Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Russia from 1999 to 2000 and again from 2008 to 2012. At 24 years, 11 months and 11 days, he is the longest-serving Russian or Soviet leader since the 30-year tenure of Joseph Stalin.
Mikhail Borisovich Khodorkovsky, sometimes known by his initials MBK, is an exiled Russian businessman, oligarch, and opposition activist, now residing in London. In 2003, Khodorkovsky was believed to be the wealthiest man in Russia, with a fortune estimated to be worth $15 billion, and was ranked 16th on Forbes list of billionaires. He had worked his way up the Komsomol apparatus, during the Soviet years, and started several businesses during the period of glasnost and perestroika in the late 1980s. In 1989, he became Chairman of the Board of Bank Menatep, which he founded. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, in the mid-1990s, he accumulated considerable wealth by obtaining control of a number of Siberian oil fields unified under the name Yukos, one of the major companies to emerge from the privatization of state assets during the 1990s.
Platon Leonidovich Lebedev is a Russian businessman and former CEO of Group Menatep. He was convicted of tax evasion, money laundering and embezzlement by Russian courts in two cases and imprisoned from July 2003 to January 2014. He is best known as a close associate of Mikhail Khodorkovsky.
Lyudmila Aleksandrovna Ocheretnaya is a Russian linguist who served as the first lady of Russia from 2000 to 2008 and from 2012 to 2014 while married to her then-husband, Vladimir Putin, the current president and former prime minister of Russia.
Stanislav Aleksandrovich Belkovsky is a Russian political analyst and communication specialist.
Alex Konanykhin is an entrepreneur and former banker. He started his career by founding a private bank in Russia towards the end of communist rule. Konanykhin is sometimes spelled as Konanykhine.
Sergei Pavlovich Roldugin is a Russian cellist and businessman based in St Petersburg. He is a close friend of Vladimir Putin. He has been implicated in several money laundering and offshore wealth schemes for Russian elites. Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the European Union sanctioned Roldugin.
"Putin Must Go" is a Russian website and public campaign organised for the collection of signatures to an open letter demanding the resignation of President Vladimir Putin. The campaign was started on the Internet on 10 March 2010 by Russian opposition activists, including several Russian artists.
Alexei Anatolyevich Navalny was a Russian opposition leader, anti-corruption activist and political prisoner. He founded the Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) in 2011. He was recognised by Amnesty International as a prisoner of conscience and was awarded the Sakharov Prize for his work on human rights.
Presidential elections were held in Russia on 4 March 2012. There were five officially registered candidates: four representatives of registered parties, and one nominal independent. The election was the first one held after constitutional amendments were introduced in 2008, in which the elected president for the first time would serve a six-year term, rather than a four-year term.
"Putin's Palace" is an Italianate palace complex located on the Black Sea coast near Gelendzhik, Krasnodar Krai, Russia.
The 2011–2013 Russian protests, which some English language media referred to as the Snow Revolution, began in 2011 and continued into 2012 and 2013. The protests were motivated by claims of Russian and foreign journalists, political activists and members of the public that the election process was fraudulent. The Central Election Commission of Russia stated 11.5% of official reports of fraud could be confirmed as true.
Pussy Riot is a Russian feminist protest and performance art group based in Moscow that became popular for its provocative punk rock music which later turned into a more accessible style. Founded in the fall of 2011 by the then 22-year-old Nadya Tolokonnikova, it has had a membership of approximately 11 women. The group staged unauthorized, provocative guerrilla gigs in public places. These performances were filmed as music videos and posted on the internet. The group's lyrical themes included feminism, LGBT rights, opposition to Russian President Vladimir Putin and his policies, and Putin's links to the leadership of the Russian Orthodox Church.
Opposition to the government of President Vladimir Putin in Russia, commonly referred to as the Russian opposition, can be divided between the parliamentary opposition parties in the State Duma and the various non-systemic opposition organizations. While the former are largely viewed as being more or less loyal to the government and Putin, the latter oppose the government and are mostly unrepresented in government bodies. According to Russian NGO Levada Center, about 15% of the Russian population disapproved of Putin in the beginning of 2023.
The public image of Vladimir Putin concerns the image of Vladimir Putin, President of Russia, among residents of Russia and worldwide. According to the Russian non-governmental organization Levada Center, about 85% of the Russian population approved of Putin in the beginning of 2023, the highest in nearly 8 years.
Ruptly GmbH is a Russian state-owned video news agency specializing in video-on-demand, based in Berlin, Germany. It is a subsidiary of the Russian state-controlled television network RT. Ruptly owns the media channel Redfish and is the major shareholder of the digital content company Maffick. Its chief executive is Dinara Toktosunova. Upon Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the company faced a staff exodus. In January 2023, Toktosunova was sanctioned by Ukraine.
Roman Igorevich Putin is a Russian businessman and president of the Russian Taekwondo Federation. He is the son of businessman Igor Putin who is a first cousin of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Presidential elections were held in Russia from 15 to 17 March 2024. It was the eighth presidential election in the country. The incumbent president Vladimir Putin won with 88% of the vote, the highest percentage in a presidential election in post-Soviet Russia, gaining a fifth term in what was widely viewed as a foregone conclusion. He was inaugurated on 7 May 2024.
Putin's Palace. History of World's Largest Bribe is a 2021 Russian documentary film by the Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK). The film investigates the residence commonly known as "Putin's Palace" that it claims was constructed for Russian president Vladimir Putin and details a corruption scheme allegedly headed by Putin involving the construction of the palace. The film estimates that the residence, located near the town of Gelendzhik in Krasnodar Krai, cost over ₽100 billion with what it says was "the largest bribe in history".
Original video, with English subtitles