Putin is sworn in as president in the Kremlin for a fifth six-year term

Vladimir Putin took office as President of Russia for a fifth six-year term during an official ceremony at the Grand Kremlin Palace today.

The 71-year-old Russian leader was sworn in with his right hand on a copy of the constitution, which he reformed in 2020 to remove the legal obstacle that prevented him from remaining in the Kremlin.

“In exercising the powers of the President of the Russian Federation, I swear to respect and protect the rights and freedoms of man and citizen, to observe and defend the Constitution of the Russian Federation, its sovereignty and independence, its security and protect safety. the integrity of the state and faithfully serving the people,” he said.

Putin, who has been in power since 2000, was sworn in accompanied by the heads of the Duma, or Chamber of Deputies, and the Federation Council, or Senate.

In this way, Putin, who was re-elected on March 17 with a historic result of more than 87% of the vote, will be able to remain in charge of the Kremlin until 2030, which would add 30 years to power.

Against all expectations, the Kremlin invited the ambassadors of unfriendly countries to the ceremony, although the United States and the vast majority of European Union (EU) countries rejected the invitation.

The US and EU questioned Putin’s election victory but did not recognize him as an illegitimate president, which was urgently demanded by the exiled opposition.

Putin’s election victory was tarnished by the sudden death in an Arctic prison a month before the election of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who had launched a campaign against the Russian leader’s re-election.

Moreover, five days after the election, Russia was the scene of the largest terrorist attack in two decades, with the deaths of 145 people in a jihadist attack on a concert hall on the outskirts of Moscow, for which Putin blamed Ukraine, although this was claimed. by the Islamic State.