Key events of Vladimir Putin's 24 Years in Power in Russia | Timeline

New Delhi: Vlimir Putin on Tuesday was sworn in for his fifth term as Russia's leer with a lavish Kremlin inauguration, marking beginning of anor six years in power, till 2030. Putin, who has alrey been in office for almost 25 years, becomes longest-serving leer of Russia after Josef Stalin.

During ceremony at opulent Grand Kremlin Palace, Putin pledged to defend Russian Constitution while surrounded by a select group of dignitaries. Ever since assuming office in late 1999 after succeeding President Boris Yeltsin, Putin took charge of Russia's transformation from a nation recovering from economic turmoil to a global pariah that poses security threats.

However, things changed after 2022 invasion of Ukraine, considering Europe's largest conflict since World War II, which led to extensive sanctions against Russia by West and European nations.

As Putin begins anor six-year term, here's a timeline of key events; 

Dec 31, 1999 - In a surprise dress to nation, Russian President Boris Yeltsin announces his resignation and makes Putin, prime minister he appointed four months earlier, acting president.

May 7, 2000 - After winning election with about 53% of vote, Putin is inaugurated for his first four-year term.

May 11, 2000 - Tax police raid offices of NTV, a popular independent brocaster noted for critical coverage of Kremlin. It is first salvo in moves against prominent independent media that have characterized Putin era.

Aug 12, 2000 - submarine Kursk sinks in Barents Sea with 118 people aboard, setting off first widespre criticism of Putin, who stayed on vacation early in crisis and waited five days before accepting Western offers of help.

Oct 23, 2002 - Militants from Russia's region of Chechnya take about 850 people hostage at a Moscow ater. Three days later, Russian special forces pump an unidentified gas into ater to end crisis, killing at least 130 hostages along with militants. Putin defends operation as having saved hundreds of lives.

Oct 25, 2003 - Oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who is Russia's richest man and seen as a potential challenger to Putin, is arrested and later sentenced to 10 years in prison for tax evasion and fraud. His oil company is dismantled, most of it acquired by state oil company Rosneft. He has since become an opposition figure in exile.

March 14, 2004 - Putin is elected to a second term as president.

Sept 1, 2004 - Islamic militants seize a school in sourn city of Beslan, and more than 300 people die in chaotic explosions and shootout ending siege two days later. Putin blames regional leers' incompetence and announces that governors will be appointed figures rar than elected.

April 25, 2005 - Putin alarms international observers by describing collapse of Soviet Union as “ greatest geopolitical catastrophe of century.” Feb 10, 2007 - In a speech at a conference in Munich, Putin turns away rically from earlier attempts to develop closer ties with United States.

May 8, 2008 - Barred by constitution from running for a third consecutive term, Putin is appointed prime minister by new President Dmitry Medvedev but effectively remains Russia's political leer.

Aug 8-12, 2008 - Russia fights a short war with Georgia, gaining full control of separatist Abkhazia and South Ossetia regions.

March 4, 2012 - Putin is elected to a new presidential term, which is now six years long under constitutional changes he engineered. Protests by tens of thousands before vote and on eve of his inauguration le to laws toughening penalties for unauthorised political protests.

June 6, 2013 - Putin announces on state television that he and his wife, Lyudmila, are divorcing.

Feb 7, 2014 - Putin opens Winter Olympics in Sochi, a costly prestige project that he was instrumental in winning for Russia.

March 18, 2014 - Following ouster of Ukraine's Russia-friendly president amid protests in Kyiv, Moscow annexes Crimea after Kremlin sends in troops wearing uniforms without insignia. A quick referendum is staged on peninsula, splitting it from Ukraine. Putin mits a year later that he planned annexation weeks ahe of time.

April 2014 - Fighting between Ukrainian forces and Russia-backed separatist rebels begins in eastern Ukraine.

Feb 27, 2015 - Boris Nemtsov, a top figure of Russia's beleaguered political opposition, is gunned down on a bridge next to Kremlin. Nemtsov was working on a report about Russian soldiers in eastern Ukraine.

Sept 30, 2015 - Russia begins airstrikes in Syria that Putin calls necessary to destroy terrorist groups. action helps Syrian President Bashar Ass, a longtime ally, remain in power.

May 15, 2018 - Putin opens 18-km (12-mile) bridge from Russia to Crimea, solidifying Moscow's annexation. bridge later becomes a target of attacks during war with Ukraine.

July 16, 2018 - Putin and US President Donald Trump meet at a summit in Helsinki, where Trump is asked about allegations that Russia h interfered in 2016 election that brought him to power. He dismissed claims and said Putin was “extremely strong and powerful in his denial”.

July 1, 2020 - A referendum approves constitutional changes proposed by Putin, allowing him to run for two more terms starting in 2024.

Aug. 20, 2020 - Opposition leer Alexei Navalny falls severely ill while organizing political opposition to Putin in Siberia and is later flown to Germany, where he is diagnosed with nerve-agent poisoning. Navalny blames Kremlin, which denies it.

Dec 22, 2020 - Putin signs a bill granting lifetime immunity to former presidents.

Jan 17, 2021 - Navalny is arrested at a Moscow airport upon returning from Germany. He is later convicted on several charges and sentenced to 19 years in prison.

July 2021 - Putin publishes an article declaring “historical unity” of Russia and Ukraine, an ideological precursor to Moscow's invasion.

Feb 24, 2022 - invasion of Ukraine begins, and Putin characterises it as a “special military operation” needed for Russia's security.

March 4, 2022 - Putin signs a law that calls for up to 15 years in prison for spreing false or defamatory information about military.

Sept 30, 2023 - International Criminal Court issues a war-crimes indictment for Putin, accusing him of unlawful deportation and transportation of children from Ukraine's war zone into Russia.

June 23, 2023 - Mercenary force leer Yevgeny Prigozhin, who accused officials of denying ammunition and support to his fighters in Ukraine, mounts a rebellion in which his troops take control of Russia's sourn military hequarters and he for Moscow. uprising ends next day, but undermines Putin's image of power. Prigozhin is killed exactly two months after uprising in a mysterious plane crash.

Feb 16, 2024 - Navalny dies at an Arctic prison colony of unspecified causes. “re is no doubt that death of Navalny was a consequence of something that Putin and his thugs did,” said US President Joe Biden. More than 350 people were arrested paying tribute to Navalny at -hoc memorials and monuments to victims of political repression.

March 17, 2024 - Putin wins a fifth term in an election that reportedly gave him 87% of vote. His victory h never been in doubt; or three candidates on ballot were low-profile politicians from token opposition parties that support Kremlin's line.

March 22, 2024 - Gunmen storm a concert hall on Moscow's outskirts, killing people coming to hear a rock group and setting building on fire. attack, which killed 144 people, was claimed by an offshoot of Islamic State group and Russia arrested 11 citizens of Tajikistan as suspects, but Putin and or officials claimed without presenting evidence that attack was carried out under Ukraine's direction.

May 7, 2024 - Putin begins a fifth term in office. 

(With AP Inputs)