Why is Putin so powerful in politics by country?

 Why is Putin so powerful in politics by country?

Vladimir Putin has had a strong, if complicated, relationship with

Donald Trump since the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Vladimir Putin is the president of Russia. He was born in 1952 in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) and

studied law at Leningrad State University, graduating in 1975. He then began his career as an officer

with the KGB, which he worked for until 1991 when he became an advisor to Anatoly Sobchak, who

would become mayor of St. Petersburg shortly thereafter. In 1996 Putin was appointed prime minister

under President Boris Yeltsin, serving two terms before being elected president himself in 2000 with

more than 53 percent of the vote—a surprising amount considering Yeltsin's popularity had just recently

plummeted after introducing price hikes on basic food items like bread and milk in order to finance

military spending for Chechnya during its war with Russia (1994–1996).

Alexander Litvinenko was poisoned with radioactive polonium-210 in London

in 2006 and died three weeks later.

Alexander Litvinenko was a former KGB officer and one of the most vocal critics of Vladimir Putin.

In 2006, he was poisoned with radioactive polonium-210 in London and died three weeks later.

The Kremlin denied any involvement in his death, but a public inquiry led by Sir Robert Owen

concluded that President Putin “probably approved” the killing.

A former KGB officer and head of Russian domestic intelligence, Putin was elected

president of Russia in 2000.

Vladimir Putin was born in 1952 in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg). He studied law at Leningrad State

University and joined the KGB, the Soviet Union's main security agency, in 1975. Putin served with

distinction as an undercover officer for nearly 15 years—returning to Moscow at one point to be

appointed deputy head of the foreign intelligence department—before leaving the service for good to

work in city government as an aide to Anatoly Sobchak, who would become mayor of St. Petersburg.

In 1996 Putin was named secretary general of Russia’s Security Council and later became head of

domestic intelligence before being appointed prime minister by President Boris Yeltsin. After Yeltsin’s

resignation on December 31st 1999 he became acting president until elections scheduled for

March 26th 2000 which he won comfortably with 53 percent of votes cast.

The United States and its NATO allies believe Putin is trying to expand Russia's 

influence. The U.S. and its NATO allies believe Putin is trying to expand Russia's influence,

power and borders. They are concerned that Putin's goal is to increase Russia's influence in

the world by gaining control over territories that were once part of the Soviet Union. Many people

think that Putin wants to bring back the glory days of the Soviet Union, which was dissolved in 1991.

He won a landslide victory for the Kremlin in 2018.

In the latest election, Putin won 77% of the vote. That’s not a typo—77%. It’s an astounding number,

and it’s even more troubling considering that Russia has been plagued with problems in recent years

(e.g., falling oil prices, sanctions from western countries). To make matters worse, Putin won this

election with his highest percentage of the popular vote since Soviet times (which is saying something!). In fact, he also won with more votes than any other post-Soviet leader.

Putin is an international figure. 

Putin is an international figure. He is the President of Russia, and was elected in 2000. He has been in

power for 18 years. He was a former KGB officer who later became head of Russian domestic

intelligence before becoming head of the FSB (the Federal Security Service), one of Russia's three

security branches.