He was also the prime minister from 1999 to 2000, and again from 2008 to 2012.

Putin is the second-longest current serving European president after Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus.

Putin was born in Leningrad and studied law at Leningrad State University, graduating in 1975.

He worked as a KGB foreign intelligence officer for 16 years.

He moved to Moscow in 1996 to join the administration of president Boris Yeltsin.

He briefly served as director of the Federal Security Service (FSB) and secretary of the Security Council, before being appointed as prime minister in August 1999.

After the resignation of Yeltsin, Putin became acting president, and less than four months later was elected outright to his first term as president and was reelected in 2004.

As he was then constitutionally limited to two consecutive terms as president, Putin served as prime minister again from 2008 to 2012 under Dmitry Medvedev.

In April 2021, following a referendum, he signed into law constitutional amendments including one that would allow him to run for reelection twice more, potentially extending his presidency to 2036.