Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, turns 70 today, on the heels of a bloody conflict with the neighbouring Ukraine that is overshadowed by the possibility of a larger conflict including the use of nuclear weapons. Of his 70 years, approximately a third were spent in office in the Kremlin.
Since he was a KGB intelligence officer, numerous stations have blocked his old railway, including the presidency of the nation built on the remains of that union.
In many ways, Vladimir Putin’s history and Russia’s modern history are inextricably linked.
The following are snippets from media accounts of the Russian president’s life.
On October 7, 1952, Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin was born in Leningrad, which is now known as Saint Petersburg, during the Soviet Union’s era.
Victor, one of his brothers who perished in the Nazi siege of Leningrad during World War II, was one of his two brothers who passed away before he could see the light.
Later in life, Putin recalled how his grandpa, Spiridon Putin, had served as a cook for politicians Joseph Stalin and Vladimir Lenin.
The grandson of Vladimir Putin was raised in Saint Petersburg, where he also attended the city’s university and participated in judo training.
In 1975, Putin received his diploma and joined the KGB right away.
He was described by the Washington Post in 2000 as saying, “I had wonderful incentives, so I believed I would be able to put my skills to the best use of community service.” He joined the intelligence service.
In 1985, the KGB dispatched him to Dresden, Germany, where his task was to look for Germans intending to move overseas in order to recruit them to spy on the West.
Unconfirmed stories state that throughout the 1980s, Putin worked in New Zealand and rose to the rank of colonel while employed by the KGB (colonel).
In 1990, when the Soviet Union was about to fall apart, Vladimir Putin returned to Leningrad as a member of the KGB’s active reserve.
Anatoly Sobchak, a former professor from his alma mater, was appointed head of the Leningrad City Council. Later, Sobchak was elected mayor of the city, earning Putin the moniker “Sobchak Guide.”
When Putin relocated to the nation’s capital, Moscow, and started working at the Kremlin, his political trajectory underwent a significant change.
In 1998, he advanced to become the chief of the Russian Federal Security Service.
Putin was appointed acting prime minister by then-Russian President Boris Yeltsin after being in this position for less than a year. He was later made deputy prime minister.
In 1998, following Yeltsin’s resignation, Putin was appointed acting president of Russia. He was subsequently elected in 2000.
Although Putin’s presidency was not without challenges, he overcame them to lead his nation out of the chaos and retreat that followed the dissolution of the Soviet Union. He also rebuilt the Russian army, improved the country’s economy, and oversaw the activation of a group resembling the “Warsaw Pact.” He managed to plan the 2018 World Cup through his organisation, the Collective Security Organization.
But the sinking of the nuclear submarine Kursk in August 2000, which resulted in the deaths of 118 servicemen who were part of the submarine crew, was the first challenging tragedy that faced Putin months after he into power.
Chechen gunmen killed 130 people in a Moscow theatre hostage-taking incident in October 2002, which spurred Putin to deal ruthlessly with Chechen rebels.
With the exception of the years 2008 to 2012, when Dmitry Medvedev was elected president of Russia, during which time Putin served as prime minister, Putin has held the office of president of Russia since 2000.
Following the demonstrations against President Viktor Yanukovych’s rule in Ukraine in 2014, the latter was forced to resign. This situation increased the population of Russian origin in some Ukrainian regions, including the Crimea, and after that, supporters of Moscow were able to take control of the peninsula.
After a vote in which 96. 7 people chose to join Russia, Putin later signed the contract of accession of Crimea to Russia.
The rebellion then continued in the eastern Ukrainian Donbass region’s Lugansk and Donetsk areas, where the rebels eventually took over most of the territory.
Vladimir Putin has been mentioned frequently in the headlines since February 24.
On that day, Putin gave a speech to the Russian people in which he proclaimed the beginning of a special military operation in Ukraine, saying it was necessary to save the region’s Russian-speaking citizens from the persecution Kyiv, he claimed, was enforcing against them. As a response, the West imposed severe penalties on Moscow.
Concern increased last September when four areas of Ukraine held referendums to join Russia as the war went on into its eighth month without an end in sight.
Despite opposition from the West, Putin accepted the results of these referendums and annexed Lugansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhia, and Kherson.
It was remarkable that in that same month, Putin announced the first partial military mobilisation since World War II, which involved calling up 300,000 reserve soldiers.
Putin celebrates his 70th birthday in a raging war. anything about him that you are unaware of
About Author
