Vladimir Putin, former agent of the KGB (Committee for State Security) and candidate for a third presidential mandate, tries by all means to hide his personal life. In 1999, Putin took office as acting president of the Euro-Asian country after the resignation of Boris Yeltsin. He won the elections in 2000 and was re-elected four years later.

After the end of his second mandate in 2008, the prime minister of that time, Dmitry Medvedev, was elected his successor, and only a day after, Putin took the post of the new prime minister. Paradoxically, all the political power was in his hands again. This provoked the discontent of the Russian nation to some extent.

People are well-acquainted with Putin, but his personal life is a mystery, even for his compatriots. His wife, Lyudmila Putina, hardly ever attends official public events. Putin has been in power for more than ten years, but the Russian community does not know what his daughters look like. There are contradictory speculations about where they live. In 2010, there was a rumor that his youngest heir was to marry her boyfriend, son of a retired North Korean admiral. However, this news was denied by both sides.

Putin is almost never asked questions concerning his private life. For the Russian media, it is a subject of taboo. The reason may lie in the closure of a public newspaper in 2008, after they published an article that claimed Putin had left his wife and married a 24 year-old Olympic gymnast named Alina Kabaeva, who was a deputy and a member of his party at that time.

In the totalitarian past of Russia, it was easy for politicians to stop the spread of rumors, whether correct or incorrect. However, it becomes more tricky in todays digital age. Millions of blogs and web pages post stories about Putin and his family which are, in many cases, completely made up. Last year, one rumor stated that Putin spent his life in a monastery. Of course, the Russian Orthodox Church called these speculations “nonsense”, and the spokesman of the prime minister at that time declined to comment.

Pressed by the global media society and the scandalous gossip concerning himself, Putin revealed that his daughters lead an ordinary life. However, the the Russian nation wants to know where they are. Maybe in his next mandate, he will reveal this secret. In 2010, it was said that Putin and his wife were about to divorce, but they appeared on a talk show together. However, Lyudmila was not wearing her wedding ring. That made the newspapers much fiercer in their exaggeration about the marital drama of the Putins.

American and European journalists have the freedom to delve into the personal life of their political leaders, but in Russia, authorities are protected by the law. That is why Putin will always remain an enigma for the Russian nation and the world.

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This coming Sunday is the presidential election in Russia, and Vladimir Putin is sure he is going to win. But who is Vladimir Putin? And why is he so sure to pull a win? Despite allegations of Putin’s political party’s widespread official fraud, the latest surveys show that Putin will have the vote of approximately 60% of voters.

Putin as a Russian politician served as president of Russia from 2000 to 2008 and is currently the Prime Minister of Russia. He also has a background serving in the KGB for sixteen years. Based on a law change, Russia’s running presidential term has been increased from four to six years. The current President, Dmitry Medvedev, has decided not to run for re-election.

There is much controversy and protesting going on against Putin coming back into power as President. Putin has maintained a very strong criticism of the United States yet contradictorily has stated that, “President Barack Obama’s policies of ensuring ties with Russia,” will “successfully negotiate Russia’s access into the World Trade Organization.”

Regardless of the massive protests against Putin, he has clearly stated that he wants to help Russia regain social and economic stability.

However, Putin’s certainty in his unquestioned win is not necessarily a reflection of reality. In Moscow, thousands have been protesting against re-electing Putin. This has been the most populated show of outrage and anger since the Soviet Union collapsed, nearly twenty years ago. Despite the massive protests, he is staying confident that he will pull through and gain his victory and has clearly stated that he wants to help Russia regain social and economic stability.

If elected, Putin will be eligible to serve twelve more years as the President of Russia. Even though he has not been elected as President yet, Putin is already talking about running for re-election in 2018. If he wins both the 2012 and 2018 elections, he would have served almost a quarter of a century, which is longer than any other individual in Russia’s history other than Soviet dictator Josef Stalin.

As Putin gets closer to becoming the Russian President once more, the Syrian government is crumbling. President Obama disclosed a statement that Syrian’s President, Bashar al-Assad’s “days are numbered.” Meanwhile, Obama is working hard to speed up the process of Syria becoming a dictatorship. Russia is currently blocking UN action in helping this happen.

The biggest question in the current political climate revolve around the long-term impact of Russia with a Putin-led government. Both in terms of the American-Russian relations and the repercussions of political complications on Russia’s chances of becoming a part of the WTO.

The Russian Presidential Election will take place this Sunday, March 4. Stay tuned in to see if Putin will be the President of Russia for the newly extended term of six years.

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