Russian International News Agency (RIA Novosti) (in Russian: Российское агентство международных новостей «РИА Новости») is of the largest Russian news agencies. It is state-owned with its HQ in Moscow and about 80 bureaus abroad.

The agency publishes news and analysis of social-political, economic, scientific and financial subjects on the Internet and via e-mail in the main European languages, as well as in Persian, Japanese, Chinese and Arabic. It has a correspondent network in the Russian Federation, CIS and over 40 non-CIS countries. Its clients include the presidential administration, Russian government, Federation Council, State Duma, leading ministries and government departments, administrations of Russian regions, representatives of Russian and foreign business communities, diplomatic missions, and public organizations.

The current editor-in-chief and general director of the agency is Svetlana Mironyuk.

RIA Novosti’s history dates back to June 24, 1941, when by a resolution of the USSR Council of People’s Commissars and the Communist Party Central Committee, “On the Establishment and Tasks of the Soviet Information Bureau”, the Soviet Information Bureau (Sovinformburo) was set up under the USSR Council of People’s Commissars and the Central Committee. Its main task was to oversee work to cover international, military events and the events of the country’s domestic life in periodicals and on the radio (from October 14, 1941, to March 3, 1942, was based in Kuibyshev – modern-day Samara).

Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (Russian: Влади́мир Влади́мирович Пу́тин; IPA: [vɫɐˈdʲimʲɪr vɫɐˈdʲimʲɪrəvʲɪtɕ ˈputʲɪn] ( listen); born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician who has been the President of Russia since 7 May 2012. Putin previously served as President from 2000 to 2008 and as Prime Minister of Russia from 1999 to 2000, and again from 2008 to 2012. Putin also serves as chairman of United Russia and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Union of Russia and Belarus. He became acting President on 31 December 1999, when president Boris Yeltsin resigned in a surprising move. Putin won the 2000 presidential election; in 2004 he was re-elected for a second term lasting until 7 May 2008.

Because of constitutionally mandated term limits, Putin was ineligible to run for a third consecutive presidential term. After his successor Dmitry Medvedev won the 2008 presidential election, Putin was nominated by Medvedev to be Russia's Prime Minister; Putin took office on 8 May 2008 and a period of so-called "tandemocracy" followed. In September 2011, Putin and Medvedev agreed he should seek a third, non-consecutive term in the 2012 presidential election, which he won in the first round on 4 March 2012.