Why was US actor Steven Seagal at Putin's fifth inauguration as Russian president?
Having already been in office for almost 25 years, Vladimir Putin is the longest-serving Kremlin leader since Josef Stalin, ITV News Correspondent Rachel Younger reports
Vladimir Putin has begun his fifth term as Russian president with a glittering Kremlin inauguration after clearing the board of his political opponents.
At the ceremony inside the gilded Grand Kremlin Palace on Tuesday, Putin placed his hand on the Russian Constitution and vowed to defend it as a crowd of hand-picked dignitaries looked on.
Among them was former Hollywood action hero, and now Russian citizen, Steven Seagal.
It is not the first inauguration - Segal appeared back in 2018, at what was Putin's fourth inauguration as Russian president.
The pair struck up an unlikely friendship after reportedly bonding over their mutual love of martial arts, with Seagal being made a special envoy for Russia to the US in 2018.
Seagal also once referred to Putin as "one of the great living world leaders."
Putin is now the longest-serving Kremlin leader since Josef Stalin with 25 years in office.
His latest 'inauguration' will take Putin's new term through till 2030 - when he will be constitutionally able to run again.
Since succeeding President Boris Yeltsin in the waning hours of 1999, Putin has transformed Russia from a country emerging from economic collapse to a pariah state that threatens global security.
Following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine that has become Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II, Russia has been heavily sanctioned by the West and is turning to other regimes like China, Iran and North Korea for support.
The question now is what the 71-year-old Putin will do over the course of another six years, both at home and abroad.
What challenges does Putin face?
Russian forces are gaining ground in Ukraine, deploying scorched-earth tactics as Kyiv grapples with shortages of men and ammunition. Both sides are taking heavy casualties.
Ukraine has brought the battle to Russian soil through drone and missile attacks, especially in border regions. In a speech in February, Putin vowed to fulfill Moscow’s goals in Ukraine, and do what is needed to “defend our sovereignty and security of our citizens.”
Shortly after his orchestrated re-election in March, Putin suggested a confrontation between NATO and Russia is possible, and he declared he wanted to carve out a buffer zone in Ukraine to protect his country from cross-border attacks.
At home, Putin's popularity is closely tied to improving living standards for ordinary Russians.
He began his term in 2018 by promising to get Russia into the top five global economies, vowing it should be “modern and dynamic.”
Instead, Russia's economy has pivoted to a war footing, and authorities are spending record amounts on defence.
Analysts say now that Putin has secured another six years in power, the government could take the unpopular steps of raising taxes to fund the war and pressure more men to join the military.
At the start of a new term, the Russian government is routinely dissolved so that Putin can name a new prime minister and Cabinet.
Death or imprisonment: How has Putin disposed of his political rivals?
Last year, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu came under pressure over his conduct of the war, with mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin launching withering criticism against him for shortages of ammunition for his private contractors fighting in Ukraine.
Prigozhin's brief uprising in June against the Defence Ministry represented the biggest threat to Putin's rule.
After Prigozhin was killed two months later in a mysterious plane crash, Shoigu appeared to have survived the in-fighting. But last month, his protege, Deputy Defence Minister Timur Ivanov, was detained on charges of bribery amid reports of rampant corruption.
Some analysts have suggested Shoigu could become a victim of the government reshuffle but that would be a bold move as the war is still raging in Ukraine.
In the years following the invasion, authorities have cracked down on any form of dissent with a ferocity not seen since Soviet times. There is no sign that this repression will ease in Putin's new term.
His greatest political foe, opposition leader Alexei Navalny, died in an Arctic penal colony in February. Other prominent critics have either been imprisoned or have fled the country, and even some of his opponents abroad fear for their security.
Laws have been enacted that threaten long prison terms for anyone who discredits the military. The Kremlin also targets independent media, rights groups, LGBT+ activists and others who don't hew to what Putin has emphasised as Russia's “traditional family values.”
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