Russian President Vladimir Putin was yesterday sworn into office at a lavish ceremony at the Kremlin, embarking on a record-breaking fifth term with more power than ever before.
The 71-year-old Kremlin chief has ruled Russia since the turn of the century, securing a fresh six-year mandate in March after winning presidential elections devoid of all opposition.
The inauguration was broadcast live on most major Russian television channels from midday, when a luxury motorcade drove Putin to Moscow’s Grand Kremlin Palace.
Photo: AFP
After arriving, he walked through the palace corridors to the ornate Saint Andrew Hall, where he took the presidential oath and make a brief address to Russians.
Government officials and foreign diplomats in Moscow had been invited to the ceremony, but European nations including Poland, Germany and the Czech Republic signaled that they would not send representatives amid soured tensions over the conflict in Ukraine.
Putin’s 87 percent landslide victory in the presidential election was panned by most international observers, and dismissed as rigged by opposition and rights groups.
The inauguration came two days before Russia marks Victory Day on May 9, an event that has taken on renewed symbolism as Putin compares his offensive in Ukraine to Russia’s fight against Nazi Germany in World War II.
Authorities erected barriers throughout Moscow’s city center ahead of both events.
Putin began his six-year term emboldened by advances on the battlefield in Ukraine and sustained economic growth, despite a barrage of Western sanctions.
On the domestic front, he saw off a rebellion in June last year by paramilitary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin — who later died in a plane crash — and in February his main political rival Alexei Navalny died in prison.
His victory in March means that he is likely to become the longest-serving ruler of Russia in a century, beating Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin.
Russia’s army held off a much-hyped Ukrainian counteroffensive last year, and it has since made gains on the front lines as Kyiv struggles with shortages of ammunition and troops.
However, as the conflict stretches into a third year without an obvious resolution and the economy teeters toward overheating, Putin faces significant challenges in his fifth term.
Inflation — a historic source of angst amongst the Russian population — remains persistent as Moscow adopts what analysts have called a “military Keynesianism,” pouring billions of resources into the war effort.
The Kremlin has also failed to quell fears it would announce a new round of unpopular mobilization in Putin’s new term, and discontent among the wives of men who have been drafted continues to simmer.
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