Russian President Vladimir Putin (picture above, via) was named as Person of the Year (2007) by Time magazine on Wednesday December 19, for his "extraordinary feat of leadership in taking a country that was in chaos and bringing it stability." But during his tenure as Russian President, Putin, aka the new czar of Russia, has also been alleged of moving the country away from Russia's democratic reforms of the 1990s by limiting civil liberties, cracking on free speech and tightening control of parliament. Even though he is soon to step down, he still vies for being protege Dmitry Medvedev's Prime Minister (if Dmitry elected as next Russian President). Link #Tags: time, person of the year, vladimir putin, russian president, dmitry medvedev, prime minister