Key events in Vladimir Putin’s more than two decades in power in Russia
Key events in Vladimir Putin’s more than two decades in power in Russia
FILE - Former President Boris Yeltsin, left, smiles as he talks to the then Russian acting President and Premier Vladimir Putin, at the Kremlin, Russia, on Dec. 31, 1999. In a surprise address to the nation, President Boris Yeltsin announces his resignation and makes Putin, the prime minister he appointed four months earlier, the acting president. (Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)
FILE - This image taken from a video distributed by RU-RTR Russian Television shows Russian President Boris Yeltsin rubbing his eye during his nationwide presidential New Year television address in Moscow’s Kremlin, on Dec. 31, 1999. In a surprise address to the nation, President Boris Yeltsin announces his resignation and makes Putin, the prime minister he appointed four months earlier, the acting president. (RU-RTR Russian Television via AP, File)
FILE - Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexi II, right, greets Russian President Vladimir Putin as former President Boris Yeltsin looks on, in Moscow’s Kremlin on May 7, 2000. (Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)
FILE - Masked and armed police officers stand outside central office of Media-Most holding company in Moscow on May 11, 2000. Tax police raid the offices of NTV, a popular independent broadcaster noted for critical coverage of the Kremlin. It is the first salvo in moves against prominent independent media that have characterized the Putin era. (AP Photo/Misha Japaridze, File)
FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with an unidentified relative of a seaman, who is believed dead aboard the crippled nuclear submarine Kursk as Lyudmila Lyachin, wife of Grigory Lyachin, the captain of the sunken submarine Kursk is seen center, in the closed military base of Vedyayevo, 50 miles (80 kms) north from Murmansk on Aug. 22, 2000. The submarine Kursk sinks in the Barents Sea with 118 people aboard, setting off the first widespread criticism of Putin, who stayed on vacation early in the crisis and waited five days before accepting Western offers of help. (Pool Photo via AP, File)
FILE - Crew members of the Russian nuclear submarine Kursk stand on its deck during a naval parade in Severomorsk, Russia, on July 30, 2000. The submarine Kursk sinks in the Barents Sea with 118 people aboard, setting off the first widespread criticism of Putin, who stayed on vacation early in the crisis and waited five days before accepting Western offers of help. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - An Interior Ministry rescue worker carries a body out of the theater where hundreds of hostages were being held by Chechen rebels, in Moscow, on Oct. 26, 2002. Militants from Russia’s region of Chechnya take about 850 people hostage at a Moscow theater. Three days later, Russian special forces pump an unidentified gas into the theater to end the crisis, killing at least 130 hostages along with the militants. Putin defends the operation as having saved hundreds of lives. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky, File)
FILE - Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the former chief of Russia’s largest oil company, Yukos, leaves an armored police car, as he is escorted to a court in Moscow, on Dec. 22, 2003. Khodorkovsky, who is Russia’s richest man and seen as a potential challenger to Putin, is arrested and 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. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)
FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin walks through St. George’s Hall to take part in an inauguration ceremony in Moscow’s Kremlin, Russia on May 7, 2004. Putin is elected to a second presidential term. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, Pool, File)
FILE - A wounded boy is carried after he escaped from a seized school in Beslan, Russia, on Sept. 3, 2004. Islamic militants seize a school in the southern city of Beslan, and more than 300 people die in the chaotic explosions and shootout that end the siege two days later. Putin blames regional leaders’ incompetence and announces that governors will be appointed figures rather than elected. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev, File)
FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin visits a hospital in Beslan, to meet victims of the hostage crisis in Beslan, Russia, on Sept. 4, 2004. Islamic militants seize a school in the southern city of Beslan, and more than 300 people die in the chaotic explosions and shootout that end the siege two days later. (Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)
FILE - Russia’s President Vladimir Putin addresses the delegates during the Security Conference in Munich, southern Germany, on Feb. 10, 2007. In a speech at a conference in Munich, Putin turns away radically from earlier attempts to develop closer ties with the United States. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein, File)
FILE - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, right, listens to Russian former president Vladimir Putin, during a discussion in the State Duma, lower parliament chamber, in Moscow on May 8, 2008. Barred by the constitution from running for a third consecutive term, Putin is appointed prime minister by new President Dmitry Medvedev but effectively remains Russia’s political leader. (AP Photo/ Mikhail Metzel, Pool, File)
FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a parade marking the Victory Day in Sevastopol, on May 9, 2014 which hosts a major Russian Black Sea Fleet base, Crimea. Following the ouster of Ukraine’s Russia-friendly president amid protests in Kyiv, Moscow annexes Crimea after the Kremlin sends in troops without insignia. A quick referendum is staged on the peninsula splitting from Ukraine. Putin admits a year later that he planned the annexation weeks previously. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev, File)
FILE - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who claimed victory in Russia’s presidential election, tears up as he speaks at a massive rally of his supporters at Manezh square outside Kremlin, in Moscow, on March 4, 2012. Putin is elected to a new term, which is now six years long under constitutional changes he engineered. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev, File)
FILE - Ossetian soldiers on top of an armored personnel carrier enter Tskhinvali, the capital of Georgian breakaway enclave of South Ossetia on Aug. 11, 2008, next to a giant portrait of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and inscription in Cyrillic: Putin is our President. Russia fights a short war with Georgia, gaining full control of the separatist Abkhazia and South Ossetia regions. (AP Photo/Mikhail Metzel, File)
FILE - In this grab made from video provided by the Russia24 TV Channel on June 6, 2013, Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and his wife Lyudmila speak to journalists after attending the ballet “La Esmeralda” in the Kremlin Palace in Moscow, Russia. Putin announces on Russian state television that he and his wife, Lyudmila, are divorcing. (AP Photo/Russia24 via The Associated Press Television News, File)
FILE - Pro-Russian gunmen take positions near the airport, outside Donetsk, Ukraine, on May 26, 2014. Fighting between Ukrainian forces and Russia-backed separatist rebels begins in eastern Ukraine. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda, File)
FILE - Police investigate the body of Boris Nemtsov, an opposition leader and a former deputy prime minister, with the St. Basil’s Cathedral and Red Square in the background in Moscow, Russia on Feb. 28, 2015. Nemtsov, a top figure of Russia’s beleaguered political opposition, is gunned down on a bridge next to the Kremlin. Nemtsov was working on a report about Russian soldiers in eastern Ukraine. (AP Foto/Pavel Golovkin, File)
FILE - Journalists film Su-30 jets parked at Hemeimeem airbase, Syria, on Oct. 22, 2015, as Mi 24 helicopter gunship flies overhead. Russia begins airstrikes in Syria, which Putin calls necessary to destroy terrorist groups. The action helps Syrian President Bashar Assad, a longtime ally, remain in power. (AP Photo/Vladimir Kondrashov, File)
FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin, center, shakes hand with Syrian President Bashar Assad as Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, right, looks on in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia on Oct. 20, 2015. Russia begins airstrikes in Syria, which Putin calls necessary to destroy terrorist groups. The action helps Syrian President Bashar Assad, a longtime ally, remain in power. (Alexei Druzhinin, RIA-Novosti, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)
FILE - U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G-20 Summit in Hamburg, Germany, on July 7, 2017. Putin and President Donald Trump meet for the first time at a summit in Helsinki. Trump, asked about allegations that Russia had interfered in the 2016 election that brought him to power, dismissed the claims and said Putin was “extremely strong and powerful in his denial.” (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin prepares to drive a truck to officially open the much-anticipated bridge linking Russia and the Crimean peninsula, during the opening ceremony near in Kerch, Crimea, on May 15, 2018. Putin opens the 18-kilometer (12-mile) bridge from Russia to Crimea, solidifying Moscow’s annexation. (Alexei Druzhinin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)
FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin shows his passport to a member of an election commission as he arrives to take part in voting at a polling station in Moscow, Russia, on July 1, 2020. A referendum approves constitutional changes proposed by Putin, which allow him to run for two more terms starting in 2024. (Alexei Druzhinin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)
FILE - An empty stretcher is carried back into an ambulance which is believed to have transported Alexei Navalny at the emergency entrance of the Charite hospital in Berlin, Germany, on Aug. 22, 2020. Navalny, Putin’s most prominent foe, 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 the attack on the Kremlin, which denies it. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, File)
FILE - Alexei Navalny is surrounded by journalists inside the plane prior to his flight to Moscow in the Airport Berlin Brandenburg (BER) in Schoenefeld, near Berlin, Germany, on Jan. 17, 2021. Navalny is arrested at a Moscow airport as he returns from Germany. He is later convicted on several charges and sentenced to 19 years in prison. (AP Photo/Mstyslav Chernov, File)
FILE - In this image made from video released by the Russian Presidential Press Service, Russian President Vladimir Putin addressees the nation in Moscow, Russia, on Feb. 24, 2022. The invasion of Ukraine begins, which Putin characterises as a “special military operation” needed to protect Russia’s security. (Russian Presidential Press Service via AP, File)
FILE - Natali Sevriukova reacts next to her house following a rocket attack the city of Kyiv, Ukraine, on Feb. 25, 2022. The invasion of Ukraine begins, which Putin characterizes as a “special military operation” needed to protect Russia’s security. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti, File)
FILE - An armored personnel carrier burns and damaged Russian light utility vehicles stand abandoned after fighting in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on Feb. 27, 2022. The invasion of Ukraine begins, which Putin characterizes as a “special military operation” needed to protect Russia’s security. (AP Photo/Andrew Marienko, File)
FILE - A police officer stands inside a police bus with detained demonstrators during am antiwar protest near Red Square with St. Basil’s Cathedral, right, in the background in Moscow, Russia, on Sept. 24, 2022. Putin signs a law that calls for up to 15 years in prison for spreading false or defamatory information about the military. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - Members of the Wagner Group military company guard an area as other load their tank onto a truck on a street in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, on June 24, 2023, prior to leaving an area at the headquarters of the Russian Southern Military District. (Vasily Deryugin, Kommersant Publishing House via AP, File)
FILE - Yevgeny Prigozhin, owner of the Wagner Group military company, right, poses for a photo with a civilian after taking over the Southern Military District in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, on June 24, 2023. 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 southern military headquarters and begin heading toward Moscow. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - People carry a body bag away from the wreckage of a crashed private jet, near the village of Kuzhenkino, Tver region, Russia, on Aug. 24, 2023. Mercenary force leader Yevgeny Prigozhin dies exactly two months after the uprising in a mysterious plane crash. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a video celebrating the anniversary of the referendum called illegal by the U.N. in four Ukrainian regions one year ago, in Moscow, Russia, on Sept. 30, 2023. (Mikhail Metzel, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)
FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin, foreground, watches downhill ski competition of the 2014 Winter Paralympics in Roza Khutor mountain district of Sochi, Russia, as Russia’s sports minister Vitaly Mutko stands behind on March 8, 2014. Putin opens the Winter Olympics in Sochi, a costly prestige project that he was instrumental in winning for Russia. (Alexei Nikolsky, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via , File)
FILE - Former President Boris Yeltsin, left, smiles as he talks to the then Russian acting President and Premier Vladimir Putin, at the Kremlin, Russia, on Dec. 31, 1999. In a surprise address to the nation, President Boris Yeltsin announces his resignation and makes Putin, the prime minister he appointed four months earlier, the acting president. (Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)
FILE - Former President Boris Yeltsin, left, smiles as he talks to the then Russian acting President and Premier Vladimir Putin, at the Kremlin, Russia, on Dec. 31, 1999. In a surprise address to the nation, President Boris Yeltsin announces his resignation and makes Putin, the prime minister he appointed four months earlier, the acting president. (Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)
FILE - This image taken from a video distributed by RU-RTR Russian Television shows Russian President Boris Yeltsin rubbing his eye during his nationwide presidential New Year television address in Moscow’s Kremlin, on Dec. 31, 1999. In a surprise address to the nation, President Boris Yeltsin announces his resignation and makes Putin, the prime minister he appointed four months earlier, the acting president. (RU-RTR Russian Television via AP, File)
FILE - This image taken from a video distributed by RU-RTR Russian Television shows Russian President Boris Yeltsin rubbing his eye during his nationwide presidential New Year television address in Moscow’s Kremlin, on Dec. 31, 1999. In a surprise address to the nation, President Boris Yeltsin announces his resignation and makes Putin, the prime minister he appointed four months earlier, the acting president. (RU-RTR Russian Television via AP, File)
FILE - Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexi II, right, greets Russian President Vladimir Putin as former President Boris Yeltsin looks on, in Moscow’s Kremlin on May 7, 2000. (Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)
FILE - Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexi II, right, greets Russian President Vladimir Putin as former President Boris Yeltsin looks on, in Moscow’s Kremlin on May 7, 2000. (Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)
FILE - Masked and armed police officers stand outside central office of Media-Most holding company in Moscow on May 11, 2000. Tax police raid the offices of NTV, a popular independent broadcaster noted for critical coverage of the Kremlin. It is the first salvo in moves against prominent independent media that have characterized the Putin era. (AP Photo/Misha Japaridze, File)
FILE - Masked and armed police officers stand outside central office of Media-Most holding company in Moscow on May 11, 2000. Tax police raid the offices of NTV, a popular independent broadcaster noted for critical coverage of the Kremlin. It is the first salvo in moves against prominent independent media that have characterized the Putin era. (AP Photo/Misha Japaridze, File)
FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with an unidentified relative of a seaman, who is believed dead aboard the crippled nuclear submarine Kursk as Lyudmila Lyachin, wife of Grigory Lyachin, the captain of the sunken submarine Kursk is seen center, in the closed military base of Vedyayevo, 50 miles (80 kms) north from Murmansk on Aug. 22, 2000. The submarine Kursk sinks in the Barents Sea with 118 people aboard, setting off the first widespread criticism of Putin, who stayed on vacation early in the crisis and waited five days before accepting Western offers of help. (Pool Photo via AP, File)
FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with an unidentified relative of a seaman, who is believed dead aboard the crippled nuclear submarine Kursk as Lyudmila Lyachin, wife of Grigory Lyachin, the captain of the sunken submarine Kursk is seen center, in the closed military base of Vedyayevo, 50 miles (80 kms) north from Murmansk on Aug. 22, 2000. The submarine Kursk sinks in the Barents Sea with 118 people aboard, setting off the first widespread criticism of Putin, who stayed on vacation early in the crisis and waited five days before accepting Western offers of help. (Pool Photo via AP, File)
FILE - Crew members of the Russian nuclear submarine Kursk stand on its deck during a naval parade in Severomorsk, Russia, on July 30, 2000. The submarine Kursk sinks in the Barents Sea with 118 people aboard, setting off the first widespread criticism of Putin, who stayed on vacation early in the crisis and waited five days before accepting Western offers of help. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - Crew members of the Russian nuclear submarine Kursk stand on its deck during a naval parade in Severomorsk, Russia, on July 30, 2000. The submarine Kursk sinks in the Barents Sea with 118 people aboard, setting off the first widespread criticism of Putin, who stayed on vacation early in the crisis and waited five days before accepting Western offers of help. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - An Interior Ministry rescue worker carries a body out of the theater where hundreds of hostages were being held by Chechen rebels, in Moscow, on Oct. 26, 2002. Militants from Russia’s region of Chechnya take about 850 people hostage at a Moscow theater. Three days later, Russian special forces pump an unidentified gas into the theater to end the crisis, killing at least 130 hostages along with the militants. Putin defends the operation as having saved hundreds of lives. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky, File)
FILE - An Interior Ministry rescue worker carries a body out of the theater where hundreds of hostages were being held by Chechen rebels, in Moscow, on Oct. 26, 2002. Militants from Russia’s region of Chechnya take about 850 people hostage at a Moscow theater. Three days later, Russian special forces pump an unidentified gas into the theater to end the crisis, killing at least 130 hostages along with the militants. Putin defends the operation as having saved hundreds of lives. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky, File)
FILE - Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the former chief of Russia’s largest oil company, Yukos, leaves an armored police car, as he is escorted to a court in Moscow, on Dec. 22, 2003. Khodorkovsky, who is Russia’s richest man and seen as a potential challenger to Putin, is arrested and 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. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)
FILE - Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the former chief of Russia’s largest oil company, Yukos, leaves an armored police car, as he is escorted to a court in Moscow, on Dec. 22, 2003. Khodorkovsky, who is Russia’s richest man and seen as a potential challenger to Putin, is arrested and 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. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)
FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin walks through St. George’s Hall to take part in an inauguration ceremony in Moscow’s Kremlin, Russia on May 7, 2004. Putin is elected to a second presidential term. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, Pool, File)
FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin walks through St. George’s Hall to take part in an inauguration ceremony in Moscow’s Kremlin, Russia on May 7, 2004. Putin is elected to a second presidential term. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, Pool, File)
FILE - A wounded boy is carried after he escaped from a seized school in Beslan, Russia, on Sept. 3, 2004. Islamic militants seize a school in the southern city of Beslan, and more than 300 people die in the chaotic explosions and shootout that end the siege two days later. Putin blames regional leaders’ incompetence and announces that governors will be appointed figures rather than elected. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev, File)
FILE - A wounded boy is carried after he escaped from a seized school in Beslan, Russia, on Sept. 3, 2004. Islamic militants seize a school in the southern city of Beslan, and more than 300 people die in the chaotic explosions and shootout that end the siege two days later. Putin blames regional leaders’ incompetence and announces that governors will be appointed figures rather than elected. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev, File)
FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin visits a hospital in Beslan, to meet victims of the hostage crisis in Beslan, Russia, on Sept. 4, 2004. Islamic militants seize a school in the southern city of Beslan, and more than 300 people die in the chaotic explosions and shootout that end the siege two days later. (Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)
FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin visits a hospital in Beslan, to meet victims of the hostage crisis in Beslan, Russia, on Sept. 4, 2004. Islamic militants seize a school in the southern city of Beslan, and more than 300 people die in the chaotic explosions and shootout that end the siege two days later. (Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)
FILE - Russia’s President Vladimir Putin addresses the delegates during the Security Conference in Munich, southern Germany, on Feb. 10, 2007. In a speech at a conference in Munich, Putin turns away radically from earlier attempts to develop closer ties with the United States. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein, File)
FILE - Russia’s President Vladimir Putin addresses the delegates during the Security Conference in Munich, southern Germany, on Feb. 10, 2007. In a speech at a conference in Munich, Putin turns away radically from earlier attempts to develop closer ties with the United States. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein, File)
FILE - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, right, listens to Russian former president Vladimir Putin, during a discussion in the State Duma, lower parliament chamber, in Moscow on May 8, 2008. Barred by the constitution from running for a third consecutive term, Putin is appointed prime minister by new President Dmitry Medvedev but effectively remains Russia’s political leader. (AP Photo/ Mikhail Metzel, Pool, File)
FILE - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, right, listens to Russian former president Vladimir Putin, during a discussion in the State Duma, lower parliament chamber, in Moscow on May 8, 2008. Barred by the constitution from running for a third consecutive term, Putin is appointed prime minister by new President Dmitry Medvedev but effectively remains Russia’s political leader. (AP Photo/ Mikhail Metzel, Pool, File)
FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a parade marking the Victory Day in Sevastopol, on May 9, 2014 which hosts a major Russian Black Sea Fleet base, Crimea. Following the ouster of Ukraine’s Russia-friendly president amid protests in Kyiv, Moscow annexes Crimea after the Kremlin sends in troops without insignia. A quick referendum is staged on the peninsula splitting from Ukraine. Putin admits a year later that he planned the annexation weeks previously. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev, File)
FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a parade marking the Victory Day in Sevastopol, on May 9, 2014 which hosts a major Russian Black Sea Fleet base, Crimea. Following the ouster of Ukraine’s Russia-friendly president amid protests in Kyiv, Moscow annexes Crimea after the Kremlin sends in troops without insignia. A quick referendum is staged on the peninsula splitting from Ukraine. Putin admits a year later that he planned the annexation weeks previously. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev, File)
FILE - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who claimed victory in Russia’s presidential election, tears up as he speaks at a massive rally of his supporters at Manezh square outside Kremlin, in Moscow, on March 4, 2012. Putin is elected to a new term, which is now six years long under constitutional changes he engineered. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev, File)
FILE - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who claimed victory in Russia’s presidential election, tears up as he speaks at a massive rally of his supporters at Manezh square outside Kremlin, in Moscow, on March 4, 2012. Putin is elected to a new term, which is now six years long under constitutional changes he engineered. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev, File)
FILE - Ossetian soldiers on top of an armored personnel carrier enter Tskhinvali, the capital of Georgian breakaway enclave of South Ossetia on Aug. 11, 2008, next to a giant portrait of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and inscription in Cyrillic: Putin is our President. Russia fights a short war with Georgia, gaining full control of the separatist Abkhazia and South Ossetia regions. (AP Photo/Mikhail Metzel, File)
FILE - Ossetian soldiers on top of an armored personnel carrier enter Tskhinvali, the capital of Georgian breakaway enclave of South Ossetia on Aug. 11, 2008, next to a giant portrait of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and inscription in Cyrillic: Putin is our President. Russia fights a short war with Georgia, gaining full control of the separatist Abkhazia and South Ossetia regions. (AP Photo/Mikhail Metzel, File)
FILE - In this grab made from video provided by the Russia24 TV Channel on June 6, 2013, Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and his wife Lyudmila speak to journalists after attending the ballet “La Esmeralda” in the Kremlin Palace in Moscow, Russia. Putin announces on Russian state television that he and his wife, Lyudmila, are divorcing. (AP Photo/Russia24 via The Associated Press Television News, File)
FILE - In this grab made from video provided by the Russia24 TV Channel on June 6, 2013, Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and his wife Lyudmila speak to journalists after attending the ballet “La Esmeralda” in the Kremlin Palace in Moscow, Russia. Putin announces on Russian state television that he and his wife, Lyudmila, are divorcing. (AP Photo/Russia24 via The Associated Press Television News, File)
FILE - Pro-Russian gunmen take positions near the airport, outside Donetsk, Ukraine, on May 26, 2014. Fighting between Ukrainian forces and Russia-backed separatist rebels begins in eastern Ukraine. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda, File)
FILE - Pro-Russian gunmen take positions near the airport, outside Donetsk, Ukraine, on May 26, 2014. Fighting between Ukrainian forces and Russia-backed separatist rebels begins in eastern Ukraine. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda, File)
FILE - Police investigate the body of Boris Nemtsov, an opposition leader and a former deputy prime minister, with the St. Basil’s Cathedral and Red Square in the background in Moscow, Russia on Feb. 28, 2015. Nemtsov, a top figure of Russia’s beleaguered political opposition, is gunned down on a bridge next to the Kremlin. Nemtsov was working on a report about Russian soldiers in eastern Ukraine. (AP Foto/Pavel Golovkin, File)
FILE - Police investigate the body of Boris Nemtsov, an opposition leader and a former deputy prime minister, with the St. Basil’s Cathedral and Red Square in the background in Moscow, Russia on Feb. 28, 2015. Nemtsov, a top figure of Russia’s beleaguered political opposition, is gunned down on a bridge next to the Kremlin. Nemtsov was working on a report about Russian soldiers in eastern Ukraine. (AP Foto/Pavel Golovkin, File)
FILE - Journalists film Su-30 jets parked at Hemeimeem airbase, Syria, on Oct. 22, 2015, as Mi 24 helicopter gunship flies overhead. Russia begins airstrikes in Syria, which Putin calls necessary to destroy terrorist groups. The action helps Syrian President Bashar Assad, a longtime ally, remain in power. (AP Photo/Vladimir Kondrashov, File)
FILE - Journalists film Su-30 jets parked at Hemeimeem airbase, Syria, on Oct. 22, 2015, as Mi 24 helicopter gunship flies overhead. Russia begins airstrikes in Syria, which Putin calls necessary to destroy terrorist groups. The action helps Syrian President Bashar Assad, a longtime ally, remain in power. (AP Photo/Vladimir Kondrashov, File)
FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin, center, shakes hand with Syrian President Bashar Assad as Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, right, looks on in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia on Oct. 20, 2015. Russia begins airstrikes in Syria, which Putin calls necessary to destroy terrorist groups. The action helps Syrian President Bashar Assad, a longtime ally, remain in power. (Alexei Druzhinin, RIA-Novosti, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)
FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin, center, shakes hand with Syrian President Bashar Assad as Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, right, looks on in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia on Oct. 20, 2015. Russia begins airstrikes in Syria, which Putin calls necessary to destroy terrorist groups. The action helps Syrian President Bashar Assad, a longtime ally, remain in power. (Alexei Druzhinin, RIA-Novosti, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)
FILE - U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G-20 Summit in Hamburg, Germany, on July 7, 2017. Putin and President Donald Trump meet for the first time at a summit in Helsinki. Trump, asked about allegations that Russia had interfered in the 2016 election that brought him to power, dismissed the claims and said Putin was “extremely strong and powerful in his denial.” (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
FILE - U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G-20 Summit in Hamburg, Germany, on July 7, 2017. Putin and President Donald Trump meet for the first time at a summit in Helsinki. Trump, asked about allegations that Russia had interfered in the 2016 election that brought him to power, dismissed the claims and said Putin was “extremely strong and powerful in his denial.” (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin prepares to drive a truck to officially open the much-anticipated bridge linking Russia and the Crimean peninsula, during the opening ceremony near in Kerch, Crimea, on May 15, 2018. Putin opens the 18-kilometer (12-mile) bridge from Russia to Crimea, solidifying Moscow’s annexation. (Alexei Druzhinin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)
FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin prepares to drive a truck to officially open the much-anticipated bridge linking Russia and the Crimean peninsula, during the opening ceremony near in Kerch, Crimea, on May 15, 2018. Putin opens the 18-kilometer (12-mile) bridge from Russia to Crimea, solidifying Moscow’s annexation. (Alexei Druzhinin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)
FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin shows his passport to a member of an election commission as he arrives to take part in voting at a polling station in Moscow, Russia, on July 1, 2020. A referendum approves constitutional changes proposed by Putin, which allow him to run for two more terms starting in 2024. (Alexei Druzhinin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)
FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin shows his passport to a member of an election commission as he arrives to take part in voting at a polling station in Moscow, Russia, on July 1, 2020. A referendum approves constitutional changes proposed by Putin, which allow him to run for two more terms starting in 2024. (Alexei Druzhinin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)
FILE - An empty stretcher is carried back into an ambulance which is believed to have transported Alexei Navalny at the emergency entrance of the Charite hospital in Berlin, Germany, on Aug. 22, 2020. Navalny, Putin’s most prominent foe, 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 the attack on the Kremlin, which denies it. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, File)
FILE - An empty stretcher is carried back into an ambulance which is believed to have transported Alexei Navalny at the emergency entrance of the Charite hospital in Berlin, Germany, on Aug. 22, 2020. Navalny, Putin’s most prominent foe, 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 the attack on the Kremlin, which denies it. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, File)
FILE - Alexei Navalny is surrounded by journalists inside the plane prior to his flight to Moscow in the Airport Berlin Brandenburg (BER) in Schoenefeld, near Berlin, Germany, on Jan. 17, 2021. Navalny is arrested at a Moscow airport as he returns from Germany. He is later convicted on several charges and sentenced to 19 years in prison. (AP Photo/Mstyslav Chernov, File)
FILE - Alexei Navalny is surrounded by journalists inside the plane prior to his flight to Moscow in the Airport Berlin Brandenburg (BER) in Schoenefeld, near Berlin, Germany, on Jan. 17, 2021. Navalny is arrested at a Moscow airport as he returns from Germany. He is later convicted on several charges and sentenced to 19 years in prison. (AP Photo/Mstyslav Chernov, File)
FILE - In this image made from video released by the Russian Presidential Press Service, Russian President Vladimir Putin addressees the nation in Moscow, Russia, on Feb. 24, 2022. The invasion of Ukraine begins, which Putin characterises as a “special military operation” needed to protect Russia’s security. (Russian Presidential Press Service via AP, File)
FILE - In this image made from video released by the Russian Presidential Press Service, Russian President Vladimir Putin addressees the nation in Moscow, Russia, on Feb. 24, 2022. The invasion of Ukraine begins, which Putin characterises as a “special military operation” needed to protect Russia’s security. (Russian Presidential Press Service via AP, File)
FILE - Natali Sevriukova reacts next to her house following a rocket attack the city of Kyiv, Ukraine, on Feb. 25, 2022. The invasion of Ukraine begins, which Putin characterizes as a “special military operation” needed to protect Russia’s security. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti, File)
FILE - Natali Sevriukova reacts next to her house following a rocket attack the city of Kyiv, Ukraine, on Feb. 25, 2022. The invasion of Ukraine begins, which Putin characterizes as a “special military operation” needed to protect Russia’s security. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti, File)
FILE - An armored personnel carrier burns and damaged Russian light utility vehicles stand abandoned after fighting in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on Feb. 27, 2022. The invasion of Ukraine begins, which Putin characterizes as a “special military operation” needed to protect Russia’s security. (AP Photo/Andrew Marienko, File)
FILE - An armored personnel carrier burns and damaged Russian light utility vehicles stand abandoned after fighting in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on Feb. 27, 2022. The invasion of Ukraine begins, which Putin characterizes as a “special military operation” needed to protect Russia’s security. (AP Photo/Andrew Marienko, File)
FILE - A police officer stands inside a police bus with detained demonstrators during am antiwar protest near Red Square with St. Basil’s Cathedral, right, in the background in Moscow, Russia, on Sept. 24, 2022. Putin signs a law that calls for up to 15 years in prison for spreading false or defamatory information about the military. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - A police officer stands inside a police bus with detained demonstrators during am antiwar protest near Red Square with St. Basil’s Cathedral, right, in the background in Moscow, Russia, on Sept. 24, 2022. Putin signs a law that calls for up to 15 years in prison for spreading false or defamatory information about the military. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - Members of the Wagner Group military company guard an area as other load their tank onto a truck on a street in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, on June 24, 2023, prior to leaving an area at the headquarters of the Russian Southern Military District. (Vasily Deryugin, Kommersant Publishing House via AP, File)
FILE - Members of the Wagner Group military company guard an area as other load their tank onto a truck on a street in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, on June 24, 2023, prior to leaving an area at the headquarters of the Russian Southern Military District. (Vasily Deryugin, Kommersant Publishing House via AP, File)
FILE - Yevgeny Prigozhin, owner of the Wagner Group military company, right, poses for a photo with a civilian after taking over the Southern Military District in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, on June 24, 2023. 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 southern military headquarters and begin heading toward Moscow. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - Yevgeny Prigozhin, owner of the Wagner Group military company, right, poses for a photo with a civilian after taking over the Southern Military District in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, on June 24, 2023. 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 southern military headquarters and begin heading toward Moscow. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - People carry a body bag away from the wreckage of a crashed private jet, near the village of Kuzhenkino, Tver region, Russia, on Aug. 24, 2023. Mercenary force leader Yevgeny Prigozhin dies exactly two months after the uprising in a mysterious plane crash. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - People carry a body bag away from the wreckage of a crashed private jet, near the village of Kuzhenkino, Tver region, Russia, on Aug. 24, 2023. Mercenary force leader Yevgeny Prigozhin dies exactly two months after the uprising in a mysterious plane crash. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a video celebrating the anniversary of the referendum called illegal by the U.N. in four Ukrainian regions one year ago, in Moscow, Russia, on Sept. 30, 2023. (Mikhail Metzel, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)
FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a video celebrating the anniversary of the referendum called illegal by the U.N. in four Ukrainian regions one year ago, in Moscow, Russia, on Sept. 30, 2023. (Mikhail Metzel, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)
FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin, foreground, watches downhill ski competition of the 2014 Winter Paralympics in Roza Khutor mountain district of Sochi, Russia, as Russia’s sports minister Vitaly Mutko stands behind on March 8, 2014. Putin opens the Winter Olympics in Sochi, a costly prestige project that he was instrumental in winning for Russia. (Alexei Nikolsky, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via , File)
FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin, foreground, watches downhill ski competition of the 2014 Winter Paralympics in Roza Khutor mountain district of Sochi, Russia, as Russia’s sports minister Vitaly Mutko stands behind on March 8, 2014. Putin opens the Winter Olympics in Sochi, a costly prestige project that he was instrumental in winning for Russia. (Alexei Nikolsky, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via , File)
Significant dates in Vladimir Putin’s 24 years in power in Russia:
Dec. 31, 1999 — In a surprise address to the nation, President Boris Yeltsin announces his resignation and makes Putin, the prime minister he appointed four months earlier, the acting president.
May 7, 2000 — After winning election with about 53% of the vote, Putin is inaugurated for his first four-year term.
May 11, 2000 — Tax police raid the offices of NTV, a popular independent broadcaster noted for critical coverage of the Kremlin. It is the first salvo in moves against prominent independent media that have characterized the Putin era.
Aug. 12, 2000 — The submarine Kursk sinks in the Barents Sea with 118 people aboard, setting off the first widespread criticism of Putin, who stayed on vacation early in the 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 theater. Three days later, Russian special forces pump an unidentified gas into the theater to end the crisis, killing at least 130 hostages along with the militants. Putin defends the operation as having saved hundreds of lives.
FILE - An Interior Ministry rescue worker carries a body out of the theater where hundreds of hostages were being held by Chechen rebels, in Moscow, on Oct. 26, 2002. Militants from Russia’s region of Chechnya take about 850 people hostage at a Moscow theater. Three days later, Russian special forces pump an unidentified gas into the theater to end the crisis, killing at least 130 hostages along with the militants. Putin defends the operation as having saved hundreds of lives. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky, File)
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 presidential term.