President Vladimir Putin began his fifth term at a glittering Kremlin inauguration Tuesday, embarking on another six years as leader of Russia after destroying his political opponents, launching a devastating war in Ukraine and concentrating all power in his hands.
At the ceremony in the gilded Grand Kremlin Palace, Putin placed his hand on the Russian Constitution and vowed to defend it as a crowd of hand-picked dignitaries looked on.
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President Vladimir Putin began his fifth term at a glittering Kremlin inauguration Tuesday, embarking on another six years as leader of Russia after destroying his political opponents, launching a devastating war in Ukraine and concentrating all power in his hands.
Vladimir Putin arrives for his inauguration ceremony as Russian president in the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (Sergei Bobylev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Russian President Vladimir Putin, center, attends a prayer service conducted by Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and all Russia, left, following an inauguration ceremony at the Kremlin's Annunciation Cathedral in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (Alexey Maishev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Russian President Vladimir Putin, background center, attends a prayer service conducted by Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, left, following an inauguration ceremony at the Kremlin's Annunciation Cathedral in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (Alexey Maishev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Russian President Vladimir Putin, center, attends a prayer service conducted by Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and all Russia, left, following an inauguration ceremony at the Kremlin's Annunciation Cathedral in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (Alexey Maishev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a prayer service following an inauguration ceremony at the Kremlin's Annunciation Cathedral in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (Alexey Maishev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, attends a prayer service conducted by Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and all Russia following an inauguration ceremony at the Kremlin's Annunciation Cathedral in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (Alexey Maishev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and all Russia talk during a prayer service following an inauguration ceremony at the Kremlin's Annunciation Cathedral in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (Alexey Maishev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
A Honour guard soldier carries the Russian Constitution during Vladimir Putin's inauguration ceremony as Russian president in the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, Pool)
Russian Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov, left, and deputy chairman of the Communist party Ivan Melnikov arrive for Russia's president-elect Vladimir Putin inauguration ceremony in the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (Alexander Nemenov/Pool Photo via AP)
Vladimir Putin arrives for his inauguration ceremony as Russian President in the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (Sergei Bobylev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Vladimir Putin walks to take his oath as Russian president during an inauguration ceremony in the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, Pool)
Vladimir Putin attends an inauguration ceremony as Russian president in the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (Alexander Kazakov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Honour guard soldiers attend Vladimir Putin's inauguration ceremony as Russian president in the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, Pool)
Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and all Russia attend a prayer service following an inauguration ceremony at the Kremlin's Annunciation Cathedral in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (Alexey Maishev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Honour guards of the Presidential regiment carry a special copy of the Russian Constitution and the President's Badge prior to an inauguration ceremony of Vladimir Putin as Russian president in the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (Alexander Kazakov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Vladimir Putin takes his oath as Russian president during an inauguration ceremony in the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, Pool)
American action-movie actor Steven Seagal arrives for Vladimir Putin's inauguration ceremony as Russian president in the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (Alexander Nemenov/Pool Photo via AP)
Russian President Vladimir Putin arrives for an inauguration ceremony to begin his fifth term as Russian president in the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (Alexey Maishev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Vladimir Putin walks to take his oath as Russian president during an inauguration ceremony in the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (Maxim Shemetov/Pool Photo via AP)
Vladimir Putin walks to take his oath as Russian president during an inauguration ceremony in the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (Maxim Shemetov/Pool Photo via AP)
Vladimir Putin walks to take his oath as Russian president during an inauguration ceremony in the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, Pool)
Vladimir Putin arrives for an inauguration ceremony to begin his fifth term as Russian president in the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (Sergei Bobylev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Vladimir Putin arrives for his inauguration ceremony as Russian president in the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (Sergei Bobylev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures while speaking on a visit to his campaign headquarters in Moscow, Russia, early on Monday, March 18, 2024, after his reelection. (AP Photo, File)
FILE – LGBTQ+ activists wave flags during a rally in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, July 15, 2020. The Kremlin targets such activists as well as independent media, rights groups and others who don't hew to what President Vladimir Putin has emphasized as Russia's “traditional family values.” (AP Photo, File)
FILE - Workers carry the coffin and a portrait of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny in Moscow, Russia, Friday, March 1, 2024. Navalny, President Vladimir Putin's greatest political foe, died in an Arctic penal colony in February. Other prominent critics have either been imprisoned or have fled the country. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - This photo taken and released by Basmanny District Court press service on Wednesday, April 24, 2024, shows Russian Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov standing in a defendants’ cage in court in Moscow, Russia. Ivanov was arrested on suspicion of accepting a bribe. (Basmanny District Court press service via AP, File)
FILE - Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner Group private military contractor, looks from a military vehicle leaving the Southern Military District in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, on June 24, 2023. Two months later, Prigozhin was killed in a mysterious plane crash after launching a brief uprising against the Defense Ministry in what represented the biggest threat to President Vladimir Putin. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu arrive for a meeting with the military brass in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2023. A Shoigu deputy was detained last month on charges of bribery amid reports of rampant corruption. (Mikhail Klimentyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)
FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, shares a toast with servicemen at the Novo-Ogaryovo State residence outside Moscow, Russia, on Monday, Jan. 1, 2024. With the fighting in Ukraine in its third year, Putin hopes Western support for Ukraine will wither while Moscow maintains its steady military pressure. (Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)
FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un shake hands during a meeting at the Vostochny cosmodrome outside the city of Tsiolkovsky, about 200 kilometers (125 miles) from the city of Blagoveshchensk in the far eastern Amur region of Russia on Sept. 13, 2023. Russia has been heavily sanctioned by the West over Ukraine and is turning other regimes like China and North Korea for support. (Vladimir Smirnov/Sputnik Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)
FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and Chinese President Xi Jinping talk during their meeting on the sidelines of the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing, China, on Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023. (Sergey Savostyanov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)
FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin, center, visits the Uralvagonzavod factory in Nizhny Tagil, Russia, on Thursday, Feb. 15, 2024. Military industries have become a key engine of Russia's economic growth, with defense plants churning out missiles, tanks and ammunition. (Ramil Sitdikov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)
FILE - In this photo taken from video released by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on May 18, 2023, a Russian 152 mm self-propelled gun fires toward Ukrainian positions at an undisclosed location. The Russian military has pressed attacks in several sectors in Ukraine a bid to drain Kyiv's reserves and deplete its munitions. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP, File)
FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin arrives at a ceremony to present medals on the eve of Heroes of the Fatherland Day at St. George Hall of the Grand Kremlin Palace, in Moscow, Russia, Friday, Dec. 8, 2023. Putin seems to be hoping that relentless military pressure, changing Western political dynamics and a global focus on the war in Gaza will drain support for Ukraine. (Sergei Guneyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)
“We are a united and great people and together we will overcome all obstacles, realize all our plans, together we will win,” Putin said after being sworn in.
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.
Already in office for nearly a quarter-century and the longest-serving Kremlin leader since Josef Stalin, Putin’s new term doesn’t expire until 2030, when he will be constitutionally eligible to run again.
In a heavily choreographed performance, Putin was pictured in his office looking at his papers before walking along the Kremlin’s long corridors, pausing at one point to look at a painting, on the way to his inauguration.
His guard of honor waited in the sleet and rain for hours, in temperatures hovering just above freezing, while Putin made the brief journey to the Grand Kremlin Palace in his Auras limousine.
Putin used the the first moments of his fifth term to thank the “heroes” of his war in Ukraine and to rail against the West.
Russia “does not refuse dialogue with Western states," he said. Rather, he said, "the choice is theirs: do they intend to continue trying to contain Russia, continue the policy of aggression, continuous pressure on our country for years, or look for a path to cooperation and peace.”
He was greeted with applause when he entered the hall with more than 2,500 invited guests. They included senior members of the Russian government as well as celebrities including American actor Steven Seagal.
Neither the U.S., U.K. nor German ambassadors attended. The U.S. Embassy said Ambassador Lynne Tracy was out of the country on “prescheduled, personal travel.”
A handful of European Union envoys attended even though top EU diplomat Josep Borrell said he told them “the right thing to do is not to attend this inauguration,” because Putin is the subject of an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court for war crimes, accusing him of personal responsibility for the abductions of children from Ukraine.
Among those present was the French ambassador, according to a French diplomat who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
A 30-gun salute followed Putin's remarks. He reviewed the presidential regiment in the Kremlin's Cathedral Square in a light drizzle and then walked into nearby Annunciation Cathedral for a blessing from Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church.
During the brief service, Kirill compared Putin to Prince Alexander Nevsky, the medieval ruler who “courageously defended their people on the battlefield.”
He reminded Putin that the head of state sometimes “has to take fateful and formidable decisions” that can lead to victims, an apparent reference to the many casualties in Ukraine — a conflict the church has endorsed.
The question now is what the 71-year-old Putin will do over the course of another six years in the Kremlin, both at home and abroad.
Russian forces are gaining ground in Ukraine, deploying scorched-earth tactics as Kyiv grapples with shortages of men and ammunition.
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 reelection in March, Putin suggested that 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.
The Russian government has now been dissolved so that Putin can name a new prime minister and Cabinet.
One key area to watch is the Defense Ministry.
Last month, Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov — a protege of Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu — 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, with the war still raging.
At home, Putin's popularity is closely tied to improving living standards for ordinary Russians.
Putin on Tuesday once again promised Russians a prosperous future, but since the invasion of Ukraine, many have seen the cost of living rise.
Putin 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 defense.
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.
In the years following the invasion, authorities have cracked down on any form of dissent with a ferocity not seen since Soviet times.
Putin indicated Tuesday that he would continue to silence critics.
He told his audience in the Grand Kremlin Palace to remember the “tragic cost of internal turmoil and upheaval," and said that Russia “must be strong and absolutely resistant to any challenges and threats.”
Putin enters his fifth term with practically no opposition inside the country.
Laws have been enacted that threaten long prison terms for anyone who discredits the military. The Kremlin also targets independent media, rights groups, LGBTQ+ activists and others who don't hew to what Putin has emphasized as Russia's “traditional family values.”
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.
Navalny's widow, Yulia Navalnaya, released a video ahead of the inauguration in which she said Putin's promises “are not only empty, they are false.”
Russia, she said, is "ruled by a liar, a thief and a murderer."
Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks to honour guards of the Presidential regiment following his inauguration ceremony at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (Sergei Guneyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Vladimir Putin arrives for his inauguration ceremony as Russian president in the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (Sergei Bobylev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Russian President Vladimir Putin, center, attends a prayer service conducted by Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and all Russia, left, following an inauguration ceremony at the Kremlin's Annunciation Cathedral in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (Alexey Maishev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Russian President Vladimir Putin, background center, attends a prayer service conducted by Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, left, following an inauguration ceremony at the Kremlin's Annunciation Cathedral in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (Alexey Maishev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Russian President Vladimir Putin, center, attends a prayer service conducted by Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and all Russia, left, following an inauguration ceremony at the Kremlin's Annunciation Cathedral in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (Alexey Maishev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a prayer service following an inauguration ceremony at the Kremlin's Annunciation Cathedral in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (Alexey Maishev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, attends a prayer service conducted by Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and all Russia following an inauguration ceremony at the Kremlin's Annunciation Cathedral in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (Alexey Maishev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and all Russia talk during a prayer service following an inauguration ceremony at the Kremlin's Annunciation Cathedral in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (Alexey Maishev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
A Honour guard soldier carries the Russian Constitution during Vladimir Putin's inauguration ceremony as Russian president in the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, Pool)
Russian Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov, left, and deputy chairman of the Communist party Ivan Melnikov arrive for Russia's president-elect Vladimir Putin inauguration ceremony in the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (Alexander Nemenov/Pool Photo via AP)
Vladimir Putin arrives for his inauguration ceremony as Russian President in the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (Sergei Bobylev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Vladimir Putin walks to take his oath as Russian president during an inauguration ceremony in the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, Pool)
Vladimir Putin attends an inauguration ceremony as Russian president in the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (Alexander Kazakov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Honour guard soldiers attend Vladimir Putin's inauguration ceremony as Russian president in the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, Pool)
Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and all Russia attend a prayer service following an inauguration ceremony at the Kremlin's Annunciation Cathedral in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (Alexey Maishev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Honour guards of the Presidential regiment carry a special copy of the Russian Constitution and the President's Badge prior to an inauguration ceremony of Vladimir Putin as Russian president in the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (Alexander Kazakov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Vladimir Putin takes his oath as Russian president during an inauguration ceremony in the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, Pool)
American action-movie actor Steven Seagal arrives for Vladimir Putin's inauguration ceremony as Russian president in the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (Alexander Nemenov/Pool Photo via AP)
Russian President Vladimir Putin arrives for an inauguration ceremony to begin his fifth term as Russian president in the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (Alexey Maishev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Vladimir Putin walks to take his oath as Russian president during an inauguration ceremony in the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (Maxim Shemetov/Pool Photo via AP)
Vladimir Putin walks to take his oath as Russian president during an inauguration ceremony in the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (Maxim Shemetov/Pool Photo via AP)
Vladimir Putin walks to take his oath as Russian president during an inauguration ceremony in the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, Pool)
Vladimir Putin arrives for an inauguration ceremony to begin his fifth term as Russian president in the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (Sergei Bobylev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Vladimir Putin arrives for his inauguration ceremony as Russian president in the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (Sergei Bobylev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures while speaking on a visit to his campaign headquarters in Moscow, Russia, early on Monday, March 18, 2024, after his reelection. (AP Photo, File)
FILE – LGBTQ+ activists wave flags during a rally in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, July 15, 2020. The Kremlin targets such activists as well as independent media, rights groups and others who don't hew to what President Vladimir Putin has emphasized as Russia's “traditional family values.” (AP Photo, File)
FILE - Workers carry the coffin and a portrait of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny in Moscow, Russia, Friday, March 1, 2024. Navalny, President Vladimir Putin's greatest political foe, died in an Arctic penal colony in February. Other prominent critics have either been imprisoned or have fled the country. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - This photo taken and released by Basmanny District Court press service on Wednesday, April 24, 2024, shows Russian Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov standing in a defendants’ cage in court in Moscow, Russia. Ivanov was arrested on suspicion of accepting a bribe. (Basmanny District Court press service via AP, File)
FILE - Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner Group private military contractor, looks from a military vehicle leaving the Southern Military District in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, on June 24, 2023. Two months later, Prigozhin was killed in a mysterious plane crash after launching a brief uprising against the Defense Ministry in what represented the biggest threat to President Vladimir Putin. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu arrive for a meeting with the military brass in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2023. A Shoigu deputy was detained last month on charges of bribery amid reports of rampant corruption. (Mikhail Klimentyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)
FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, shares a toast with servicemen at the Novo-Ogaryovo State residence outside Moscow, Russia, on Monday, Jan. 1, 2024. With the fighting in Ukraine in its third year, Putin hopes Western support for Ukraine will wither while Moscow maintains its steady military pressure. (Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)
FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un shake hands during a meeting at the Vostochny cosmodrome outside the city of Tsiolkovsky, about 200 kilometers (125 miles) from the city of Blagoveshchensk in the far eastern Amur region of Russia on Sept. 13, 2023. Russia has been heavily sanctioned by the West over Ukraine and is turning other regimes like China and North Korea for support. (Vladimir Smirnov/Sputnik Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)
FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and Chinese President Xi Jinping talk during their meeting on the sidelines of the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing, China, on Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023. (Sergey Savostyanov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)
FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin, center, visits the Uralvagonzavod factory in Nizhny Tagil, Russia, on Thursday, Feb. 15, 2024. Military industries have become a key engine of Russia's economic growth, with defense plants churning out missiles, tanks and ammunition. (Ramil Sitdikov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)
FILE - In this photo taken from video released by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on May 18, 2023, a Russian 152 mm self-propelled gun fires toward Ukrainian positions at an undisclosed location. The Russian military has pressed attacks in several sectors in Ukraine a bid to drain Kyiv's reserves and deplete its munitions. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP, File)
FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin arrives at a ceremony to present medals on the eve of Heroes of the Fatherland Day at St. George Hall of the Grand Kremlin Palace, in Moscow, Russia, Friday, Dec. 8, 2023. Putin seems to be hoping that relentless military pressure, changing Western political dynamics and a global focus on the war in Gaza will drain support for Ukraine. (Sergei Guneyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)
