Putin begins his fifth term as president, more in control of Russia than ever

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.

“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)

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina is set to execute its first inmate in 13 years after an unintended pause because the state could not obtain the drugs needed for lethal injections.

Freddie Eugene Owens, 46, is scheduled to die just after 6 p.m. Friday at a Columbia prison. He was convicted of the 1997 killing of a clerk who could not get the safe open at a convenience store in Greenville.

Owens’ last-ditch appeals have been repeatedly denied, including by a federal court Friday morning. Owens has also petitioned for a stay of execution from the U.S. Supreme Court. South Carolina's governor and corrections director swiftly filed a reply, stating the high court should reject Owens' petition. The filing said nothing is exceptional about his case.

The scheduled 6 p.m. time of the execution passed as state officials awaited a decision from the high court.

His last chance to avoid death is for Republican South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster to commute his sentence to life in prison.

McMaster said he will follow historical tradition and announce his decision minutes before the lethal injection begins when prison officials call him and the state attorney general to make sure there is no reason to delay the execution. The former prosecutor promised to review Owens’ clemency petition but has said he tends to trust prosecutors and juries.

Owens may be the first of several inmates to die in the state's death chamber at Broad River Correctional Institution. Five other inmates are out of appeals and the South Carolina Supreme Court has cleared the way to hold an execution every five weeks.

South Carolina first tried to add the firing squad to restart executions after its supply of lethal injection drugs expired and no company was willing to publicly sell them more. But the state had to pass a shield law keeping the drug supplier and much of the protocol for executions secret to be able to reopen the death chamber.

To carry out executions, the state switched from a three-drug method to a new protocol of using just the sedative pentobarbital. The new process is similar to how the federal government kills inmates, according to state prison officials.

South Carolina law allows condemned inmates to choose lethal injection, the new firing squad or the electric chair built in 1912. Owens allowed his lawyer to choose how he died, saying he felt if he made the choice he would be a party to his own death and his religious beliefs denounce suicide.

Owens changed his name to Khalil Divine Black Sun Allah while in prison but court and prison records continue to refer to him as Owens.

Owens was convicted of killing Irene Graves in 1999. Prosecutors said he fired a shot into the head of the single mother of three who worked three jobs when she said she couldn't open the store's safe.

But hanging over his case is another killing: After his conviction, but before he was sentenced in Graves’ killing, Owens fatally attacked a fellow jail inmate, Christopher Lee.

Owens gave a detailed confession about how he stabbed Lee, burned his eyes, choked and stomped him, ending by saying he did it “because I was wrongly convicted of murder,” according to the written account of an investigator.

That confession was read to each jury and judge who went on to sentence Owens to death. Owens had two different death sentences overturned on appeal only to end up back on death row.

Owens was charged with murder in Lee's death but was never tried. Prosecutors dropped the charges with the right to restore them in 2019 around the time Owens ran out of regular appeals.

In his final appeal, Owens' lawyers said prosecutors never presented scientific evidence that Owens pulled the trigger when Graves was killed and the chief evidence against him was a co-defendant who pleaded guilty and testified that Owens was the killer.

Owens’ attorneys provided a sworn statement two days before the execution from Steven Golden saying Owens was not in the store, contradicting his trial testimony. Prosecutors said other friends of Owens and his former girlfriend testified that he bragged about killing the clerk.

“South Carolina is on the verge of executing a man for a crime he did not commit. We will continue to advocate for Mr. Owens,” attorney Gerald “Bo” King said in a statement.

Owens' lawyers also said he was just 19 when the killing happened and that he had suffered brain damage from physical and sexual violence while in a juvenile prison.

South Carolinians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty plans a vigil outside the prison about 90 minutes before Owens is scheduled to die.

South Carolina’s last execution was in May 2011. It took a decade of wrangling in the Legislature — first adding the firing squad as a method and later passing a shield law — to get capital punishment restarted.

South Carolina has put 43 inmates to death since the death penalty was restarted in the U.S. in 1976. In the early 2000s, it was carrying out an average of three executions a year. Only nine states have put more inmates to death.

But since the unintentional execution pause, South Carolina’s death row population has dwindled. The state had 63 condemned inmates in early 2011. It had 32 when Friday started. About 20 inmates have been taken off death row and received different prison sentences after successful appeals. Others have died of natural causes.

Rev. Hillary Taylor protests the planned execution of Freddie Eugene Owens, 46, on Friday, Sept. 20, 2024, in Columbia, S.C. Owens is set to be the first person to be executed in South Carolina in 13 years. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

A demonstrators protests the planned execution of Freddie Eugene Owens, 46, on Friday, Sept. 20, 2024, in Columbia, S.C. Owens is set to be the first person to be executed in South Carolina in 13 years. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Jesse Motte, right, protests the planned execution of Freddie Eugene Owens, 46, on Friday, Sept. 20, 2024, in Columbia, S.C. Owens is set to be the first person to be executed in South Carolina in 13 years. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Rev. Hillary Taylor protests the planned execution of Freddie Eugene Owens, 46, on Friday, Sept. 20, 2024, in Columbia, S.C. Owens is set to be the first person to be executed in South Carolina in 13 years. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

South Carolinians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty Executive Director Rev. Hillary Taylor speaks at a news conference before delivering petitions to stop the execution of Freddie Owens at the South Carolina Statehouse in Columbia, S.C., Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)

South Carolina prepares for first execution in 13 years

South Carolinians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty Executive Director Rev. Hillary Taylor speaks at a news conference before delivering petitions to stop the execution of Freddie Owens at the South Carolina Statehouse in Columbia, S.C., Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)

South Carolina prepares for first execution in 13 years