Putin assures Russians of triumph as he begins his fifth term.
Putin acknowledged that Russia was going through a “difficult” time, alluding to the extraordinary sanctions that the West had placed on Moscow.
At a sumptuous inauguration on Tuesday, President Vladimir Putin pledged to bring victory to the Russian people as he began an unprecedented fifth term of office.
Putin did, however, acknowledge that Russia was going through a “difficult” time, ostensibly in reference to the extraordinary sanctions packages that the West had placed on Moscow for initiating full-scale armed conflicts in Ukraine over two years prior.
Since the year 2000, the 71-year-old head of the Kremlin has governed Russia; in March, he was granted a new six-year term after winning the presidential election with no opposition at all.
Major Russian media stations carried live coverage of the carefully planned inauguration ceremony, which featured an Orthodox prayer service and a military procession.
Amid deteriorating tensions over the situation in Ukraine, several European nations, notably Germany, Poland, and the Czech Republic, indicated they would not be sending delegates.
Following his oath of office, the Russian president declared, “We are a united and great nation, and together we will overcome all obstacles, realise everything we have planned, and together, we will win.”
Putin predicted that Ukraine would emerge “with dignity and become even stronger,” reiterating his pledge that his forces will win the war at all costs.
Putin was blessed by Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Orthodox Church, after seeing armed guard columns and a calvary parade in ceremonial uniform while standing by himself in the rain.
The Orthodox leader prayed, “May God help you continue carrying out your servitude that he himself has entrusted on you.” He desired Putin permanent dominion, likening him to Alexander Nevsky, the king of the Middle Ages.
In the opulent Saint Andrew’s Hall of the Kremlin, Putin had declared, “Serving Russia is a huge honour, responsibility and sacred duty.”
Russian government representatives and military brass cheered him on and sang the country’s song.
Pierre Levy, the French ambassador, was among the foreign diplomats and government representatives in Moscow who were invited to the occasion.
The majority of foreign observers denounced Putin’s sweeping 87 percent victory in the presidential election, while opposition and rights groups rejected it as rigged.
The inauguration takes place two days prior to Russia’s May 9 Victory Day celebration, which has gained fresh significance as Putin likens Russia’s advance in Ukraine to its struggle against Nazi Germany during World War II.
Prior to both events, the authorities placed barricades throughout the heart of Moscow.
Shake-up: Despite a flurry of Western sanctions, Putin begins his six-year term buoyed by victories in the Ukrainian war and steady economic development.
On the home front, he put down a rebellion led by paramilitary head Yevgeny Prigozhin in June of last year, who subsequently perished in an aircraft crash, and in February, his principal political opponent, Alexei Navalny, passed away in custody.
Shortly before the inauguration, Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of General Navalny, declared in a video that Russia would always be in a state of conflict as long as Putin is in power and that he was a cunning man.
After defeating Soviet leader Joseph Stalin in March, he is set to become Russia’s longest-serving leader in a century.
Despite Kyiv’s challenges with manpower and ammunition shortages, Russia’s army has made progress on the front lines after thwarting a much-hyped counteroffensive by the Ukrainians last year.
But Putin faces serious hurdles in his fifth term as the conflict drags into a third year with no clear end in sight and the economy verges on overheating.
A historical cause of unhappiness for the Russian people, inflation persists as Moscow pours billions of dollars into the war effort, adopting what some have dubbed a “military Keynesianism.”
Concerns that Putin’s administration will declare a fresh wave of unpopular mobilization have also gone unaddressed by the Kremlin, and unhappiness among wives of men drafted has not subsided.
Given that his cabinet is required to step down before a new presidential term, some observers have speculated that Putin would use the inauguration to upend his administration.
