Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (Russian: Влади́мир Влади́мирович Пу́тин (help·info)) (born October 7, 1952) is the current President of the Russian Federation. He became Acting President on December 31, 1999, succeeding Boris Yeltsin, and was sworn in as President following the elections on May 7, 2000. In 2004, he was re-elected for a second term, which expires in 2008. The current Constitution imposes consecutive term limits that prevent Putin from running for re-election again in 2008.