Putin to run for president again, may serve till 2024
Vladimir Putin has said he'll seek another six-year term as Russia's president in the 2018 election. "I will put forward my candidacy for the post of president of the Russian Federation," he said. Since 2000, Putin has been in power in Russia either as president or prime minister. Opinion polls suggest Putin is expected to easily win the upcoming March 2018 elections.
Vladimir Putin's political career
In the 1990s, after serving as a KGB spy, Putin became an aide to St Petersburg mayor Anatoly Sobchak. In 1999, he became Russia's PM during Boris Yeltsin's reign. In 2000, Putin became president. In 2004, he won a second presidential term but was constitutionally barred from seeking a third consecutive term. Instead, he became PM in 2008 before becoming president again in 2012.
Putin remains popular despite criticism
Putin remains widely popular among Russians who view him as a powerful leader who has restored the nation's status as a great power globally by intervening militarily in Syria and by annexing Crimea from Ukraine. However, his critics have accused him of fostering corruption and being a dictator. They also consider his annexation of Crimea, which has led to wide-ranging international sanctions, as illegal.
