Vladimir Putin's professional career began in the early 1970s when he joined the KGB, the Soviet Union's main security agency. He worked primarily as an intelligence officer and served in East Germany during the 1980s. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, Putin returned to Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) and transitioned to politics in the early 1990s.
In 1996, he moved to Moscow, where he became an advisor to then-mayor Anatoly Sobchak. By 1997, he was appointed to the position of Deputy Chief of the Presidential Staff under Boris Yeltsin. In 1999, Putin was appointed Prime Minister and, shortly afterward, became acting President following Yeltsin's resignation.
Putin officially became President of Russia in 2000 and served two terms until 2008, when he became Prime Minister again due to term limits. He returned to the presidency in 2012 and was re-elected in 2018. Throughout his political career, Putin has been a key figure in shaping modern Russia's domestic and foreign policies, often emphasizing a strong central government, national security, and an assertive foreign policy.
