Putin sworn in as Russian president for a fifth term

Glittering Kremlin inauguration boycotted by Britain, US and most EU countries — but not France

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/putin-sworn-russian-president-term-inauguration-2024-bpmnn7srj

https://archive.ph/xCbMm



President Putin was sworn in for a fifth term at a glittering ceremony at the Kremlin on Tuesday, shortly after the widow of Alexei Navalny, the late opposition leader, described him as “a liar, a thief and a murderer”. The opulent inauguration at the gilded Grand Kremlin Palace was boycotted by Britain, the United States and most European Union countries over the war in Ukraine, which is in its third year. “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, 71, said after swearing the presidential oath on the constitution.

Putin has been in power for 24 years and will become Russia’s longest-serving leader since the 18th century, overtaking Joseph Stalin, if he sees out his new six-year term. The constitution was rewritten by the Kremlin in 2020 to extend the limits of his potential term. Putin now has the right to remain in office until May 2036, when he will be 83.


It came a day after Moscow announced it was holding drills to rehearse the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons, and threatened to target British military facilities and equipment in Ukraine and elsewhere. President Macron of France had told the Economist it was possible that Nato troops could be sent to Ukraine. Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton, the foreign secretary, said that Britain would not object if Kyiv used British missiles to strike targets inside Russia.

“They are talking about the readiness and even the intention of sending armed contingents to Ukraine — that is, in fact, to put Nato soldiers in front of the Russian military,” Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, said. “This is a completely new round of escalating tensions. It is unprecedented and requires special measures.” Shortly before the ceremony, Yulia Navalnaya, 47, whose husband, Alexei, died suddenly in an Arctic prison in February, urged Russians to fight Putin’s regime. “Our country is being led by a liar, a thief and a murderer, but this will definitely come to an end. Don’t give up, truth will prevail,” Navalnaya said in a video.



“With each of [Putin’s] terms, everything only gets worse, and it is frightening to imagine what else will happen while Putin remains in power. Huge sums of money are stolen from all of us every day to fund bombings of peaceful cities, riot police beating people with batons, propagandists spreading lies. And also for [the elite’s] own palaces, yachts and private jets,” Navalnaya said.

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