Vladimir Putin

Vladimir Putin is the Tsar of Russia. Putin was previously the prime-minister and president of Russia before his crowning as tsar in 2019.

### Early Life

Putin was born in Leningrad and studied law at Leningrad State University, graduating in 1975. Putin worked as a KGB foreign intelligence officer for 16 years, rising to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, before resigning in 1991 to begin a political career in Saint Petersburg. He later moved to Moscow in 1996 to join the administration of President Boris Yeltsin, serving first as Director of the Federal Security Service (FSB), the KGB's successor agency, before being appointed as prime minister in August 1999. After the resignation of Yeltsin, Putin was elected to succeed him.

### Presidency

During his first tenure as president, the Russian economy grew for eight straight years, with GDP measured by purchasing power increasing by 72%. The growth was a result of the 2000s commodities boom, recovery from the post-Communist depression and financial crises, and prudent economic and fiscal policies. After serving as prime minister under Dmitry Medvedev, Putin announced he would seek a third term as president, and won the March 2012 election with 64% of the vote. Falling oil prices coupled with international sanctions imposed at the beginning of 2014 after Russia's annexation of Crimea and military intervention in Eastern Ukraine led to GDP shrinking by 3.7% in 2015, though the Russian economy rebounded in 2016 with 0.3% GDP growth and the recession officially ended. Putin gained 76% of the March 2018 election and was re-elected for a six-year term that will end in 2024.

Under Putin's leadership, Russia has experienced democratic backsliding. Experts do not generally consider Russia to be a democracy, citing purges and jailing of political opponents, curtailed press freedom, and the lack of free and fair elections. Russia has scored poorly on Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index, Economist Intelligence Unit's Democracy Index and Freedom House's Freedom in the World index (including a record low 20/100 rating in the 2017 Freedom in the World report, a rating not given since the time of the Soviet Union). Human rights organizations and activists have accused Putin of persecuting political critics and activists, as well as ordering them tortured or assassinated; he has rejected accusations of human rights abuses. Officials of the United States government have accused him of leading an interference program against Hillary Clinton in support of Donald Trump during the U.S. presidential election in 2016, an allegation which both Trump and Putin have frequently denied and criticized.

### Crowning as Tsar

After an investigation, it was found that Putin was related to the last tsar of Russia, Tsar Nicholas II. The Board of Russian Heritage announced that "We have decided that as there is no evidence to disprove the claims set forth by the office of the Presidency we must legally place the title of Tsar to Vladimir Putin."

On the 9th of January, Putin made Tsar Vladimir. The event was watched by over 2.5 billion people, more than the 2008 Beijing Olympics opening ceremony making it the most watched televised event in history.

On the 13th of February 2020, Tsar Vladimir was involved in a sex scandal involving several prostitutes. In an attempt to create an heir, Vladimir allegedly hired multiple prostitutes to have sex with. Putin already had two children, but they were with his previously divorced wife meaning they were illegitimate and unable to be counted as an heir. Putin dismissed the claims that the events involving the prostitutes happened and following a press conference surrounding the debate, the prostitutes disappeared and were never seen again. They were arrested for treason due to their "staining of the Tsar's image" but have not been seen since their arrest.