Vladimir Putin secured another term at the head of the Russian Executive in the March elections, after using a tactic worthy of a dictator: removing opponents from the polls.
This Tuesday (7), he took office in a ceremony held in the Kremlin, which was marked by a strong nationalist appeal in his speech.
“We face this difficult period with dignity and we will come out stronger. We are a great and united nation. Together, we will overcome all obstacles, we will achieve everything that was planned. Together, we will win”, he stated when referring to the situation of the War in Ukraine, created by himself in 2022, and to international sanctions that harm Russia’s economy.
In 2020, Putin approved a controversial constitutional reform that allowed the removal of all legal obstacles that prevented him from remaining in the Kremlin until 2030. The dictator has been in power since 2000 and emerged victorious in this year’s new elections with more than 87% of the votes , an unprecedented result that was strongly questioned by the West.
Putin’s victory was tarnished by the sudden death in an Arctic prison, a month before the elections, of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who had launched a campaign against the re-election of the Russian president.
Furthermore, five days after the vote, Russia was the scene of the biggest terrorist attack in 20 years, with the death of 145 people in a jihadist attack on a concert hall on the outskirts of Moscow, for which Putin blamed Ukraine, although the attack was claimed by the Islamic State.
Opposition reacts to inauguration
Yulia Navalnaya, Navalny’s widow, who is in exile, published a video on her social media this Tuesday, criticizing Putin’s inauguration, whom she called a “murderer and a liar”.
“Our country is governed by a liar, a thief, a murderer. But this will undoubtedly end,” said Navalnaya. “With Putin in charge, our country will have neither peace, nor development, nor freedom.”
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