Vladimir Putin must be inaugurated this Tuesday, May 7 as president for a fifth term at the head of Russia, where he enjoys uncontested power in the face of a crushed opposition, in the midst of a push by Russian troops on the Ukrainian front.
Nearly two months after a re-election presented as triumphant by the Kremlin, in the absence of a dissident candidacy, the Russian head of state, aged 71 and in power for almost a quarter of a century, is back at least until ‘in 2030. In 2020, he had the Constitution revised to be able to serve two additional six-year terms, until 2036, the year he would turn 84.
Under the auspices of the Kremlin and in the presence of the country’s political elite and foreign representatives, including the French ambassador, the inauguration must begin at 12 p.m. local time (9 a.m. GMT) and last around an hour, according to Russian media. . Other European countries, such as Poland, Germany and the Czech Republic, have signaled that they will not send representatives, to mark their opposition to the Kremlin’s policies.
During the ceremony, Vladimir Putin will take the oath before delivering a brief speech to the Nation. A speech which comes this year two days before the anniversary of the Soviet victory of May 9 against Nazi Germany, the celebration of which is a pillar of the power policy of Vladimir Putin, who claims to be fighting “neo- Nazis.”
“Illusion”
The inauguration coincides with a more favorable situation on the front for the Russian army, which had suffered humiliating setbacks in the spring and autumn of 2022, during the first months of its large-scale attack on kyiv.
In recent weeks, Russian assaults in eastern Ukraine have increased in intensity and enabled the gradual conquest of several localities, particularly in the area of the key town of Avdiïvka, conquered in mid-February.
Opposite, kyiv’s troops are lacking ammunition and recruits after their unsuccessful offensive in the summer of 2023. They are awaiting the arrival of new American aid, while the Russian defense industry is running at full capacity. .
In downtown Moscow, numerous barriers have been installed along the main thoroughfares in preparation for the inauguration and the military parade on May 9.
A ceremony that Ukraine denounced as a sham of democracy.
Ukrainian diplomacy estimated Monday that it was intended to give “an illusion of legality” to Mr. Putin’s continued power which, according to kyiv, has transformed Russia “into an aggressor state” and the regime in place “into a dictatorship” .
Repression
In mid-March, following a vote officially won with more than 87% of votes cast, Vladimir Putin painted the portrait of a “united” Russia behind him and his army.
Westerners, led by Washington, for their part castigated a forced vote, a few weeks after the death in prison in murky circumstances, on February 16, of the main Russian opponent, Alexeï Navalny.
Leading members of the Russian opposition are now in exile or in prison, as are hundreds of ordinary people who have voiced their opposition to Moscow’s offensive against its Ukrainian neighbor. The noose has also tightened against sexual minorities, already targeted by severe repression and who pay the costs of promoting the “traditional values” defended by Mr. Putin in the face of a West considered depraved.
The Russian president also overcame an attempted rebellion last year by the former leader of the Wagner paramilitary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, who subsequently died in the crash of his plane.
The head of the Kremlin nevertheless faces several challenges, particularly economic, while the outcome of the conflict in Ukraine, which is very deadly, still seems uncertain. Inflation, driven in particular by the explosion in the federal budget, linked to military spending, remains persistent and worries the population, whose purchasing power is already weighed down by the effect of Western sanctions.
