For the third year running, Russian President Vladimir Putin has been picked as the world’s most powerful person by Forbes.

He beat U.S. President Barack Obama, who dropped down to third place, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, currently in second, due to being “one of the few men in the world powerful enough to do what he wants –and get away with it,” wrote Forbes.

Nothing can keep Putin down, says the magazine. His approval ratings soared to 89% despite Russia’s deepening recession and “international sanctions set in place after he seized Crimea and waged war-by-proxy in the Ukraine.”

He has also been rebuilding Russia’s influence abroad. “In October, he bombed ISIS forces in Syria and then met face-to-face with President Assad, making the U.S and NATO look weak in the region” Forbes wrote.

To compile the list, which includes Pope Francis, Larry Page and world’s richest man Bill Gates, they measured power along four dimensions: whether the candidate has power over lots of people, financial resources, if they held power in multiple spheres and whether they used said power.

Get The Brief. Sign up to receive the top stories you need to know right now. Please enter a valid email address. Sign Up Now Check the box if you do not wish to receive promotional offers via email from TIME. You can unsubscribe at any time. By signing up you are agreeing to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Thank you! For your security, we've sent a confirmation email to the address you entered. Click the link to confirm your subscription and begin receiving our newsletters. If you don't get the confirmation within 10 minutes, please check your spam folder.

Contact us at letters@time.com.