Vladimir Putin (person) by kessenich

Putin facts:

Born 7 October 1952 in St. Petersburg
Practicing Orthodox Christian
Works 16-17 hour days
Seldom shows anger
Holds a law degree from Leningrad State University and a doctorate in economics
Fluent in German; can even imitate dialects
Holds a black belt in Judo
Leningrad's Judo champion in 1974
A runner (unusual in Russia)
Recruited by the KGB in 1975
Was schooled in espionage in Moscow
Joined the KGB's First Chief Directorate as a foreign intelligence agent focusing on Western visitors
Ordered the Russian military to expel the Chechen Islamic militants

Putin was sworn in as Russia's second president; his PM is an economic liberal named Mikhail Kasyonov.

Restoration of authoritarianism in Russia	A Man Like Putin	Russophobia	Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds
Chechnya	Nicknames accorded by George W. Bush	He who controls the past controls the future	September 17, 2009
Boris Yeltsin	George W. Bush is a moron, and there is no 'grey matter' there	Pooting	Perestroika
Chechen	exile.ru	Fidel Castro	Saint Petersburg
Fears and the Future in Post-Sanity America	Playing Poker with Putin	Russia and the Near Abroad	Russia and the West
Second Chechen War	Sergei Ivanov