Vladimir Putin

Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin Владимир Владимирович Путин
2nd President of the Russian Federation
Incumbent
Assumed office May 7, 2000 (acting president from December 31, 1999 - May 7, 2000)
Preceded by	Boris Yeltsin
Prime Minister of Russian Federation
In office August 8, 1999 – May 7, 2000
Preceded by	Sergei Stepashin
Succeeded by	Mikhail Kasyanov
Personal details
Born	200px (1952-10-07) October 7, 1952 Leningrad, Soviet Union
Died	200px
Resting place	200px
Nationality	Russian
Spouse	Lyudmila Putina
Parent	200px
Signature

Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (Template:Audio-ru) (born October 7, 1952) is the current President of the Russian Federation. He became Acting President on December 31, 1999, succeeding Boris Yeltsin, and was sworn in as President following the elections on May 7, 2000. In 2004, he was re-elected for a second term, which expires in 2008. The current Constitution imposes consecutive term limits that prevent Putin from running for reelection again in 2008.

Early years and KGB career

Putin was born in Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg) on October 7, 1952. His biography, От Первого Лица (Romanization: Ot Pervogo Litsa, translation: From the first person), translated into English in 2000 and paid for by his election campaign, speaks of humble beginnings, including early years in a communal apartment. According to his biography, in his youth he was eager to emulate the intelligence officer characters played on the Soviet screen by actors such as Vyacheslav Tikhonov and Georgiy Zhzhonov.

His mother, Maria Ivanovna Putina, was a factory worker and his father, Vladimir Spiridonovich Putin, was conscripted into the Soviet Navy, where he served in the submarine fleet in the early 1930s. His father subsequently served with the NKVD in a sabotage group [2] during the Second World War. Two elder 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. His paternal grandfather, Spiridon Putin, had been Vladimir Lenin's and Joseph Stalin's personal cook.

Putin graduated from the International Branch of the Law Department of the Leningrad State University in 1975 and was recruited into the KGB. In the University he also became a member of the Soviet Communist Party, which he remained until the ban on it imposed in August 1991.

He worked in the Leningrad and Leningrad region Directorate of the KGB, where he got acquainted with Sergei Ivanov.

In 1976 he completed KGB retraining courses. In 1978 he entered other foreign intelligence in Moscow. After completing the training he served in the First Department of the Leningrad Directorate (foreign intelligence) until 1983. In 1983-1984 he studied at the KGB High School in Moscow. In 1984 Putin was promoted to Major.

From 1985 to 1990 the KGB stationed Putin in Dresden, East Germany, in what he regards as a minor position. Following the collapse of the East German regime, Putin was recalled to the Soviet Union and returned to Leningrad, where in June 1990 he assumed a position with the International Affairs section of Leningrad State University, reporting to Vice-Rector Yuriy Molchanov. In his new position, Putin grew reacquainted with Anatoly Sobchak, then mayor of Leningrad. Sobchak served as an Assistant Professor during Putin's university years and was one of Putin's lecturers. Putin formally resigned from the state security services on August 20, 1991, during the KGB-supported abortive putsch against Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev.

Early political and business career

In May 1990 Putin was appointed Mayor Sobchak's advisor on international affairs. On June 28, 1991, he was appointed head of the Committee for External Relations of the St. Petersburg Mayor's Office, with responsibility for promoting international relations and foreign investments. The Committee was also used to register business ventures in St. Petersburg. During the time Putin led this Committee, Alexei Miller the current CEO of Gazprom, also served on it from (December 15, 1991–1996) and was a deputy head of the Committee from 1992-1996. . Less than one year after taking control of the committee, Putin was investigated by a commission of the city legislative council. Commission deputies Marina Salye and Yury Gladkov concluded that Putin understated prices and issued licenses permitting the export of non-ferrous metals valued at a total of $93 million in exchange for food aid from abroad that never came to the city. The commission recommended Putin be fired, but there were no immediate consequences. Putin remained head of the Committee for External Relations until 1996. While heading the Committee for External Relations, from 1992 to March 2000 Putin was also on the advisory board of the German real estate holding St. Petersburg Immobilien und Beteiligungs AG (SPAG) which has been investigated by German prosecutors for money laundering.

From 1994 to 1997, Putin was appointed to additional positions in the St. Petersburg political arena. In March 1994 he became first deputy head of the administration of the city of Saint Petersburg. In 1995 (through June 1997) Putin led the St. Petersburg branch of the pro-government Our Home Is Russia political party. According to Clifford G Gaddy, a senior fellow at The Brookings Institute, 16 of the 20 pages that open a key section of Putin’s work were copied either word for word or with minute alterations from a management study, Strategic Planning and Policy, written by US professors William King and David Cleland and translated into Russian by a KGB-related institute in the early 1990s.

On May 251998 Vladimir Putin was appointed First Deputy Chief of Presidential Staff for regions, (replacing Viktoriya Mitina), and on July 15 of the same year - the 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 there were 46 agreements signed.

On July 251998 Yeltsin appointed Vladimir Putin Head of the FSB (one of the successor agencies to the KGB), the position Putin occupied until August 1999. He became a permanent member of the Security Council of the Russian Federation on October 11998 and its Head on March 291999. In April 1999, FSB Chief Vladimir Putin and Interior Minister Sergei Stepashin held a televised press conference in which they discussed a video that had aired nationwide March 17 on the state-controlled Russia TV channel which showed a naked man very similar to the Prosecutor General of Russia, Yury Skuratov, in bed with two young women. Putin claimed that expert FSB analysis proved the man on the tape to be Skuratov and that the orgy had been paid for by persons investigated for criminal offences. Skuratov had been adversarial toward President Yeltsin and had been aggressively investigating government corruption.

On June 15, 2000, The Times reported that Spanish police discovered that Putin had secretly visited a villa in Spain belonging to the oligarch Boris Berezovsky on up to five different occasions in 1999.

Family and personal life

On July 281983 Putin married Lyudmila Shkrebneva, at that time an undergraduate student of the Spanish branch of the Philology Department of the Leningrad State University and a former airline stewardess, who had been born in Kaliningrad (formerly Königsberg) on January 61958. They have two daughters, Maria Putina (born 1985) and Yekaterina (Katya) Putina (born 1986 in Dresden). The daughters attended the German School in Moscow (Deutsche Schule Moskau) until his appointment as prime minister.

Since 1992, Putin had owned a dacha of about 7 thousand square meters in Solovyovka, Priozersky district of the Leningrad region, which is located on the eastern shore of the Komsomol'skoye lake on the Karelian Isthmus near St. Petersburg. His neighbours there are Vladimir Yakunin, Andrei Fursenko, Sergey Fursenko, Yuriy Kovalchuk, Viktor Myachin, Vladimir Smirnov and Nikolay Shamalov. On November 10, 1996, together they instituted the co-operative society Ozero (the Lake) which united their properties. This was confirmed by Putin's income and property declaration as a nominee for the presidency in 2000.[3] However, this real estate was not listed in his income and property declaration for 1998 - 2002 submitted before the 2004 elections. (Full text of the declaration in Russian: .doc)

Putin's father was "a model communist, genuinely believing in its ideals while trying to put them into practice in his own life". With this dedication he became secretary of the Party cell in his workshop and then after taking night classes joined the factory’s Party buro. Though his father was a "militant atheist", Putin's mother "was a devoted Orthodox believer". Though she kept no icons at home, she attended church regularly (despite the government's persecution of the Russian Orthodox Church at that time). She ensured that Putin was secretly christened as a baby, and she regularly took him to services. His father knew of this but turned a blind eye. Putin himself is a practicing member of the Russian Orthodox Church. His religious awakening followed the serious car crash of his wife in 1993, and was deepened by a life-threatening fire that burned down their dacha in August 1996. Right before an official visit to Israel his mother gave him his baptismal cross telling him to get it blessed “I did as she said and then put the cross around my neck. I have never taken it off since.”

Putin has been hailed by Patriarch Alexius II of the Russian Orthodox Church as instrumental in healing the 80-year schism between it and the Russian Orthodox Church outside Russia in May 2007.

Putin speaks German with near-native fluency. His family used to speak German at home as well. He also speaks English but uses interpreters when conversing with native speakers of English.

Putin spoke English in public for the first time whilst addressing delegates at the 119th International Olympic Committee Session in Guatemala City on behalf of the successful bid of Sochi for the 2014 Winter Olympics. [4]

Prime Minister

See also: Second Chechen War

On August 91999, Vladimir Putin was appointed one of three First Deputy Prime Ministers, which enabled him later on that day, as the previous government led by Sergei Stepashin had been sacked, to be appointed acting Prime Minister of the Government of the Russian Federation by President Boris Yeltsin. Yeltsin also announced that he wanted to see Putin as his successor. Later, that same day, Putin agreed to run for the presidency. On August 16, the State Duma approved his appointment as Prime Minister with 233 votes in favour (vs. 84 against, 17 abstained), while a simple majority of 226 was required, making him Russia's fifth PM in less than eighteen months. On his appointment, few expected Putin, virtually unknown to the general public, to last any longer than his predecessors. Yeltsin's main opponents and would-be successors, Moscow Mayor Yuriy 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. Putin's law-and-order image and his unrelenting approach to the renewed crisis in Chechnya soon combined to raise his popularity and allowed him to overtake all rivals.

Putin's rise to public office in August 1999 coincided with an aggressive resurgence of the near-dormant conflict in the North Caucasus, when Chechen separatists regrouped and invaded neighboring Dagestan. Both in Russia and abroad, Putin's public image was forged by his tough handling of the war. On assuming the role of acting President on December 31, 1999, Putin went on a previously scheduled visit to Russian troops in Chechnya. In recent years, Putin has distanced himself from the management of the continuing conflict. In 2003, a referendum was held in Chechnya adopting a new constitution which declares the Republic as a part of Russia. The situation has been gradually stabilized with the parliamentary elections and the establishment of a regional government.

While not formally associated with any party, Putin pledged his support to the newly formed Unity party, which won the second largest percentage of the popular vote (23,32%) in the December 1999 Duma elections, and in turn was supported by it. Putin seemed ideally positioned to win the presidency in elections due the following summer.

President

See also: Vladimir Putin legislation and program

First term

His rise to Russia's highest office ended up being even more rapid: on December 31, 1999, Yeltsin unexpectedly resigned and, according to the constitution, Putin became (acting) President of the Russian Federation. While his opponents were preparing for an election later that year in June, Yeltsin's resignation resulted in the elections being held within three months, in March. This put all of his opponents at a disadvantage, giving him the element of surprise and an eventual victory. Presidential elections were held on March 26, 2000; Putin won in the first round.

Vladimir Putin was inaugurated president on May 72000. Having announced his intention to consolidate power in the country into a strict vertical, in May 2000 he issued a decree dividing 89 federal subjects of Russia between 7 federal districts overseen by representatives of him in order to facilitate federal administration. In July 2000, according to a law proposed by him and approved by the Russian parliament, Putin also gained the right to dismiss heads of the federal subjects.

In December 2000 Putin sanctioned the change of the National Anthem of Russia to restore the music of the pre-1991 Soviet anthem, but with new words.

On February 12 2001, Putin signed a federal law on guarantees for former presidents and their families (See Vladimir Putin legislation and program). In 1999 Yeltsin and his family were under scrutiny for charges related to money-laundering by the Russian and Swiss authorities.

Second term

On March 14, 2004, Putin was re-elected to the presidency for a second term, earning 71 percent of the vote. During the term, Putin has been widely criticized in the West for what many observers consider a wide-scale crackdown on media freedoms; see Media freedom in Russia for further details.

On September 13, 2004, following the Beslan school hostage crisis, Putin suggested the creation of a Public Chamber of Russia and launched an initiative to replace the direct election of the governors and presidents of Federal subjects of Russia with a system whereby they would be proposed by the President and approved or disapproved by regional legislatures. He also initiated the merger of a number of federal subjects of Russia into larger entities.

A significant amount of Putin's second term has been focusing on domestic issues. According to various Russian and western media reports, Putin is extremely concerned about the ongoing demographic problems, such as the death rate being higher than the birth rate and immigration rate, cyclical poverty, and housing concerns within the Russian Federation. In 2005, four "national projects" were launched in the fields of health care, education, housing and agriculture. In his May 2006 annual speech, Putin proposed increasing maternity benefits and prenatal care for women. Putin has also been quite strident about the need to reform the judiciary. He considers the present federal judiciary as "Sovietesque" and prefers a judiciary that interprets and implements the code to the current situation, where many of the judges hand down the same verdicts as they would have under the old Soviet judiciary structure. In 2005, responsibility for federal prisons was transferred from the Interior Ministry to the Ministry of Justice.

File:Putin Gorbachev.jpg

Putin with former Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev

One of the most controversial aspects of Putin's second term was the prosecution of one of Russia's richest men, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, President of Yukos oil company, for fraud and tax evasion. While much of the international press saw this as a reaction against a man who was funding political opponents of the Kremlin, both liberal and communist, the Russian government has argued that Khodorkovsky was engaged in corrupting a large segment of the Duma to prevent changes in the tax code aimed at taxing windfall profits and closing offshore tax evasion vehicles. Many of the initial privatizations, including that of Yukos, are widely believed to have been fraudulent (Yukos, valued at some $30bn in 2004, had been privatized for $110 million), and like other oligarchic groups, the Yukos-Menatep name has been frequently tarred with accusations of links to criminal organizations.

In recent years, the political philosophy of Putin's administration has been described as "sovereign democracy". The political term recently gained wide acceptance within Russia itself and unified various political elites around it. According to its supporters, Presidential polices must above all be supported by a popular majority in Russia itself and not be determined from outside the country; such popular support constitutes the founding principle of a democratic society.

In a 2007 interview with newspaper journalists from G8 countries Putin spoke out in favor of a longer presidential term in Russia, saying "a term of five, six or seven years in office would be entirely acceptable". According to the acting constitution of Russia, the President is elected for a term of four years.

Foreign policy

Main article: Foreign relations of Russia

In international affairs, Putin has been trying, with some success, to re-establish for Russia the strong and independent role once played by the former Soviet Union. However, this has been done without returning to the Cold War-like relations with the West. For example, on February 2007 at the annual Munich Conference on Security Policy, he criticised the United States' monopolistic dominance in global relations, and pointed out that the United States displayed an "almost uncontained hyper use of force in international relations". He said the result of it is that "no one feels safe! Because no one can feel that international law is like a stone wall that will protect them. Of course such a policy stimulates an arms race."

Instead he called for a "fair and democratic world order that would ensure security and prosperity not only for a select few, but for all". He proposed certain initiatives such as establishing international centres for the enrichment of uranium and prevention of deploying weapons in outer space. In his January 2007 interview Putin said Russia is in favour of a democratic multipolar world and of strengthening the system of international law.

At the same time, Putin's Russia has been seeking stronger and more constructive ties with Europe and the United States. Thus, Russia became a fully fledged member of the G8 and chaired the group in the calendar year of 2006 (chairmanship which has now passed on to Germany). At the same time, Putin's attention was equally focused on Asia, in particular China and India.

Putin with US President George W. Bush at Prairie Chapel Ranch

While President Putin is criticized as an autocrat by some Western politicians [5] [6], his relationships with US President George W. Bush, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, former French President Jacques Chirac, and former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi are reported to be friendly. Putin's relationship with Germany's new Chancellor, Angela Merkel, is expected to be "cooler" and "more business-like" than his partnership with Gerhard Schröder [7].

Putin surprised many Russian nationalists and even his own defense 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 invasion of 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 necessity 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 authorizing 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 UN commission first be given a chance to complete its work on the search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

In 2005, Putin and former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder negotiated the construction of a major gas pipeline over the Baltic exclusively between Russia and Germany. Schröder also attended Putin's 53rd birthday in Saint Petersburg the same year. The end of 2006 brought strained relations between Russia and Britain in the wake of the death of a former FSB officer in London by poisoning. Press reports suggest that Putin's government is providing only limited cooperation with the investigation.

During his time in office, Putin has attempted to strengthen relations with other members of the CIS. 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.

During the 2004 Ukrainian presidential election, Putin twice visited Ukraine before the election to show his support for Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych and he congratulated him on his alleged victory before the official election results had been announced. Putin's direct support for pro-Russian Yanukovych was widely criticized as unwarranted interference in the affairs of post-Soviet Ukraine. More recently, a crisis has emerged in Russia's relations with Georgia and Moldova, both former Soviet republics accusing Moscow of supporting separatist entities in their territories.

In his annual address to the Federal Assembly on April 26, 2007, Putin announced plans to declare a moratorium on the observance of the CFE Treaty by Russia until all NATO members ratify it and start observing its provisions, as Russia has been doing so far on a unilateral basis. Putin argues that as new NATO members have not even signed the treaty so far, a disbalance in the presence of NATO and Russian armed forces in Europe creates a real threat and an unpredictable situation for Russia.

The months following Putin's Munich speech were marked by tension and a surge in rhetorics on both sides of the Atlantic. So, Vladimir Putin said at the anniversary of the Victory Day, "these threats are not becoming fewer but are only transforming and changing their appearance. These new threats, just as under the Third Reich, show the same contempt for human life and the same aspiration to establish an exclusive dictate over the world." This was interpreted by some Russian and Western commentators as comparing the U.S. to Nazi Germany. On the eve of the 33rd Summit of the G8 in Heiligendamm, American historian Anne Applebaum wrote that "Whether by waging cyberwarfare on Estonia, threatening the gas supplies of Lithuania, or boycotting Georgian wine and Polish meat, he [Putin] has, over the past few years, made it clear that he intends to reassert Russian influence in the former communist states of Europe, whether those states want Russian influence or not. At the same time, he has also made it clear that he no longer sees Western nations as mere benign trading partners, but rather as Cold War-style threats." British historian Max Hastings prior to the 2007 G8 Summit also described Putin as "Stalin's spiritual heir" in his article "Will we have to fight Russia in this Century?", and said that although "a return to the direct military confrontation of the Cold War is unlikely", "the notion of Western friendship with Russia is a dead letter" However, both Russian and American officials always denied the idea of a new Cold War. So, the US defence secretary Robert Gates said yet on the Munich Conference: "We all face many common problems and challenges that must be addressed in partnership with other countries, including Russia. ... One Cold War was quite enough." Vladimir Putin said prior to 33rd G8 Summit, on June 4: "we do not want confrontation; we want to engage in dialogue. However, we want a dialogue that acknowledges the equality of both parties’ interests."

Putin, bitterly opposed to a U.S. missile shield in Europe, presented President George W. Bush with a surprise counterproposal on June 7 2007 of sharing the use of the Soviet-era radar system in Azerbaijan rather than building new system in the Czech Republic. Putin expressed readiness to modernize the Gabala radar station, which has been in operation since 1986. Putin proposed it would not be necessary to place interceptor missiles in Poland then, but interceptors could be placed in NATO member Turkey or Iraq. Putin suggested also equal involvement of interested European countries in the project.

Portraits of President Putin on display in a Moscow store.

Russians argue that this proposal presents a probe to the real intent of the US with regard to their AMD shield plans: if American real concern is Iran, then Putin's offer is unbeatable, they say, since detecting Iran's missile launches from Azerbaijan would be more reasonable than doing so from Czech Republic. Russian senior lawmaker Konstantin Kosachev said, "if the Americans reject Russia's offer under some pretext, we will know for sure that their true goal is not only to stave off a potential threat from Iran or North Korea, but also to neutralize Russia's nuclear potential, which we could have assumed earlier."

Media freedom in Russia

Main article: Media freedom in Russia

While many reforms made in modern Russia under Putin’s rule were generally criticized by Western media, a joint poll by World Public Opinion in the U. S. and the Levada Center in Russia around June-July 2006 stated that "neither the Russian nor the American publics are convinced Russia is headed in an anti-democratic direction" and "Russians generally support Putin’s concentration of political power and strongly support the re-nationalization of Russia’s oil and gas industry" [62] With respect to American opinion, the above conclusions are contradicted by the fact that the anti-democratic and authoritarian nature of the Putin government is the subject of much discussion in the American media and among American politicians. Proof of this includes various statements of concern by President Bush and the Secretary of State, Ms. Rice.

Since the early 1990s, a number of Russian reporters who have covered the situation in Chechnya , contentious stories on organized crime, state and administrative officials, and large businesses have been killed. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, 45 journalists were murdered in Russia since 1992: [48] 30 of them while Boris Yeltsin was a president, and 15 after Vladimir Putin became president. [49][50] On October 7, 2006, Anna Politkovskaya, a journalist who ran a campaign exposing corruption in the Russian army and its conduct in Chechnya, was shot in the lobby of her apartment building. The death of this Russian journalist triggered an outcry of criticism of Russia in the Western media, with accusations that, at best, Putin has failed to protect the country's new independent media. When asked about Politkovskaya's murder on October 10, Putin said it was a "disgusting crime" and there is "no forgiveness" for those who had committed it. He added that Politkovskaya's assassination brought much more harm to the Russian authorities than her publications.[51] According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, "All three major television networks are now in the hands of Kremlin loyalists." [6] Indeed, while "Сhannel Russia" was state-owned since its foundation in 1991, major shareholders of ORT and NTV (Boris Berezovsky and Vladimir Gusinsky, respectively) sold their stocks to the government and Gazprom under questionable circumstances in 2000-2001. Moreover, TV6, a media outlet owned by Berezovsky, was closed in 2003 due to financial problems. [52] Along with that, plenty of media outlets actively develop now while state participation in them is minimal. [53] Private TV networks Ren-TV and TVC which cover 80% and 64% of population respectively, broadcast independent analytical programms like "25th hour", "Week" with Marianna Maksimovskaya, "Postscriptum", "Moment of truth". Ren-TV remains perhaps the only truly independent major TV outlet with liberal deviations, easily unveiling themas of censorship or showing interviews with leaders of Other Russia. Gazprom-owned NTV airs "Real Politics" with Gleb Pavlovsky and "Sunday Evening" with Vladimir Solovyov. In 2006 Putin commented that in the period of 1990s freedom of press in Russia "was indeed under threat, not from the former state ideology that once held a monopoly on expression, but from the dictates of oligarchic capital". [7] Journalist Yevgeniya Albats has said: "Of course in the 1990s there were restrictions on freedom of expression but, due to the fact that the media belonged to different business structures, despite influence being exerted pluralism was preserved." [8] The actual influence of Kremlin on the media space causes harsh debates between journalists of "liberal" (e.g. Shenderovich) and "patriotic" (e.g. Oleg Kashin) persuasions. [54] According to journalist Maxim Kononenko, "People invent censorship for themselves, and what happens on some TV channels, some newspapers, happens not because Putin dials them and says: No, this mustn't go. But because their bosses are fools."[55] However, political scientist Yevgenia Albats in interview with Eduard Steiner has disputed this assertion: "Today the directors of the television channels and the newspapers are invited every Thursday into the Kremlin office of the deputy head of administration, Vladislav Surkov to learn what news should be presented, and where. Journalists are bought with enormous salaries. In discussions they tell us then how horrible it is to work in the state television service." [9].

Thomas Steg, a spokesman for the German government, which currently holds the European Union presidency, urged Russia to respect human rights. Germany called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to allow demonstrations during next week's EU-Russia summit in Samara, Russia. Plans are under way for a so-called "Dissenters' March" in Samara during the May 18 summit. In the past months, several such marches were forcefully broken up by police in different Russian cities. "Critical voices must be able to express themselves," government spokesman Thomas Steg said ahead of the summit, which Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel will attend. "In talks with the Russian president, we always stress the importance of fundamental basic rights, including the right of assembly," Steg said. Last month, Germany - which holds the rotating EU presidency - condemned as "unacceptable" the Russian police response to protests in St. Petersburg, during which officers clashed with demonstrators, detaining more than 100 of them. Reporters for German public television stations were among those detained. The organization "Reporters Without Borders"[56] issued the following statement: "We are outraged to see that even important international meetings do not prevent the political authorities from harassing leaders of the Other Russia coalition who are organising a protest march (although it has been authorised) and the journalists who have interviewed them,” the press freedom organisation said. “This is a flagrant violation of human rights and civil liberties, and we urge all human rights activists to be especially vigilant in the coming months, which will be decisive for Russia’s future." Reporters Without Borders added: "The record of the last seven years confirms our conviction that Vladimir Putin is an enemy of press freedom. It is our duty to appeal for solidarity with Russian human rights activists and journalists so that they do not feel isolated. Their struggle must find support outside the country, starting with the European Union." During press-conference at the Summit, Mr. Putin was quoted as saying: "I am not bothered by these marches in any way. I believe that any such activities must take place within the existing legislative framework and not prevent other citizens from living a normal life."[57] In May of 2007, a court in Samara sentenced an organizer of anti-government protests Ilya Gurjev to six months of prison. Opposition leaders said that was the first time an activist was given a significant prison term for organizing protests and said it was part of the government campaign to intimidate dissent ahead of the summit. (Source: Associated Press)[citation needed] Official version was that Gurjev was sentenced because he didn't attend obligatory registration every month, as he was previously convicted to a suspended sentence for action of NBP in waiting room of Administration of the President. [10]

A report from the Organization "Freedom House" [11] contained the following comments about Russia: "Media freedom was further curtailed in 2006 as President Vladimir Putin’s government passed legislation restricting news reporting and journalists were subjected to physical violence and intimidation. Although the Russian constitution provides for freedom of speech and of the press, authorities are able to use the legislative and judicial systems to harass and prosecute independent journalists ...Despite public objections, Russia’s parliament also passed amendments to the Law on Fighting Extremist Activity, which Putin then signed in July. The measure expanded the definition of extremism to include media criticism of public officials, and authorized up to three years’ imprisonment for journalists as well as the suspension or closure of their publications if they were convicted ...Authorities continued to exert influence on media outlets and determine news content in 2006. The state owns or controls significant stakes in the country’s three main national television networks: Channel One, Rossiya, and NTV ... During 2006, journalists continued to face criminal libel charges for printing and broadcasting statements that were unfavorable to public officials. Criminal courts also sentenced several journalists on charges of “inciting racial hatred” for publicizing controversial events in Chechnya ...With online media developing and 16 percent of the population now online, the government also harassed some of Russia’s leading news websites."

According to public opinion surveys conducted by Levada Center, Putin's approval rating is 81% as of June 2007, and the highest of any leader in the world. It started at 31% in August 1999, rose to 80% by November 1999 and never fell below 65% since then.

Martial arts

Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin Владимир Владимирович Путин
File:Putin judo.jpg
Born	October 7, 1952 Leningrad, Soviet Union
Style	Judo, Sambo
Rank	Sensei, Black belt 6th Dan

One of Putin's favorite sports is the martial art of judo. Putin began sambo (a Soviet martial art developed for the Red Army and the NKVD) at the age of 14, before switching to judo, which he continues to practise today. Putin won competitions in his hometown of Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg), including the senior championship of Leningrad. He is the President of the Yawara Dojo, the same St. Petersburg dojo he practised at when young. Putin co-authored a book on his favorite sport, published in Russian as Judo with Vladimir Putin and in English under the title Judo: History, Theory, Practice.

Though he is not the first world leader to practice judo, Putin is the first leader to move forward into the advanced levels. Currently, Putin is a black belt (6th dan) and is best known for his Harai Goshi, a sweeping hip throw. Vladimir Putin is Master of Sports (Soviet and Russian sport title) in Judo and Sambo. After a state visit to Japan, Putin was invited to the Kodokan Institute and showed the students and Japanese officials different judo techniques.

Putin is also an fan of mixed martial arts. He attended the BODOG Fight event in St.Petersburg.

Decorations

• In September 2006, France's president Jacques Chirac awarded Vladimir Putin the Grand Cross of the Legion d'Honneur, the highest French decoration, to celebrate his contribution to the friendship between the two countries. This decoration is usually awarded to the heads of state considered as very close to France.
• On February 12, 2007 Saudi King Abdullah awarded Putin the King Abdul Aziz Award, Saudi Arabia's top civilian decoration.

Selected quotes

• Putin on Chechen extremists, on September 24, 1999: "We'll follow terrorists everywhere. We will corner the bandits in the toilet and beat the hell out of them." ("мочить в сортире" in Russian slang, "wet (cap) them in the toilet"):
• "Russia has made its choice in favor of democracy. Fourteen years ago, independently, without any pressure from outside, it made that decision in the interests of itself and interests of its people — of its citizens. This is our final choice, and we have no way back. ... Any kind of turn towards totalitarianism for Russia would be impossible, due to the condition of the Russian society."
• "I see that not everyone in the West has understood that the Soviet Union has disappeared from the political map of the world and that a new country has emerged with new humanist and ideological principles at the foundation of its existence."
• "We have spoken on many occasions of the need to achieve high economic growth as an absolute priority for our country. The annual address for 2003 set for the first time the goal of doubling gross domestic product within a decade."
• "Russia must realize its full potential in high-tech sectors such as modern energy technology, transport and communications, space and aircraft building."
• 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." [8]

See also:

• Speeches by the President at the official website.
• Interview with NBC TV channel taken on July 12, 2006, before G8 summit.
• Interview with Al-Jazeera, February 10, 2007.

Anecdotes

• In reply to criticism from a French journalist about the war in Chechnya at the Russia-EU summit in Brussels in 2002, Putin said: "If you want to completely become an Islamic radical and are ready to have a circumcision, then I invite you to Moscow. We have a multi-cultural country and have specialists even on this issue. And I will recommend him to perform this surgery in such a way so that nothing would grow out of you again."
• On June 28, 2005, Putin made the news after an incident involving the New England Patriots Super Bowl XXXIX championship ring. Three days earlier Putin had met with U.S. business executives, including Patriots owner Robert Kraft. Towards the end of the meeting, Kraft showed Putin a ring with 124 diamonds, impressing the president. At this point Kraft handed the ring to Putin who tried it on for a moment, then slipped it into his pocket and left. The event made headlines as the New York Sun, and other news outlets, suggested that Kraft did not intend to give away the ring. Kraft, who has Russian ancestors, later told the Associated Press that he gave the ring to Putin as a gift and token of respect.
• On October 19, 2006, Putin was quoted as saying to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel about Israeli President Moshe Katsav, "Say hello to your president. He really surprised us... turned out to be quite a mighty man. He raped 10 women. I never expected it from him. He surprised all of us. We all envy him." In a call-in television program Putin did not deny making the comment but said that "using instruments such as protecting women’s rights to resolve political issues that are unconnected with this problem is absolutely inadmissible. And this is because it actually discredits the struggle for women’s rights". He also criticized the press 'eavesdropping' on his conversation with Olmert as 'unseemly'.
• In a transcript published on July 12, 2006, Putin is reported to have responded to U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney's political criticism by saying, "I think the statements of your Vice-President of this sort are the same as an unsuccessful hunting shot." U.S. President George W. Bush later remarked that the comment was "pretty clever, actually, quite humorous." [9]
• In response to Bush's accusations during the press conference at the 32nd G8 summit held in July of 2006, concerning the decline of democracy in modern Russia, when Bush said that Iraq is a good example to follow, Putin stated, "We certainly would not want to have the same kind of democracy as they have in Iraq, I will tell you quite honestly." George W. Bush responded on that: "Just wait."
• Also during the 32nd G8 summit, following journalists' criticisms of the Russian government's record on human rights, Putin responded saying that, "There are also other questions, questions ... about the fight against corruption. We'd be interested in hearing your experience, including how it applies to Lord Levy." Lord Levy, a member of the British House of Lords, was arrested (and bailed) one week prior, in relation to the "Cash for Peerages" police inquiry into the solicitation of financial donations to British political parties in return for honours.
• In May 2007 Putin was asked for his opinion on homosexuality in the midst of a row over the decision by Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov to ban a gay rights parade in Moscow. Putin jokingly said "My approach toward gay parades and sexual minorities is very simple. It is directly linked to my responsibilities. One of the key problems of our country is the demographic problem." After the audience burst out in laughter, Putin quickly added, "I respect the freedom of people in all respects.".
• At the June 2007 G8 Summit, answering a question "Do you consider yourself 'pure democrat’?", Vladimir Putin replied that he is an "absolute pure democrat", and said the real tragedy is that he is the only of his kind in the world. He noted human rights violations in the US and suppression of demonstrators in Europe, and concluded: "there is no one to talk to since Mahatma Gandhi died." It should be noted that answering the same question 2-3 weeks before at Russia-EU Summit Putin said: "What is pure democracy? Where can you find it? ... do we have pure democrats somewhere in the world, or in Germany itself? It is always a question of political judgment and a desire to see the glass half-full or half-empty."

Putin in humour and fiction

• The weekly TV show Kukly used puppets representing the most recognizable and powerful Russian politicians, including a dwarf puppet-president, to satirize current events. The show was aired on NTV channel from 1994 to 2002. The success of Kukly was to a great extent due to its scriptwriter Victor Shenderovich. There are suspicions that due to its irreverent style, Kukly may have been taken off the air after pressure from the Putin government.
• Short humorous stories about Vladimir Vladimirovich's everyday life and work Vladimir Vladimirovich™ are regularly published by journalist Maxim Kononenko, popularly known under the sobriquet "Mr. Parker". In these essays, often alluding to contemporary events, 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 key historical events or people, etc. A collection of these stories, thoroughly commented, was published as a book in August 2005. German and English versions of these anecdotes are available as well. Kononenko wrote that some of these stories were brought to Putin.
• Screen versions of the Vladimir Vladimirovich™ series are shown in a weekly analytical programme "Realnaya politika" with Gleb Pavlovsky, aired on NTV channel (although the androids are not shown).
• In the South Park episode Free Willzyx, Putin is shown as a president who badly needs money for the Russian economy. He is shown to be extremely excited when he is asked to fly a whale to the moon for 20 million dollars as this money will save Russia.
• Several comic sources have commented on the fact that Putin bears a resemblance to the House-Elf Dobby from the film version of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. But in fact Dobby was meant to resemble not Putin himself, but the puppet, representing him on the Kukly show.
• Several websites have commented on the uncanny resemblance between Vladimir Putin and the Italian merchant depicted on the Arnolfini Portrait by the Flemish painter Jan van Eyck.
• On his show, The Colbert Report, Stephen Colbert announced his support for Putin in the 2008 U.S. presidential election.
• In Henry Porter's novel "Brandenburg", set largely in 1989 Dresden, a KGB operative named Vladimir Putin, an expert in judo, plays a major role.
• The French spelling of Putin's last name, "Poutine" is identical to the name of a French-Canadian fast-food dish.
• The Lithuanian spelling of Putin's last name, "Putinas" is identical to the Lithuanian name of a arrowwood plant and to the old Lithuanian surnames.
• The Spanish pronunciation of Putin's last name is very similar to the diminutive of the word puto, which is a derogatory word for male prostitute.
• The Portuguese pronunciation of Putin's last name is very similar to the diminutive of the word puto, whose slang meaning is irritated. President Lula of Brazil once said that, upon hearing the news that Brazilian slaughterhouses were bribing Russian authorities to be allowed to export meat to that country, "certainly President Putin was kind of putin with Brazil."

External links

• The official site of the President of the Russian Federation
• Aims, Priorities and Tasks: Attempt at a Systematic Analysis of the Presidential Speeches In Russia (2000 – 2005)
• The Accidental Autocrat, in The Atlantic Monthly, March 2005 (may require subscription)
• Russia as friend, not foe, in Asia Times by Nicolai N. Petro, February 2007
• Russia's Foreign Policy in a resurgent mode: An Analysis
• Transcript of the Interactive Webcast with the President, held on July 7, 2006 (BBC version).
• RussianSpy: Vladimir Putin
• BBC – Vladimir Putin: Spy turned politician
• Putin and his judo activities
• Transcript of an interview with Larry King, September 2000
• Guardian — How I learned to love Vlad, by Nick P. Walsh
• Vladimir.Vladimirovich.ru political satire site
• Template:Ru icon Forum noputin.com
• Russia - To Be Feared... For Now
• Template:Ru icon Vladimir Putin Fan Club
• Putin's Russia
• That Murder in London
• Template:Ru icon "Who could be a President?" Composition by Alexey Vishnya.
• Anatol Lieven (May 11, 2006). "Putin versus Cheney". International Herald Tribune.
• Putin's Duality by Ion Mihai Pacepa, FrontPageMagazine, August 5, 2005
• Template:Ru icon Dossier on Putin by V. Pribylovsky
• Template:Ru icon The Operation "Successor" by Vladimir Pribylovsky and Yuriy Felshtinsky
• Doug Sanders, "Putin threatens to target Europe with missiles", The Globe and Mail, June 2, 2007

Template:Incumbent succession box

Template:Persondata ru-sib:Путин, Володимир Володимерыч