation that US President George W. Bush refers to Putin as "Pootie-Poot". It's a cute nickname, and it probably tells us something about Bush, but this artcle isn't the place for American political trivia. I think this bloke you guys are on about is gay. this comment was from Jáck Hóllóbréád Thanks for sharing, Jäck. == Why is Putin popular? == Why and how is Putin so popular (and his opponents so unpopular)? Isn't Russia in a bit of a state? I've heard it suggested that the Russians have remained in a Soviet-era mindset, favouring a strong, stable, central leader over uncertainty and debate. What do people think? Any Russians or other ex-Soviets about? Is it about nostalgia for the USSR, the invasion of Chechnya or more than just those two? User:MrJones 10:23, 8 Mar 2004 (UTC) :Dear Mr. Jones, Is it really a Soviet minset to favor a strong personality over uncertainty? Would you, whatever nation is yours, want a weak president for yourself? User:Mikkalai 01:37, 17 Mar 2004 (UTC) ::I wouldn't vote for Kerry for US. Putin's handling of the school hostage situation just tells me what kind of president he is. Putin is reverting Russia back to the USSR. User:Ilyanep — Ilγαηερ">User:Ilyanep (Tαlκ)">User talk:Ilyanep 17:52, 19 Sep 2004 (UTC) :I think Putin flipped some trigger in everyones head, people now feel very much like USSR - no one ever says anything about Putin, if you mention him, everyone says something very loyal about him. It's called self-censorship you know what if you say something wrong, you'll probably get trouble with other people who are loyal, thus you do the same.IMHO it is wrong, even if Mr.President is good, any of his actions are subject to debate, and it's not a matter of loyalty, because not people need to be loyal - it's president must be loyal to people, he's no tsar. In general I agree what he is doing, but what he is doing to political system is unbearable. Yeah I know what no politician will EVER refuse the power if he might take it, but that's not the deeds of a real father of the nation - bringing in his party which has no position but only to help current president, ruining governors elections, it's selfish, how is he going to give up all this to someone else, and to whom? or is he? Every democratic leader needs an opponent, otherwise he gets no feedback, but Putin is not totally responsible for zero competition - his opponents on the last election were so weak, so there was no matter how are they are covered, but it still means he's on the loose - no matter what he does no one can replace him, how can he get an opponent now? IMHO may be he is OK for economy, yet not so good for democracy.User:Gnomz007 ::Sorry, you say so loud words.. You really lived in USSR??
I'm too young to be able to remember how it was in USSR, but i'm sure situation in the country now is different.
You have something to say against Putin? Say it. You won't get in prison or somewhere, and you know it! You want to debate? Debate!
I agree with most of you wrote, but.. You say that things are going bad, but how could they be done better?? What are Putin's mistakes?
You, if you really have anything to say, why are you so silent?
Sorry, User:Ellol 21:53, 17 Feb 2005 (UTC), Evgeniy V. Filatov. :Ok, I don't remember much of USSR and I'm really not NPOV about Putin. His mistake is simple, he does not adhere to the spirit of democracy, making subtle but steady shifts towards something which is not democracy, call it whatever you like. Making it OK for some harmless people to say something against Putin is not enough, do you think that they need to grab any common idiot like, I know, they did in USSR if he says something that nobody listens to. In US if Mr.President goes wrong there is senate(two parties with at least some kind of ''competitive'' programs) court, press and thousand of other guys to override or impeach him(does not work perfect but works), and what do we have in Russia, no use to critique president if nothing is making him respond, whoever fault is that it is a problem. I '''don't want a debate here, I just want to validate that if someone writes that he is not democratic enough to US standards, then I think that is true.
User:Gnomz007 22:46, 20 Feb 2005 (UTC),your Anonymous Coward. ::I seem to understand you. It might be bitterly to watch your mothercountry turning into monster. And, really, antidemocratic tendency keeps for last years. Nevertheless, Russia is not a tyranny''', no matter what "The Wall Street Journal" writes.
Don't forget there are some things getting better in Russia, e.g. economics grow [and as you probably know, the life 'level' in Moscow is comparable with that in Europe; ''so -- welcome back :-)'' ].
What about democracy, the 2008 pres. election is a key moment. I'm almost sure Putin will not play too rude (as if trying to participate in election). Russians still are not idiots, and he can't not to understand it.
User:Ellol 13:21, 23 Feb 2005 (UTC) The Problem with the critising Putin is that he is really popular. If you saying something against his politics, you sonn will be terribly unpopular. There are a lot of independent medias in Russia, but all they are super- liberal, pro-oligarch (corrupter enterpreneurs) and anti- Russian (especiaaly the Berezovsky's media-holding). His Excellence :Once again this discussion rejuvenated (feels like a response to my earlier rant in here :) ), 195.190.103.83, the question was what exacly brings this guy to such prominence. I doubt that the notion "anti-Russian" makes any sense at all. But that was said is a good illustration - it was the Shock therapy (economics) which made many people associate economic hardships with liberal wing, and the chaos of transition created such people as Berezovsky. Maybe the less-liberal image of Putin helped him a little, to get the trust of people blaming the Yeltsin's team for every problem. I guess this article will feature a good explanation to this phenomenon then it will be time for Putin to go. User:Gnomz007 22:05, 12 May 2005 (UTC) == What is Putin? == There should really be at least *something* in the article about the sharply divergent views of him in Western media: dictator or democrat, strong leader or weak puppet. If you're a native English speaker (or just better than me) and can come up with something that doesn't violate NPOV, please add it. User:82.83.132.165 23:05, 16 Mar 2004 (UTC) :Is it absolutely necessary to rubberstamp him with a cliche? Do you think it will help to understand what he is doing? Even without this the article looks like a sophomore essay in politology. What really missing is descriptions of Putin's actions, i.e., ''facts'' are missing. Only newspaper sensations are mentioned. So, why don't you ask instead what did Putin do for Russian economy so far besides the arrest of Mikhail Khodorkovsky? What is more important to know: what Putin does or what Western tabloids write about him? User:Mikkalai 01:53, 17 Mar 2004 (UTC) Well, it's not what tabloids write about him. It's what mainstream journalism writes about him. Certainly the article ought to mention Putin's alleged attacks on a free press in Russia. I think that in general the article ought to be considerably more detailed, to be honest. User:John Kenney 04:13, 15 Apr 2004 (UTC) ---- :I agree with User:John Kenney. We can stay NPOV and mention that some aspects of Putin's politics are highly criticized on the western opinion. This is not tabloid, this is just ''facts''. For exemple, the way he handles the Chechnya "problem", the way he tries to control the Russian press (see the latest repression on the journalists that have not covered the Beslan hostage crisis in way that has pleased him), ... I'm far from Russia, and I think that, if we may be subject to anti-Putin propaganda, Russian people may be also subject to ''pro''-Putin propaganda. So I guess that without entering into any dispute, we could mention the way US/Europe sees Putin. If someone could do that, it will be great. Otherwise, I will go back to my favorite newspapers... User:Lvr 14:57, 10 Sep 2004 (UTC) == Photos with GW Bush == Once again what I already mentioned at GW Bush discussion page. [http://www.uvi.si/eng/media/photo/ Here] (and then US-Russian summit) are some photos from Bush-Putin summit in Slovenia in 2001. The photos are not really public domain but may be published freely if the source and photographer are mentioned. So if you like them and would like to include them into an article, go ahead... : There's a wealth of damning information on Putin that isn't even touched on here. To name but a few things: :- Putin's ruthless control of the media; :- Mishandling of the budget (only tiny fracion of budget revenue goes to health and education, with disastrous and probably permanent consequences on life expectancy, literacy rates etc., while vastly more goes to the still over-sized military and police); :- The circumstances surrounding Putin's rise to power - the "Yeltsin family"'s need to install a leader who would allow them to hold on to the vast fortunes they had amassed by pillaging state resources, thus making permanent and irreversable the catastrophic series of mass thefts from the people and capital flight which went on throughout the nineties. Also allegations that the Chechnyan conflict was provoked by Putin (as FSB head) and the oligarchs propelling him to power in order to divert attention from the chasm of poverty, lawlessness, and decay which the country was slipping (as a direct result of the ruthless theft of those oligarchs), and to create the consequent atmosphere of fear, in which Putin could pose as a powerful, decisive figurehead, allowing him to rise from virtual anonymity to universal popularity and win an easy election; the strong evidence that the apartment bombings in Moscow and Volgodonsk, and the averted one in Ryazan (1999 I think) were orchestrated by the FSB to this end. :All of these things deserve a mention. :User:Palefire 14 Sep 2004 == Some changes == In the table: I put 'None' as the political party, just so people know there's no association (he's just a one-man propoganda machine, but let's not get into that) In the bottom: I left the link, but I made the text say "prime minister of modern russia" to differentiate between the office held now and the office held before the communist revolution. User:Ilyanep — Ilγαηερ">User:Ilyanep (Tαlκ)">User talk:Ilyanep 17:50, 19 Sep 2004 (UTC) == Is this issue article really NPOV ? == I removed the NPOV placed by 80.139.9.254 ( or User:Voevoda ?). There are no arguments except the sentence "''Putin is a rather atypical Russian leader: He is comparatively young, never touches alcohol, and is a sports enthusiast''" which is definitely not something major in this article. User:Lvr 11:16, 6 Oct 2004 (UTC) What's Putin's ideology? I know he's a former Communist but I've never heard him called a socialist or social democrat. User:Pimpalicious 2:46, 7 Nov 2004 (UTC) == How old are you, kids? == "I looked the man in the eye. I was able to get a sense of his soul." by US President George W. Bush, June 16, 2001, evidently finding Putin to be trustworthy and straight forward. ??? What a naive *******t! Evidently? Can we really find out what politicians think of each other? Can we really trust their diplomatic speeches? You know, when some come country posesses a nuclear arsenal, and becoming more and more hostile to the West, and you're U.S. president, you just can't say "that ex-spy looks like a stupid duck". User:AlexPU Isn't it kinda naive to take what a President says about his meeting with another President at face value? As you said - people are complicated. Bush might not mean what he said - but merely to impress the idea that Putin and he are close. == Gazprom == I have edited the sentence pertaining to Gazprom. The sentence implied Gazprom is completely state owned when in actuality, the Russian government has a 38% stake in it. It may push that above 50% by merging Gazprom with Rosneft. Source - The Economist p74 Dec11th-17th 2004 User:miltonjackson == Quotations == Ahem...those two are unflattering, feels like those two guys quoted want to exchange some ''not so'' subtle insults. I would rather remove them both and move to Wikiquote. The translation from Times is also innacurate. User:Gnomz007 21:06, 6 Feb 2005 (UTC) == Putin's rating == The head of [http://www.wciom.ru/?new_lang=2 All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center, WCIOM] Fedorov expressed opinion that [http://lenta.ru/news/2005/03/04/rating/ Putin's command had been ordered to arise his successor's rating]. The rating of president was falling in the last two months and achieved it's 'historical minimum' (41%) in February. According to Fedorov, the president sacrificed his rating for modernization of the country. However, Putin has so far no evident successor. According to WCIOM data, ratings of the most of probable successors are less than several percents. Nevertheless political scientists(e.g. the chief of [http://www.cpt.ru/english.php Center of Political Technologies] Makarkin) consider thesis that Putin's rating is neglected to be absurd. Oreshkin, the head of Mercator group (in RAS Institute of Geography), reminds that thesis of president sacrificing his rating for sake of realization of unpopular but necessary reforms was offered people during Yeltsin term and sounds unconvincingly now. Oreshkin says that without any respect to reforms the effect of people getting tired of their president works now. Sorry for the article above is not in english. And sorry for my bad english. People, are any of Russian media being translated into English?? User:Ellol 10:22, 4 Mar 2005 (UTC) == KGB Photo == Dear All, A photo of President Putin in the KGB can be located at [http://images.evrazia.org/images/putin-kgb3.jpg http://images.evrazia.org/images/putin-kgb3.jpg]. Enjoy. User:Zscout370 01:50, 10 Apr 2005 (UTC) *And more here [http://www.ticketsofrussia.ru/gov/putin/kgb.html http://www.ticketsofrussia.ru/gov/putin/kgb.html]. User:Zscout370 01:51, 10 Apr 2005 (UTC) == Judo Section == What do yall think of it? User:Zscout370 14:36, 13 Apr 2005 (UTC) == New Photo == FYI: I uploaded a new photo of Putin, who is talking in this one. I personally think this is a better one, and it still comes from the website of the Russian Presidency. The earlier photo had Putin "looking stoned (in my POV)." User:Zscout370 User_talk:Zscout370 03:04, 29 Apr 2005 (UTC) ==90s Batch== South and East Asian governments have a tradition of thinking about 'batches' of leaders based on their cohort. I usually think of Vladimir Putin as part of the larger group of positive centrist politicians who have emerged: George W. Bush, Tony Blair, Spain's Zapatero, Hu Jin Tao and Junichiro Koizumi. This perspective might be useful in contextualizing Russia under Putin in terms of its foreign relations against the backdrop of a world recently united by airplane and computer technology.User:McDogm--User:64.12.116.13 15:01, 1 May 2005 (UTC) == On Power Personified. == There is a delicious portrait of the very inner workings of power: It is of Russian President Vladimir Putin and champion Olympic Greco-Roman wrestler Alexander Karelin. Karelin towers over Putin in a protective posture while Putin shows a hovering glee. The "pinnicle" of society "needs" the more "base" elements for its existence. Find it at: [http://www.karelin.ru/eng/?foto-portraits3] --User:Scroll1 22:43, 14 May 2005 (UTC) ==Putin's nickname== A common nickname for Putin in Russia is Iron fist Putin, which is an attempt to liken him to Stalin, I think it should be added to this article that many Russians liken him to the murderous despot.
Vladimir putin
#REDIRECT Vladimir Putin
See other meanings of words starting from letter:
V
Words begining with Vladimir_Putin:
Vladimir_Putin
Vladimir_Putin
Vladimir_putin
Vladimir_Putin.jpg
Vladimir_putin_kgb.jpg
These materials are based on Wikipedia and licensed under the GNU FDL
YouTube.com videos better site than Turbo Tax 2007
