Vladimir Putin has been president of the Russian Federation since May 2012.
Prior to that, he was president from December 1999 to May 2008. In the interval between the presidential terms, he was chairman of the Russian government.
He was born October 7, 1952 in Leningrad, USSR.
Since 1977, he worked in the system of state security and counterintelligence of the USSR. From 1985 to 1990, he was in the residency of the Soviet foreign intelligence in the GDR. The “cover” for Putin was the director of the USSR-GDR Friendship House in Dresden.
He retired from the KGB in August 1991 with the rank of lieutenant colonel.