Vladimir Putin will be inaugurated for a fifth term at the head of Russia

Nearly two months after a re-election that the Kremlin presented as a triumph in the absence of a dissident candidate, Vladimir Putin, Russia’s 71-year-old head of state, who has been in power for nearly a quarter of a century, is back for a fifth term. at least until 2030. The Kremlin authoritarian leader enjoys unchallenged power in the midst of a Russian offensive on the Ukrainian front.

In 2020, he amended the Constitution to allow him to serve two more six-year terms until 2036, when he will be 84 years old.

The inauguration is due to begin under the auspices of the Kremlin and in the presence of the country’s political elite and foreign representatives, including the French ambassador, at 12 noon local time and last about an hour, Russian media reported. On the other hand, European countries such as Poland, Germany and the Czech Republic have made it clear that they will not send representatives. It’s the same with the United States. “We will not have a representative at this inauguration,” US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Monday.

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Westerners, led by Washington, denounced the pressured vote, weeks after the death in prison under unclear circumstances on February 16 of Russia’s main opponent, Alexei Navalny. Leading members of the Russian opposition are now in exile or in prison, as are hundreds of ordinary people who have expressed their opposition to Moscow’s offensive against its Ukrainian neighbor. Moreover, the noose has also tightened on sexual minorities, who are already subject to brutal repression and who pay the costs of promoting the “traditional values” defended by Vladimir Putin in the face of a West considered corrupt.

During the ceremony, Vladimir Putin will take the oath of office and then make a short speech to the nation. The speech came this year two days before the anniversary of the May 9 Soviet victory over Nazi Germany, the commemoration of which is the basis of the power politics of Vladimir Putin, who claims to be fighting “neo-Nazis” in Ukraine.

This inauguration also coincides with a more favorable situation at the front for the Russian army, which suffered humiliating defeats in the spring and fall of 2022, in the first months of a large-scale offensive on Kyiv. Russian attacks in eastern Ukraine have intensified in recent weeks and have gradually captured several towns, especially around the key city of Avdiivka, which was captured in mid-February. By contrast, Kyiv’s forces are short of ammunition and recruits after a failed offensive in the summer of 2023. They wait for more American aid to arrive while Russia’s defense industry operates at full capacity.

Moscow is getting ready

In honor of the Kremlin’s master, numerous barriers have been erected along major thoroughfares in central Moscow in preparation for the inauguration and military parade on May 9. Ukraine condemned the ceremony as an imitation of democracy. On Monday, Ukrainian diplomacy assessed that this was intended to create an “illusion of legality” for the retention in power of Vladimir Putin, who, according to Kyiv, has turned Russia “into an aggressor state” and the current regime “into a dictatorship.” .

In mid-March, after officially winning the vote with more than 87% of the vote, Vladimir Putin painted a portrait of a “united” Russia behind himself and his army. He also painted a portrait of Russia managing to survive economically despite international sanctions. Even if inflation, caused in part by the explosive growth of the federal budget associated with military spending, remains persistent and worries a population whose purchasing power is already reduced.