Russian President Vladimir Putin will arrive in New Delhi on Thursday at 6:30 PM, marking his first visit to India in four years and his first since the Ukraine conflict started. The brief yet consequential visit comes as India and Russia are striving for stronger political and economic links amid changing global dynamics.
Check out his education qualification and career journey below:
Education qualification
Putin was born in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) into a working-class family: his mother was a worker at a factory, and his father was serving in the Soviet Navy. In his early teens, he took up sambo and judo; later, he developed a serious interest in political philosophy, especially the works of Marx, Engels, and Lenin. Along with sports and studies, he mastered the German language, which he still speaks fluently.
Vladimir Putin graduated in 1975 with a degree in law from Leningrad State University and later earned a Ph.D. in economics. After his studies, he joined the KGB and began serving from 1975 onwards. From 1985 to 1990, he was posted in East Germany for five years.
He returned and started his academic career in 1990 as an assistant to the rector of Leningrad State University, responsible for international affairs. Later, he joined politics as an adviser to the chairman of the Leningrad City Council and began to rise in public administration.
Political career
According to his official biography, in June 1991, Putin was appointed chairman of the St. Petersburg City Council’s International Relations Committee, and from 1994, he also served as First Deputy Chairman of the St. Petersburg City Government. At the federal level, his career moved rapidly forward: in 1996, he became deputy head of the President’s Administrative Directorate; in 1997, deputy head of the Presidential Administration; and in 1998, first deputy head.
In July 1998, he was appointed head of the Federal Security Service, and by March 1999, he was also Secretary of the Security Council. A few months later, in August 1999, he was appointed Prime Minister. Putin became the acting President on December 31, 1999, and he was formally elected in 2000. He won re-election in 2004, became Prime Minister again in 2008, returned to the presidency in 2012, was re-elected in 2018, and once more in 2024, starting his most recent term in office on May 7, 2024.
