Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (/ˈpuːtɪn/; Russian: Влади́мир Влади́мирович Пу́тин, romanized: Vladímir Vladímirovič Pútin; born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer serving as President of Russia since 2012, previously holding the position from 2000 until 2008.[lower-alpha 1][3][4][5] In between his presidential terms, he was also the Prime Minister of Russia under his close associate Dmitry Medvedev.