In one line: The Russian Federation under Vladimir Putin is the Russian state governed by him as president from 2000 to 2008, as prime minister from 2008 to 2012 and as president again from 2012 to the present.
The leader and the people under the leader
Roster as of September 29, 2026. Offices and office-holders change; this page is a dated snapshot.
Photo: Presidential Press and Information Office (kremlin.ru), CC BY 4.0 Vladimir Putin
President of the Russian Federation · 2000 to 2008 and 2012 to present
Vladimir Putin: Read more
Head of state, who chairs the Security Council, appoints the prime minister with the State Duma's consent and was himself prime minister from 2008 to 2012.
In their words
“Look, there are senior executives from our television company Russia Today sitting across from me. What is happening in some countries where they operate? They are being banned. What does this mean? It means those who do so are afraid of the competition. This is what it means.”
“We respect Ukrainians' desire to see their country free, safe and prosperous. I am confident that true sovereignty of Ukraine is possible only in partnership with Russia.”
“The purpose of this operation is to protect people who, for eight years now, have been facing humiliation and genocide perpetrated by the Kiev regime. To this end, we will seek to demilitarise and denazify Ukraine, as well as bring to trial those who perpetrated numerous bloody crimes against civilians, including against citizens of the Russian Federation.”
“We will pursue them everywhere. Excuse me for saying so: we’ll catch them in the toilet. We’ll wipe them out in the outhouse.”
“If you want to go all the way and become a Muslim radical and are ready to get circumcised, I invite you to Moscow [...] We are a multi-confessional country, we have experts in this field, too. I will recommend that they carry out the operation in such a way that nothing grows back.”
“First of all, it should be acknowledged, and I have spoken of this before, that the collapse of the Soviet Union was the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century. And for the Russian people, it was a real drama. Tens of millions of our citizens and fellow-countrymen found themselves outside the Russian Federation.”
All 23 quotes from Vladimir Putin, and 2 often attributed but not verified
Presidential Executive Office
Photo: kremlin.ru (Presidential Press and Information Office), CC BY 4.0 Anton Vaino
Head of the Presidential Executive Office · 2016 to present
Anton Vaino: Read more
Directs the Executive Office, the state body that prepares the President's decrees, speeches and draft laws and monitors the implementation of his decisions.
In their words
Photo: Press service of the Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District (dfo.gov.ru), CC BY 4.0 Sergei Kiriyenko
First Deputy Head of the Presidential Executive Office · 2016 to present
Sergei Kiriyenko: Read more
Oversees domestic policy in the Executive Office, whose Domestic Policy Directorate handles relations with parties and regional authorities and information policy.
In their words
Photo: Presidential Press and Information Office (kremlin.ru), CC BY 4.0 Dmitry Peskov
Deputy Head of the Presidential Executive Office and Presidential Press Secretary · 2012 to present
Dmitry Peskov: Read more
Speaks for the President to the press and the public, including in regular briefings.
In their words
“It's a serious operation with serious purposes. And I think, if we try to remember those purposes, those main goals of the operation, it's to get rid of the military potential of Ukraine.”
“Number two is to ensure that Ukraine changes from anti-Russian center to a neutral country. And, in this sense, let's remember that, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, actually, the neutral status was fixed in a declaration of independence of the country.”
“We can’t take these accusations seriously [...] I’d call them empty noise.”
“Russia has never hatched, is not hatching and will never hatch any plans to attack anyone”
“This is a special operation, and I do not think I should explain anything, since the president gave a complete explanation in his address to the nation this morning.”
Government
Photo: State Duma press service (duma.gov.ru), CC BY 4.0 Mikhail Mishustin
Prime Minister · 2020 to present
Mikhail Mishustin: Read more
Heads the Government of the Russian Federation, which coordinates the federal ministries and services.
In their words
“No doubt, the current situation could be called the most difficult in three decades for Russia [...] Such sanctions were not used even in the darkest times of the Cold War.”
“Unprecedented sanctions were imposed on our country. But their initiators did not achieve their main objective. They failed to undermine our financial stability”
“Last year, Russia was subjected to sanctions pressure on an unprecedented scale. Their aim was to destroy our economy, collapse the national currency, provoke devastating inflation. To hit the living standards of ordinary citizens. None of the things our critics dreamed of happened”
Photo: Vyacheslav Prokofyev, Presidential Press and Information Office / TASS (kremlin.ru), CC BY 4.0 Sergei Lavrov
Minister of Foreign Affairs · 2004 to present
Sergei Lavrov: Read more
Leads the Foreign Ministry, which conducts diplomacy under the President's direction of foreign policy, and sits on the Security Council.
In their words
“The fact that they are now trying to prop up an overtly neo-Nazi, Banderite regime in Kiev is also a manifestation of genocide. In both cases, this is an attack against Slavs, against Orthodox Christians, and in Ukraine’s case, against everything Russian. This runs counter to the Ukrainian constitution, as we all know very well. However, this has not prevented the Kiev regime from adopting one law after another to enforce ever tighter requirements for banning the Russian language not only in schools and universities, but in everyday life.”
“I could be wrong, but Hitler also had Jewish blood”
“I am convinced that any sovereign, self-respecting State would do the same in our stead, which understands its responsibility to its own people.”
Photo: Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation (mil.ru), CC BY 4.0 Andrei Belousov
Minister of Defence · 2024 to present
Andrei Belousov: Read more
Leads the Ministry of Defence, which administers the armed forces and issues the official military briefings on the war in Ukraine.
In their words
“Ultimately, what was obvious from the very beginning has been confirmed: the collapse of the Armed Forces of Ukraine’s defence is inevitable. Finally, Kiev’s Western patrons clearly came to realise this as well.”
“With respect to the political and diplomatic efforts to resolve the so-called Ukrainian conflict, we clearly see attempts by European leaders and the Kiev regime to evade any resolution of this issue. This pertains specifically to the prolongation of the conflict with the aim of maximally weakening our country. Simultaneously, the accelerated preparation of NATO’s combined armed forces for confrontation with Russia by the 2030s has begun. Such a policy creates real preconditions for the protraction of hostilities into the next year, 2026.”
“In this regard, it is necessary to continue imposing our will on the adversary, acting pre-emptively, and constantly improving the methods and techniques of armed combat. We must persist in breaking through the defences of the AFU and destroying their military formations.”
Security and armed forces
Photo: Presidential Press and Information Office (kremlin.ru), CC BY 4.0 Sergei Shoigu
Secretary of the Security Council · 2024 to present
Sergei Shoigu: Read more
Oversees the work of the Security Council, which the President chairs, and of its office.
In their words
“But every day, four, five, and even occasionally eight flights arrived with weapons, modern weapons. And when they say that these are for defence, I can hardly imagine that Javelins are defensive weapons. In the meantime, there are more Javelins there than in some NATO countries. This is evidence that no one is going to comply with the Minsk accords and that everyone is getting ready to solve the problem by force. The situation being what it is, I think they have left us with no other choice. Therefore, I say expressly “yes”: yes, we should recognise them.”
“The Russian armed forces will continue the special military operation until the goals set are achieved”
“I cannot but emphasize the fact that today we are at war not so much with Ukraine and the Ukrainian army as with the collective West.”
Photo: Presidential Press and Information Office (kremlin.ru), CC BY 4.0 Alexander Bortnikov
Director of the Federal Security Service (FSB) · 2008 to present
Alexander Bortnikov: Read more
Heads the FSB, the state's domestic security, counterintelligence and border-guard service.
In their words
“Last night, two Ukrainian sabotage groups approached the border with Russia in the Lugansk region and Mariupol. As a result of the battle fought by our border troops, supported by the Defence Ministry, these two sabotage groups were destroyed. One military of the Ukrainian troops was captured. Further steps are being taken.”
“the Lugansk People’s Republic and the Donetsk People’s Republic, the people in these republics have for several years looked to the Russian Federation and asked it to protect them in the hope of living, working and bringing up children, in the hope of living in peace. I am absolutely certain that we should help them to implement their right and defend them. I am confident that a decision to recognise these republics will facilitate this. We will help realise this hope, definitely.”
“A real terror and subversive war has been declared on us, with the enemy not only trying to carry out precision strikes but also targeting civilians with missiles and drones”
Photo: Svklimkin (Wikimedia Commons user; own work), CC BY 4.0 Sergei Naryshkin
Director of the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) · 2016 to present
Sergei Naryshkin: Read more
Heads the SVR, the civilian foreign intelligence service.
In their words
“With regard to the developments in Ukraine, I can say that this notorious thesis about the Russian leadership’s plans to “invade” Ukraine was born within the walls of the US State Department and has been whipped up to such proportions that it is already reminiscent of war propaganda. This was done in order to try to provoke the Kiev regime into another attempt to resolve the problem of Donbass by military means.”
“That is what I am saying: I support the proposal to have the Donetsk and Lugansk people's republics become part of the Russian Federation.”
“The Anglo-Saxons might be advised to attend to their own internal civil conflicts. Better still, to clear off to their acquaintance, the devil”
Photo: Presidential Press and Information Office (kremlin.ru), CC BY 4.0 Viktor Zolotov
Director of the Federal Service of the National Guard Troops and Commander-in-Chief of the National Guard · 2016 to present
Viktor Zolotov: Read more
Commands Rosgvardia, the internal security force created by presidential decree No. 157 of 5 April 2016.
In their words
“You have made me the subject of insulting, defamatory remarks. It is not customary among officers simply to forgive. From time immemorial, scoundrels have had their faces smashed and been called to duels. Mr. Navalny, no one is stopping us from reviving at least some of these traditions, by which I mean a challenge. I simply challenge you to a duel — in the ring, on the judo mat, wherever, and I promise to make good, juicy mincemeat of you”
“the German Chancellor has said that talk about genocide in Donbass is laughable. You know, I would like to hear what he would say if German citizens were living in that territory and if they were subjected to artillery fire every day. What would he say and would he chuckle about this? Mr Macron said (you have just spoken with him and told us what he said) that the Ukrainian authorities were ready to implement the Minsk accords. Our colleagues are absolutely right in saying that this is not the case. Moreover, Zelensky states that they are ready to create nuclear arsenals. So, what will we come to? At the same time, we do not border on Ukraine, we have no border with Ukraine. This is the Americans’ border, because they are the masters in that country, while the Ukrainians are their vassals. And the fact that they are rushing weapons to Ukraine and are trying to create nuclear arsenals will backfire on us in the future. Recognising these republics is certainly a must. I would like to say that we should go ever further to defend our country. That is all I have to say.”
Photo: Federation Council press service (council.gov.ru), CC BY 4.0 Aleksandr Gutsan
Prosecutor General · September 2025 to present
Aleksandr Gutsan: Read more
Heads the Prosecutor General's Office, which supervises the enforcement of federal law and brings criminal prosecutions.
In their words
“The crime rate last year was registered at a record low in the history of modern Russia - just over 1,200 crimes per 100,000 people. In total, 1,771,000 crimes were registered”
“Promoting such ideas among young people, which undoubtedly undermine moral foundations, often takes place under the guise of pseudo-humanitarian projects funded from abroad”
“deliberately instilled cultural and moral nihilism among teenagers and systematically created conditions for their radicalization”
Information and media
Photo: Presidential Press and Information Office (kremlin.ru), CC BY 4.0 Andrei Lipov
Head of the Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media (Roskomnadzor) · March 2020 to present
Andrei Lipov: Read more
Heads the regulator that supervises media and telecommunications and keeps the state's blocking registers.
In their words
“Since 2012, when legislation was first adopted to remove prohibited content from online resources, more than 1.5 million materials have been removed.”
“For the most part, Roskomnadzor catches all those threats. Almost 800 people are working in our round-the-clock service in all constituent entities of the Russian Federation, and in all time zones. As many as 9,500 conventional media outlets, about 500 television and radio channels and all the most popular social media platforms are constantly on our radar.”
“Relatively speaking, until you comply, no one will be able to make calls through you”
Photo: State Duma press service (duma.gov.ru), CC BY 4.0 Dmitry Kiselyov
Director General of the Rossiya Segodnya news agency · December 2013 to present
Dmitry Kiselyov: Read more
Heads the state international news agency created by presidential decree No. 894; the President appoints and dismisses its director general.
In their words
“[Gays] should be prohibited from donating blood or sperm. And their hearts, in case they die in a car accident, should be buried or burned as unfit for extending anyone's life.”
“The period of impartial journalism is over. Objectivity is a myth that we have been offered; it has been imposed on us.”
“Russia is the only country in the world realistically capable of turning the United States into radioactive ash”
Photo: Presidential Press and Information Office (kremlin.ru), CC BY 4.0 Margarita Simonyan
Editor-in-Chief of RT and of Rossiya Segodnya · RT 2005 to present; Rossiya Segodnya 2013 to present
Margarita Simonyan: Read more
Edits RT, the state-funded international news network launched in 2005, and the Rossiya Segodnya news agency.
In their words
“The West never got over the Cold War stereotype. One thing that only few journalists understand is that Russia started dissolving the Soviet Union of its own accord. We were the ones to realize that Communism was a failure.”
“then we will join them in battle, yes. That goes for the country's real, armed conflicts.”
“There is no objectivity -- only approximations of the truth by as many different voices as possible.”
“If we manage to lose in Ukraine, The Hague… is waiting even for the janitor who sweeps the pavement behind the Kremlin wall”
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