MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Last year, the Russian president spent his birthday on the ice, playing hockey with NHL legends and various Russian officials in the resort city of Sochi.
Provided below is a short biography of Russia's president.
Putin was born on October 7, 1952, in the Russian city of Leningrad, now St. Petersburg. He graduated with a degree in law from Leningrad State University in 1975, subsequently earning a Ph.D. in economics.
After graduating, Putin was assigned to work at the KGB, the intelligence agency of the Soviet Union. He spent five years working in East Germany, from 1985 to 1990. In 1990, he became an international affairs assistant to the rector of Leningrad State University.
In June 1991, Putin became chairman of the International Relations Committee at the St. Petersburg City Council. From 1994, he held this post concurrently with the position of first deputy chairman of the St. Petersburg city government (First Deputy Mayor).
In May 1998, Putin was promoted to first deputy head of the Presidential Administration. The same year, he joined the Federal Security Service and from March 1999, was also Security Council secretary.
Putin was appointed prime minister in August 1999, and became acting president on December 31, 1999.
On March 26, 2000, he was elected president of Russia, with the inauguration ceremony held on May 7, 2000.
He was reelected for a second presidential term on March 14, 2004, assuming the post of prime minister four years later on May 8, 2008.
On March 4, 2012, Putin once again became Russian president, inaugurated on May 7, 2012.
Putin has two daughters: Maria, born 1985, and Katerina, born 1986.
