Important dates in Vladimir Putin’s 24 years in power in Russia:

Dec. 31, 1999 — In a shock tackle to the nation, Russian President Boris Yeltsin publicizes his resignation and makes Putin, the prime minister he appointed 4 months earlier, the performing president.

Could 7, 2000 — After profitable election with about 53% of the vote, Putin is inaugurated for his first four-year time period.

Could 11, 2000 — Tax police raid the places of work of NTV, a well-liked unbiased broadcaster famous for crucial protection of the Kremlin. It’s the first salvo in strikes towards outstanding unbiased media which have characterised the Putin period.

Aug. 12, 2000 — The submarine Kursk sinks within the Barents Sea with 118 folks aboard, setting off the primary widespread criticism of Putin, who stayed on trip early within the disaster and waited 5 days earlier than accepting Western provides of assist.

Oct. 23, 2002 — Militants from Russia’s area of Chechnya take about 850 folks hostage at a Moscow theater. Three days later, Russian particular forces pump an unidentified fuel into the theater to finish the disaster, killing at the least 130 hostages together with the militants. Putin defends the operation as having saved tons of of lives.

Oct. 25, 2003 — Oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who’s Russia’s richest man and seen as a possible challenger to Putin, is arrested and later sentenced to 10 years in jail for tax evasion and fraud. His oil firm is dismantled, most of it acquired by state oil firm Rosneft. He has since grow to be an opposition determine in exile.

March 14, 2004 — Putin is elected to a second time period as president.

Sept. 1, 2004 — Islamic militants seize a faculty within the southern metropolis of Beslan, and greater than 300 folks die within the chaotic explosions and shootout ending the siege two days later. Putin blames regional leaders’ incompetence and publicizes that governors can be appointed figures moderately than elected.

April 25, 2005 — Putin alarms worldwide observers by describing the collapse of the Soviet Union as “the best geopolitical disaster of the century.”

Feb. 10, 2007 — In a speech at a convention in Munich, Putin turns away radically from earlier makes an attempt to develop nearer ties with america.

Could 8, 2008 — Barred by the structure from operating for a 3rd consecutive time period, Putin is appointed prime minister by new President Dmitry Medvedev however successfully stays Russia’s political chief.

Aug. 8-12, 2008 — Russia fights a brief conflict with Georgia, gaining full management of the separatist Abkhazia and South Ossetia areas.

March 4, 2012 — Putin is elected to a brand new presidential time period, which is now six years lengthy below constitutional modifications he engineered. Protests by tens of 1000’s earlier than the vote and on the eve of his inauguration result in legal guidelines toughening penalties for unauthorized political protests.

June 6, 2013 — Putin publicizes on state tv that he and his spouse, Lyudmila, are divorcing.

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

March 18, 2014 — Following the ouster of Ukraine’s Russia-friendly president amid protests in Kyiv, Moscow annexes Crimea after the Kremlin sends in troops sporting uniforms with out insignia. A fast referendum is staged on the peninsula, splitting it from Ukraine. Putin admits a yr later that he deliberate the annexation weeks forward of time.

April 2014 — Combating between Ukrainian forces and Russia-backed separatist rebels begins in jap Ukraine.

Feb. 27, 2015 — Boris Nemtsov, a high determine of Russia’s beleaguered political opposition, is gunned down on a bridge subsequent to the Kremlin. Nemtsov was engaged on a report about Russian troopers in jap Ukraine.

Sept. 30, 2015 — Russia begins airstrikes in Syria that Putin calls essential to destroy terrorist teams. The motion helps Syrian President Bashar Assad, a longtime ally, stay in energy.

Could 15, 2018 — Putin opens the 18-kilometer (12-mile) bridge from Russia to Crimea, solidifying Moscow’s annexation. The bridge later turns into a goal of assaults in the course of the conflict with Ukraine.

July 16, 2018 — Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump meet at a summit in Helsinki, the place Trump is requested about allegations that Russia had interfered within the 2016 election that introduced him to energy. He dismissed the claims and stated Putin was “extraordinarily robust and highly effective in his denial.”

July 1, 2020 — A referendum approves constitutional modifications proposed by Putin, permitting him to run for 2 extra phrases beginning in 2024.

Aug. 20, 2020 — Opposition chief Alexei Navalny falls severely in poor health whereas organizing political opposition to Putin in Siberia and is later flown to Germany, the place he’s identified with nerve-agent poisoning. Navalny blames the Kremlin, which denies it.

Dec. 22, 2020 — Putin indicators a invoice granting lifetime immunity to former presidents.

Jan. 17, 2021 — Navalny is arrested at a Moscow airport upon coming back from Germany. He’s later convicted on several charges and sentenced to 19 years in jail.

July 2021 — Putin publishes an article declaring the “historic unity” of Russia and Ukraine, an ideological precursor to Moscow’s invasion.

Feb. 24, 2022 — The invasion of Ukraine begins, and Putin characterizes it as a “particular navy operation” wanted for Russia’s safety.

March 4, 2022 — Putin indicators a legislation that requires as much as 15 years in jail for spreading false or defamatory details about the navy.

Sept. 30, 2023 — The Worldwide Prison Court docket points a war-crimes indictment for Putin, accusing him of the illegal deportation and transportation of youngsters from Ukraine’s conflict zone into Russia.

June 23, 2023 — Mercenary power chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, who accused officers of denying ammunition and assist to his fighters in Ukraine, mounts a riot through which his troops take management of Russia’s southern navy headquarters and head for Moscow. The rebellion ends the following day, however undermines Putin’s picture of energy. Prigozhin is killed exactly two months after the uprising in a mysterious airplane crash.

Feb. 16, 2024 – Navalny dies at an Arctic prison colony of unspecified causes. “There isn’t any doubt that the dying of Navalny was a consequence of one thing that Putin and his thugs did,” stated U.S. President Joe Biden. Greater than 350 folks have been arrested paying tribute to Navalny at ad-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 the vote. His victory had by no means been doubtful; the opposite three candidates on the poll have been low-profile politicians from token opposition events that assist the Kremlin’s line.

March 22, 2024 – Gunmen storm a concert hall on Moscow’s outskirts, killing folks coming to listen to a rock group and setting the constructing on hearth. The assault, which killed 144 folks, was claimed by an offshoot of the Islamic State group and Russia arrested 11 residents of Tajikistan as suspects, however Putin and different officers claimed with out presenting proof that the assault was carried out below Ukraine’s path.

Could 7, 2024 — Putin begins a fifth term in workplace.