MOSCOW – Russian President Vladimir Putin was sworn in for the fourth term on Monday, effectively making him the leader of the state till 2024.
A lavish ceremony was arranged at Andreyevsky Hall of the Kremlin Grand Palace – the former throne room of Imperial Russia – where thousands of Putin loyalists assembled as Putin walked past them, exchanging greetings.
“I consider it my duty and sense of my life to do everything for Russia for its present and future – for the peaceful and prosperous future – and the welfare of every Russian family,” Putin said in his speech at the ceremony.
Interestingly, this is the first time Putin took oath in absence of his wife, after having divorced from Lyudmila in 2013.
Putin was re-elected as the president of Russian Federation with more than 76 percent votes amid allegations of widespread irregularities by some international observers.
The inauguration came a day after widespread protests erupted in Russia with country’s best-known opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, getting arrested by the lawmakers.
Navalny was barred from contesting against Putin on grounds of a conviction for embezzlement which he denies and alleges that the charges were politically motivated.
Putin’s Rise to Power
Born in 1952 in Leningrad (now St Petersburg), Putin studied law and joined KGB secret police, serving as a spy in communist East Germany.
He was elected as the prime minister in 1999 and was elected president in 2000, Mr Putin renewed his four-year term in 2004.
He stepped aside in 2008 to serve as prime minister under his protege, Dmitry Medvedev, as the law barred him from serving for two consecutive terms.
In 2012 Mr Putin returned as president, this time for a term of six years and in March elections, bagged support of masses.
By the end of his fourth term in 2024, will have been in power for nearly a quarter of a century.
