Vladimir Putin began his fifth term as President of Russia on Tuesday. In a glittering Kremlin inauguration, he began a new six-year term in which he will continue to hold absolute power in his own hands after years of successfully crushing political opponents and continue the aggression against neighboring Ukraine that he began in February 2022. .
He has held the top post for nearly a quarter of a century and is the Kremlin's longest-serving leader since Stalin, and when his term ends in 2030, according to the Constitution, he will again be eligible to run for office.
In a ceremony in the gilded Grand Kremlin Palace, Putin put his hand on the Russian Constitution and promised to protect it, while a crowd of carefully selected guests watched his oath.
Since succeeding President Boris Yeltsin in the final hours of 1999, Putin has transformed Russia from a country emerging from economic collapse into a state that threatens global security.
After the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, which has become Europe's biggest conflict since World War II, Russia is under heavy Western sanctions and is turning to other regimes such as China, Iran and North Korea for support.
When he was on his way to the Great Palace, he stopped in the corridor and looked for a few seconds at the picture on the wall to his right.
Vladimir Putin is set to be sworn in as Russian president for a fifth time - marking the start of another six years at the top.
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"I want to thank the participants of the special military operation, all those who fight for our homeland," Putin said at the inauguration.
He also said that Russia does not reject talks with the West, but that they are the ones who are hindering Russia's development and do not want to cooperate.
"We are a unique, great nation and together we will overcome all obstacles and realize and achieve everything we dream of. Together we will win," he concluded, earning huge applause from the mesmerized crowd, which included Steven Seagal, the American actor who is known to worship Putin.
