--- description: Find out why Vladimir Putin is one of the 100 most influential people of 2022. title: Vladimir Putin: The 100 Most Influential People of 2022 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltad0e3a8583d04fb2/698a320c86f68e2f066f1401/Vladimir-Putin-time100-2022.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- May 23, 2022 # Vladimir Putin by Alexei Navalny  Russian President Vladimir Putin holds a candle during an Orthodox Easter service, late on April 23, 2022 in Moscow. (Photo by Alexander NEMENOV / AFP) (Photo by ALEXANDER NEMENOV/AFP via Getty Images) Russian President Vladimir Putin holds a candle during an Orthodox Easter service, late on April 23, 2022 in Moscow. (Photo by Alexander NEMENOV / AFP) (Photo by ALEXANDER NEMENOV/AFP via Getty Images)Alexander Nemenov—AFP/Getty Images Perhaps [Vladimir Putin](https://time.com/tag/vladimir-putin/ "undefined")’s true mission is to teach lessons. To everyone—from world leaders and pundits to ordinary people. He has been especially good at this in 2022. He reminded us once again that a path that begins with “just a little election rigging” always ends with a [dictatorship](https://time.com/6144109/russia-ukraine-vladimir-putin-viktor-medvedchuk/ "undefined"). And dictatorship always leads to war. It’s a lesson we shouldn’t have forgotten. World leaders have hypocritically talked for years about a “pragmatic approach” and the benefits of international trade. In so doing, they enabled themselves to benefit from [Russian oil and gas](https://time.com/6156015/us-oil-ban-russia-consequences/ "undefined") while Putin’s grip on power grew stronger. Between [sanctions](https://time.com/6151188/biden-russia-sanctions-explained/ "undefined") and military and economic aid, this war will cost hundreds of times more than those lucrative oil and gas contracts, the signing of which used to be celebrated with champagne. **Read More:** [_The Man Putin Fears_](https://time.com/6140102/alexei-navalny-russia-profile/ "undefined") Putin has reminded us all of the “duck test”: if something looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck. The very same logic should be applied in this case: if someone [destroys the independent media](https://time.com/6151572/russian-media-ukraine-coverage/ "undefined"), organizes [political assassinations](https://time.com/6162889/navalny-ukraine-russia-leonid-volkov/ "undefined"), and sticks to his imperial delusions, then he is a madman capable of [causing a bloodbath](https://time.com/6153295/russia-ukraine-war-crimes/ "undefined") in the [center of Europe](https://time.com/6171277/volodymyr-zelensky-interview-ukraine-war/ "undefined") in the 21st century. And you really shouldn’t embrace him at international forums. Right now, Putin is also teaching a lesson on how to nullify economic gains made by one’s country over the course of 20 years. However, the answer to the main question he poses—how to stop an evil madman with an army, nuclear weapons, and membership in the U.N. Security Council—is yet to be answered. And we are the ones who must find that answer. [_Navalny_](https://time.com/collection/100-most-influential-people-2021/6096084/alexei-navalny/ "undefined")_, the leader of the Russian opposition, is serving nine years in a maximum-security penal colony_ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2022/6177689/vladimir-putin-leaders/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2022/6177689/vladimir-putin-leaders/"},"headline":"Vladimir Putin","datePublished":"2022-05-23T10:15:47.000Z","dateModified":"2026-07-21T07:21:56.943Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2022/6177689/vladimir-putin-leaders/","keywords":["TIME 100","franchise","TIME100 2022"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltad0e3a8583d04fb2/698a320c86f68e2f066f1401/Vladimir-Putin-time100-2022.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltad0e3a8583d04fb2/698a320c86f68e2f066f1401/Vladimir-Putin-time100-2022.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2022/6177689/vladimir-putin-leaders/","name":"Vladimir Putin"}}]}] ```