Who is the recently appointed new president of russia

Communist Gennady Zyuganov, who took part in every presidential campaign since , is famously uncharismatic — and Vladimir Zhirinovsky, 75, is an ultra-nationalist whose outlandish populism and eccentricity have for decades resembled those of former US President Donald Trump. Zhirinovsky is widely seen as a political clown who lures disgruntled rightists and threatens the West.

Some Tuvan intellectuals even consider him a reincarnation of Subedei, a Mongol general whose army laid waste to what is now Russia and Ukraine eight centuries ago. Shoigu started his career in the early s as head of the emergencies ministry, making it a highly effective, militarised structure — and topping all political charts years before Putin became president.

Ahead of the September 19 parliamentary vote, Putin appointed him the poster boy of United Russia, the ruling party that has been tanking ignominiously in polls. The resignation of Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and the announcement about Mishustin, a technocrat with little power base of his own, caught many analysts and Kremlin watchers by surprise.

It is unclear whether Mishustin is a temporary placeholder or could be groomed as a potential successor down the line. Like Putin, the new prime minister is a hockey fan and has been seen at matches with security services officials in Moscow. Mishustin is reportedly an enthusiastic composer who has written a number of songs for well-known Russian singers, according to the Russian financial newspaper Vedomosti. Married with three sons, Mishustin has few political accolades and worked in government roles related to tax collection since the early days of his career.

While reducing poverty, economic expansion, and increasing population growth were central to his last presidential campaign, the government has so far failed to properly implement those measures. By selecting Mishustin, Putin is looking to learn from his past mistakes during his return to the presidency in and offer Russians change, while still maintaining his grip on power. Malaise and backlash against the government have also grown.

Polls have also shown that the public is growing distrustful of state television channels, and Putin has seen his popularity fall to 68 percent from 82 percent in April , according to the Levada Center, an independent pollster based in Moscow. Medvedev, meanwhile, leaves his post as prime minister with a dismal 38 percent rating, according to the same poll. Real wages have been falling for five years and have gradually eroded the government's popularity ratings, raising the prospect they could start bleeding into Mr Putin's own ratings , analysts and critics of the Kremlin said.

That was seen as a concern for the Kremlin ahead of a parliamentary election next year and as something that could make a smooth transition for Mr Putin harder to achieve.

Critics have long accused Mr Putin, a former KGB officer, of plotting to stay on in some capacity after his term ends to continue to wield power over the world's largest nation, which is also one of its two leading nuclear powers. The constitutional reform proposals, which he set out on Wednesday local time and suggested should be put to a referendum, would give him the option of taking an enhanced role as prime minister after or a new role as head of the State Council, an official body he said he was keen to build up.

Opposition politician Leonid Volkov said it looked as though Mr Putin was digging in. The proposals looked like the start of many more changes to come, the newspaper said. Under the current constitution, which sets a maximum of two successive terms, Mr Putin is barred from immediately running again for the presidency in , but his supporters find it hard to imagine Russian political life without him.

Mr Putin remains popular with many Russians who see him as a welcome source of stability, even as others complain that he has been in power for too long and that their pensions and standard of living are being steadily eroded. We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we live, learn, and work.

Key points: Mr Putin announced a sweeping shake-up of the political system on Wednesday The changes are seen as giving Mr Putin scope to extend his power beyond The decision led to the resignation of Dmitry Medvedev and his government. Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Watch Duration: 1 minute 25 seconds 1 m 25 s.

Not long afterward, a two-hour documentary, titled Putin , was posted to several social media pages and a pro-Kremlin YouTube account. Designed to showcase the president in a strong yet humane light, the doc featured Putin sharing the story of how he ordered a hijacked plane shot down to head off a bomb scare at the Sochi Olympics, as well as recollections of his grandfather's days as a cook for Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin. On March 18, , the fourth anniversary of the country's seizure of Crimea, Russian citizens overwhelmingly elected Putin to a fourth presidential term, with 67 percent of the electorate turning out to award him more than 76 percent of the vote.

The divided opposition stood little chance against the popular leader, his closest competitor notching around 13 percent of the vote. Little was expected to change regarding Putin's strategies for rebuilding the country as a global power, though the start of his final term set off questions about his successor, and whether he would affect constitutional change in an attempt to remain in office indefinitely.

On July 16, , Putin met with President Trump in Helsinki, Finland, for the first formal talks between the two leaders. According to Russia, topics of the meeting included the ongoing war in Syria and "the removal of the concerns" about accusations of Russian attempts to influence the U. The two leaders discussed the issue of the North Korean laborers in Russia, while Putin also offered support of his counterpart's denuclearization negotiations with the U.

The topic of whether Putin aimed to extend his hold on power resurfaced following his state-of-the-nation speech in January , which included proposals for constitutional amendments that included transferring the power to select the prime minister and cabinet from the president to the Parliament. The entire cabinet, including Medvedev, promptly resigned, leading to the selection of Mikhail V. Mishustin as the new prime minister. In , Putin met his future wife, Lyudmila, who was working as a flight attendant at the time.

The couple married in and had two daughters: Maria, born in , and Yekaterina, born in In early June , after nearly 30 years of marriage, Russia's first couple announced that they were getting a divorce, providing little explanation for the decision, but assuring that they came to it mutually and amicably. Vladimir Vladimirovich is immersed in his work, our children have grown and are living their own lives.

An Orthodox Christian, Putin is said to attend church services on important dates and holidays on a regular basis and has had a long history of encouraging the construction and restoration of thousands of churches in the region. He generally aims to unify all faiths under the government's authority and legally requires religious organizations to register with local officials for approval.

We strive for accuracy and fairness. If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us! Subscribe to the Biography newsletter to receive stories about the people who shaped our world and the stories that shaped their lives. Vladimir Lenin was founder of the Russian Communist Party, leader of the Bolshevik Revolution and architect and first head of the Soviet state.

Barack Obama was the 44th president of the United States, and the first African American to serve in the office. First elected to the presidency in , he won a second term in Mikhail Gorbachev was the first president of the Soviet Union, serving from to He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace for his leadership role in ending the Cold War and promoting peaceful international relations.

Joseph Stalin ruled the Soviet Union for more than two decades, instituting a reign of death and terror while modernizing Russia and helping to defeat Nazism.