Written by: Riyaj Kuike - 23035, Grade XI
Posted on: 14 March, 2022
Born on 7th october 1952 on Leningrad present day st.petersburg Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin is the current president of Russia and has been in power for more than 20 years .Even though he stepped down as the president from 2008 to 2012 to serve as the prime minister he was still considered to be the de facto leader of Russia.He first assumed office as president of Russia in 1999 and since then he has shaped the political,geographic and economic face of Russia.He is regarded as one of the most powerful and influential person in the world.Born to a factory worker in soviet union how did putin became so powerful and influential?
The rise of vladimir Putin starts from the fall of Soviet union .After the fall of Soviet Union the country erupted into chaos and corruption.When the berlin wall fell in 1989, Vladmir putin was working as a undercover spy in east germany for the Security agency for soviet union the KGB.Shortly after the fall of berlin wall the soviet union was also dissolved into 15 new countries .Putin was very dissatisfied with it and called it “the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century”.After the soviet union fell the new government under Boris Yeltsin wanted to transform Russia into free market economy so it wanted to sell thousands of factories and companies previously operated by the communist government to common Russian people.In order to sell the shares of those companies the government started giving vouchers to russian people which could be exchanged for recently privatized company .But most people in Russia had no idea of capitalism or shares so they started selling their vouchers in exchange for small amount of cash so very few of the educated russians took advantage of the opportunities and bought the vouchers form common russian people and became very wealthy .These people are called russian Oligarchs who controlled more than half of the Russian economy.The then president of Russia Boris Yeltsin was widely unpopular through russia for cooperating with the western power and he was just seen as an alcoholic who was an embarrassment for the country.So in order to stay in power in Russia he opted for the support of those oligarch giving them an immense political power.IN the other hand after the fall of soviet union putin leaves KGBin 1991 and becomes the deputy mayor of St. Petersburg .He uses this position to help his friends and allies in business.He then slowly gathers the support of wealthy Russian oligarchs,crime bosses and his fellow friends from the KGB With their help and support Putin starts to climb the ladder of power and position .Then in 1999 Boris yeltsin appointed Putin as prime minister of Russia.Putin being a nationalist he disliked the plans and policies of Yeltsin who was letting united states dominate russia and feared the expansion of NATO alliance to newly formed countries after the dissolution of the soviet union .So , he wanted to build a strong Russian government who was capable of excising absolute power in Russia and also influence and control the neighbouring countries.His power grew when a former region of soviet union chechnya informally separated from russia and started attacking russian cities.This killed hundreds of russians citizens .Then the new prime minister of russia putin starts to appear on national television and promises to take revenge against the seperatist for the death of russian citizens.After that russia launches an invasion against chechnya and starts bombing various cities killing more than 80 thousand people.Then in less than a year russia brings chechnya back under its control .After this Putins popularity among the population quickly grows and putin becomes more powerful and supported politician. Then in december 1999 Yeltsin suddenly resigned as the president of russia making putin the acting president.Then in may 2000 putin officially wins the presidential election with 53.6 % votes.After he becomes president he quickly suppresses the Russian oligarchs under his control.He also gained control of russian media and used them to depict him as a strong and loved leader .According to russian constitution a president can only serve two consecutive terms so he picked one of his friend Dimitri Medvev to serve as president from 2008 to 2012. And Putin again became president of Russia in 2012.Now Putin has a very strong grip over the Russian oligarchs,Russian military and russian Media.His regime has also developed a strong cyber network in the world which is used to cause havoc in the world.With all these key elements under his control he has become one of the most powerful man of this century.
