Vladimir Putin Height, Age, Girlfriend, Wife, Family, Biography & More

Bio/Wiki
Real Name/Full Name	Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin [1]The Hill
[2]The Atlantic Nickname(s)	Pale Moth Botox Pootie Poot (name given by George Bush) Puppet Master VVP Volodya Vova
Profession	Politician
Physical Stats & More
Height (approx.)	in centimeters- 168 cm in meters- 1.68 m in feet inches- 5’ 6”
Weight (approx.)	in kilograms- 71 kg in pounds- 152 lbs
Eye Color	Blue
Hair Color	Salt and Pepper
Politics
Political Party	Independent
Political Journey	• Acting President of the Russian Federation (1999-2000). • Elected Russian President on May 7, 2010 (2000-2004). • Elected President for a second term on March 14, 2004 (2004-2008). • Elected Prime Minister on May 8, 2008 (2008-2012). • Re-elected president on March 4, 2012. • Became President of Russia for the 5th time on March 18, 2018.
Biggest Rival	Boris Nemtsov (died 2015)
Awards, Honors, Achievements	- Named Time Person of the Year in 2007 - Time's Most Influential People list ranked him #1 in 2015 - Forbes annually ranked him as the most powerful individual in the world
Personal Life
Date of Birth	7 October 1952
Age (as of 2021)	71 Years
Birthplace	Leningrad , SFSR Russia, Soviet Union
Zodiac sign	Libra
Signature
Nationality	Russian
Hometown	Saint Petersburg, Russia
School	St. Petersburg High School
College/University	Saint Petersburg State University
Educational Qualification	Degree in Law [3]The Washington Post
Religion/Religious Views	Russian Orthodox [4]Reuters Note: His religious awakening began after a serious car accident involving his wife in 1993, and the fire that burned down their dacha in August 1996.
Food Habit	Non-Vegetarian
Hobbies	Judo, Skiing, Ice Hockey, Horse Riding, Fishing, Swimming, Hunting
Controversies	• Time and time again, Putin has been accused of controlling and influencing Russian media. For example, in 2008, when the liberal newspaper "Moskovsky Korrespondent" reported that Putin planned to marry a rhythmic gymnast named Alina Kabayeva, the editor-in-chief was forced to resign within hours. [5]China Daily • In July 2016, Putin signed the controversial “big brother law”. [6]The Hindu According to this law, each telecommunications/internet service provider must store users' calls, messages, photographs, and videos for six months, as well as metadata for up to three years. Although this law was passed to combat the threat of terrorism, many service providers said that storing so much data would cost them up to 4 times their annual profit. In addition, this bill violates the privacy of Russian citizens. • In November 2014, during the APEC summit, Putin made a warm gesture by wrapping a shawl around the First Lady of China, Peng Liyuan. Shortly after this video surfaced online, many people began to doubt Putin's intentions. As China is traditionally conservative about public interaction between unrelated men and women, Putin's public display of consideration was not taken the way it was meant to be. As a result, the video was completely deleted from Chinese television and the Internet. [7]The Guardian • In 2014, the Russian government led by Putin was accused of shooting down a Malaysian passenger plane, MH-17, flying over the troubled region of eastern Ukraine, which killed all 298 passengers on board. Putin denied any wrongdoing and reportedly said, "If MH-17 crashed in Ukraine, it's Ukraine's fault." [8]Time • Apparently Putin was also associated with the assassinations of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko and rival politician Boris Nemtsov. [9]The Guardian • Vladimir Putin has strained relations with the United States by helping a wanted American donor escape US authorities. Edward Snowden leaked classified information about the US government's collection of personal customer data in 2013. After fleeing the United States, Snowden traveled from country to country seeking asylum until the United States canceled his passport while he was in Russia. Vladimir granted Snowden asylum and gave him the opportunity to apply for citizenship in the future.
Relationships & More
Sexual Orientation	Straight
Marital Status	Divorced
Affairs/Girlfriends	Alina Kabayeva, Russian gymnast (2008) Wendi Murdoch, actress and film producer (rumor, 2016)
Family
Wife/Spouse	Lyudmila Ocheretnaya (divorced, 2013)
Children	Daughter- 2 Maria Putin (eldest) Yekaterina Putin
Parents	Father- Vladimir Spiridonovich Putin (Conscript in the Soviet Navy) Mother- Maria Ivanovna Putina (factory worker)
Siblings	Brother- 2 Albert Putin (died in infancy) Viktor Putin (died of diphtheria during the Siege of Leningrad in World War 2)
Favorites
Band	The Beatles Lyube
Beatles' Member	Paul McCartney
Drink	Green tea and herbal tinctures. "To be exact, I don't drink tea, but Altai herbs brewed in boiling water." He likes to drink coffee.
Singer	Anna Netrebko
Film	Chapev (1934)
Musicians	Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Rachmaninov
Color	Teal
Restaurants	New Island, Saint-Pétersbourg ; Tsarskaya Okota et Pivnushka, Moscou
Authors/Poets	Mikhail Lermontov, Alexandre Dumas, Ernest Hemingway, Ivan Turgenev, Omar Khayyam, Sergei Yesenin
Books	Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace, The Russian Fairy Tale Kolobok, Samuil Marshak's The Twelve Months, and Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's The Little Prince
Icecream Flavor	Pistachio
Style Quotient
Car Collection	Lada Kalina, Volga GAZ-21, Niva
Bike Collection
[10]RBTH Assets/Properties	- Moscow Kremlin - Novo-Ogaryovo in Moscow Oblast - Gorki-9 near Moscow - Bocharov Ruchey in Sochi - Dolgiye Borody (in Novgorod Oblast and Riviera in Sochi.) - Putin's Palace
Money Factor
[11]Forbes Salary (approx.)	$112,000 (£81,000)/year (as in 2018)
[12]Forbes Net Worth (approx.)	$70 billion (as in 2017)

Some Lesser Known Facts About Vladimir Putin

• He was named Time Person of the Year in 2007. Time’s Most Influential People list ranked him #1 in 2015.
  

  Vladimir Putin on the cover of The Times magazine, 2007

• From 2013 to 2016, Forbes annually ranked him as the most powerful individual in the world. In 2018, Forbes ranked him the second most powerful individual.
  

  Vladimir Putin tops the Forbes’ list of the most powerful people

• Many of Putin’s aphorisms and slogans are known as Putinism.

• Vladimir Putin is known for his sharp, rough language, often alluding to Russian jokes and folk sayings.

• The Russian president sometimes uses criminal jargon (called “fenya” in Russian), but not always correctly.

• Putin portrays himself as an outdoorsman, athletic and tough by participating in extreme sports and handling wild animals, part of a public relations approach that, according to Wired, “deliberately cultivates the image of super-macho and responsible hero”. Kremlinologists have accused Putin of trying to create a personality cult around him, which the Kremlin denies. In 2007, the tabloid Komsomolskaya Pravda published a large photo of a shirtless Putin vacationing in the Siberian mountains. Putin’s activities have been criticized as staged; outside of Russia, his macho image has been parodied. Putin is thought to be hampered by his height, which has been estimated at between 155 and 165 centimeters (5 ft 1 in and 5 ft 5 in) but is usually given as 170 centimeters (5ft 7in).

• Putin is the subject of many songs, and his name and image are widely used in advertisements and product branding. You can find Putin branded products like Putinka vodka, PuTin preserves, Gorbusha Putina caviar, and T-shirts with his image. He was found dead in 2015 after “days of heavy drinking”, although it was later ruled an accident.

• German and English are his mother tongues.

• Black belt in judo, he is a fan of the Beatles.

• Plato, the photographer who took Putin’s picture for Time Magazine, told The Guardian about Putin’s dacha. (It was there that he took Putin’s portrait for Time.) According to the photographer, the dacha is located “in the middle of a dark Gothic forest outside of Moscow.” He said that once he arrived at the dacha, “there were snipers everywhere and three or four feet of snow; it was like a scene from a cold war movie.”

• Putin enjoys watching football and supports FC Zenit Saint Petersburg. He is also interested in ice hockey and bandy. At the age of fourteen, Putin switched from judo to sambo after practicing judo for 11 years. In Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg), he won competitions in both sports. He obtained the eighth dan black belt in 2012, becoming the first Russian to obtain this status. He also practices karate. His books include Judo with Vladimir Putin in Russian and Judo: History, Theory, Practice in English (2004). Benjamin Wittes, a black belt in taekwondo and aikido and editor of Lawfare disputes Putin’s martial arts skills, arguing that there is no video evidence of him showing remarkable skills in judo.

• After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Putin offered Russian assistance to the United States by allowing the United States to use its airspace and joining the United States in search and rescue missions. When the United States focused on eliminating Saddam Hussein, however, that support shifted to the opposition. Russia, Germany, and France were not in favor of the plan.

• Ice cream – especially pistachio ice cream – is always at the top of her list of favorite foods. Putin once served ice cream to executives at public appearances and even gave some to Chinese General Secretary Xi Jinping, sparking a craze for Russian ice cream in China, despite the relatively affordable price of Russian desserts compared to others. Despite all of this, however, and despite his obvious love of milk, Putin refuses to be served dairy products on the go.

• In 2014, Vladimir Putin and Edward Snowden were nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. Putin was nominated for his peaceful solution to Syria’s use of chemical weapons. His friendship with the President of Syria, Bashar al-Assad, is probably what contributed to his success. Putin persuaded Assad to peacefully surrender Syria’s arms instead of violently intervening.

• The softer side of Vladimir Putin shows his love and care for animals. Besides having a small pack of dogs at home, he goes out of his way to help search for tigers, polar bears, dolphins, and cranes. He also lobbies for laws guaranteeing better treatment of animals. Petting zoos are banned from shopping malls and restaurants, the killing of stray animals is prohibited, and pets must be properly cared for under the Responsible Animal Care Act.

• As a result of all of Vladimir Putin’s achievements, he and his wife divorced in 2013. Lyudmila, Vladimir’s wife, has been with him since he entered politics in 1983. Lyudmila said they do not see each other often, and Vladimir is consumed with work. According to Vladimir, she put up with him for almost nine years and couldn’t take it anymore.

• He caught a 46-pound pike on a fishing trip to Siberia in 2013, making it one of the biggest catches in the world. (Fishermen argued that the actual weight of the fish was probably half.)

• While hanging out with marine biologists in 2010, Putin took aim at a gray whale. By temporarily immobilizing the whale, the scientists hoped to collect skin samples for their study of the species. Putin’s goal was just about perfect: “I got it on the fourth try,” he told reporters.

• Vladimir Putin oversees research programs on a variety of mammals. He symbolically freed a West Asian leopard from its cage in an outdoor enclosure at a wildlife sanctuary near Sochi in May 2010. A few naysayers claimed the animal was injured during the photoshoot, but Putin’s spokesperson denied this.

• To investigate a 140-year-old shipwreck, Putin sank 200 feet underwater in a submersible in 2013.

• He even managed to score a goal against a Russian national team goalkeeper! (This guy was definitely playing his best.)

• In 2012, Putin competed in an arm-wrestling match, scaled a rock climbing wall, and attempted to bend a frying pan in half at a Kremlin youth camp. (No word on whether he succeeded.)

• The Russian president drove a Renault Formula 1 racing car on a Saint Petersburg track in 2010, reaching speeds of up to 150 miles per hour. He wore a helmet emblazoned with the Russian national symbol, a double-headed eagle, during his test drive. Safety first, guys.
  

  Vladimir Putin driving a Renault Formula 1

• Because they are so patriotic, the Russian “Night Wolves” biker gang are sometimes referred to as Putin’s “Hell’s Angels”.
  

  The logo of Night Wolves

• In Russian tabloids, Putin has been linked to former Olympic gymnast Alina Kabayeva since 2008, but both have denied the relationship. Kabayeva, who is known for her incredible flexibility, was one of the latest torchbearers for Putin’s favorite project, the Sochi Winter Games.

• Russian-Italian jewelry brand Caviar Perna Penna has made a gold-plated Apple Watch, which features the Moscow skyline and the double-headed eagle from Russia’s coat of arms. With a price of 3,073 dollars (197,000 rubles), only 999 units of the “Putinwatch” were produced.

• Playing with dogs is the Russian president’s favorite pastime. After holding a national naming contest, he named his Bulgarian Sheepdog Buffy. Yume is her other dog, an Akita Inu. He received most of his pets from others, including a goat named Skazka, a dwarf horse named Vadik, and even a small Siberian tiger.
  

  Vladimir Putin playing with his pet dogs

  

  Vladimir Putin holding a dog

• Putin likes “active leisure” such as fishing, horseback riding, rafting, scuba diving, skiing, and ice hockey. He also trains in an outdoor gymnasium where he does intense bodybuilding.

• As a child, he was an atheist, but after two major accidents in the 1990s – his wife’s car accident and a house fire – he became a Christian. He is now a devout member of the Russian Orthodox Church.

• The Russian President never misses an opportunity to promote sports. He signed a deal with Bernie Ecclestone in 2010 to bring F1 racing to Russia for seven seasons, from 2014 to 2020.

• His most expensive watch is a $500,000 Tourbograph’Pour Le Mérite from A. Lange & Söhne, with an 18-karat gold case, silver dial, crocodile skin strap, and sapphire crystal. These watches are only worn on the right wrist so that the crown does not rub against his wrist.

• Putin flew a light-powered hang-glider aircraft to the Yamal Peninsula to drive captive-bred Siberian cranes on a migration route in 2012.

• At a charity event in St. Petersburg, Putin performed Fat Domino’s “Blueberry Hill” in front of Sharon Stone, Kevin Costner, and Goldie Hawn. Putin’s spokesperson said he learned the lyrics in his English class.

• Do you think Vladimir Putin had a privileged upbringing? Think again. As Putin himself explains, his parents got married when he was 17. During World War II, her father was drafted into the army. Finally, a grenade paralyzed him. (He survived thanks to a friend who carried him miles through the ice to a hospital.) Putin’s mother found herself trapped in Leningrad, the Soviet-era name for St. Petersburg. , and nearly starved to death during the 900-day Nazi siege. After the war, Putin’s father worked at the Yegorov Wagon Factory. His mother worked sweeping the streets and washing test tubes. The family moved into a communal apartment shared with several families. They had no hot water or bathtub. Their toilets “ran into a stair landing”. He remembers the apartment is cold, crowded, and infested with rats. (Putin and his friends learned to hunt these rats with sticks.)

• During the siege, Putin’s one-year-old brother was taken from his mother. He was buried in an unmarked grave in a children’s home. “My parents told me that children were taken from their families in 1941, and my mother had a child taken from her – in order to save him,” Putin explained. “They said he was dead, but they never said where he was buried.” And this lost son was not the couple’s first. The Times notes that Putin’s first son died in infancy.

• The Los Angeles Times reports that according to Putin’s teachers, he was selected in the ninth grade to attend School No. 281 in Leningrad. ^[13]Haaretz The school accepted only the brightest students in town. But Vladimir Putin did not always behave like a model student. According to ABC News, a Russian tabloid claimed to have found Vladimir Putin’s notebook, and it shed light on his behavior at school. The book allegedly revealed that at 11, Vladimir Putin “threw erasers at children”, according to a teacher. Another teacher added that he “didn’t do his math homework”. Still, others added that a young Putin “misbehaved during singing lessons” and “talks in class.” He was also caught passing notes. Putin got into a fight with a gym teacher, who punished him for forgetting his uniform. He even argued with an older student on one occasion.

• The Los Angeles Times reports that, according to Vladimir Putin, his paternal grandfather worked as a cook for Lenin and then for Stalin. As the newspaper notes, “it is unlikely that he would have had such a job without being part of the state security apparatus.”

• Putin became interested in a career in the KGB during the ninth grade. “My impressions of the KGB were based on romantic spy stories,” Putin later said, admitting he had read a novel about a spy in Germany. He went uninvited to the KGB office in Leningrad. There, an agent informed him that the KGB doesn’t take anyone who volunteers, only those it selects. Putin asked how he could prepare. So the agent suggested law school, a path Putin pursued.

• Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin only met in 2017. Time reported in November 2017 that Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump “first met in July at the Group of 20 summits in Hamburg, Germany.” However, the two had probably known each other for years before this encounter. Trump’s claims about his relationship with Putin were outlined in a Washington Post article. The Post reports that Trump “bragged about a relationship with Putin” at a time when “knowing world leaders was an asset.” But Trump backed down from the claims “since being close to Russia and its president became a liability.” Politico, however, reports that Putin was working for the KGB at a time when Trump “appears to have come to the attention of Soviet intelligence.” Trump visited Soviet Russia in 1987. According to Politico, the KGB almost certainly staged the trip.

• Putin could have a net worth of $200 billion! It’s true! A few years ago, the International Business Times reported that Putin might be the richest man in the world with a net worth of $200 billion. That’s 2.5 times more than Bill Gates’ net worth! Forbes responded to the question of why Putin was not on the list saying:

“We value individuals’ assets – including stakes in public and private companies, real estate, yachts, art and money – and consider debt estimates. We also consult with a range of outside experts in various fields (Forbes wrote in 2015), but noted that some people cooperate while others do not,” and added that the magazine excludes “Dictators Who Shoot their wealth entirely because of their position of strength.”

• Vladimir Putin has many nicknames like Pale Moth. Because of his smooth skin, he was also called “Botox.” George Bush called him “Pootie Poot.” He is also called “Puppet Master.” ^[14]The Atlantic Some of his other names include VVP, Volodya, and Vova.