By Abiola Olawale
Russian President Vladimir Putin was inaugurated for a fifth term in a grand ceremony at the Kremlin, cementing his already vast control over Russia.
On May 7, Putin began his fifth term as Russian leader in a lavish Kremlin inauguration. This comes after he defeated his political opponents, setting him up for another six years in office.
After Putin took the oath to the people, the Constitutional Court chairman, Valery Zorkin, handed him the symbols of presidential power, including the presidential insignia, that is, the golden cross of St. George, depicting the Russian coat of arms and a gold chain with the words “Virtue, Honesty and Glory.”
It would be recalled that Putin had won the presidential election in March, receiving 87.17% of the votes based on the result of processing 70% of the electoral protocols.
Putin, the longest-serving Kremlin leader since Josef Stalin, will remain in power until at least 2030 after being in office since 1999.
The New Diplomat also recalls that Putin’s first six-year presidential term began in 2012 and the second one in 2018. In 2020, the Constitution was amended, making it possible for Putin to run for president in 2024.
