He's spawned memes, shown off his piano skills and has been president of Russia on three separate occasions. Putin, a former KGB agent, Putin came up in politics under the tutelage of of Boris Yeltsin, who resigned as president in Dec. 1999. Over the next 12 years, Putin would serve as president and prime minister of Russia, leading the country's offensive in Chechnya and becoming the first Kremlin leader to visit Israel. Recently, over the last few years, Russia's motives have come into question in regards to Syria, Crimea and the alleged hacking of the 2016 presidential election.