On Tuesday, Vladimir Putin will take the constitutional oath for a fifth term as Russian president, exercising absolute power while suppressing opposition as Russian forces make progress on the Ukrainian front.
Nearly two months after being re-elected in the absence of opposition candidates, the 71-year-old Russian president, who has ruled the country for nearly a quarter of a century, will remain in power until at least 2030.
In 2020, he amended the constitution to allow him to stay in power for two additional six-year terms, until 2036, when he would be eighty-six.
In the Kremlin, in the presence of the country's political elite and foreign representatives, including the French ambassador, the inauguration ceremony will begin at 12:00 local time (9:00 GMT). It will last for an hour, according to Russian media.
Other European countries, including Poland, Germany and the Czech Republic, announced that they would not send representatives to the ceremony as an expression of their opposition to the Kremlin's policies.
During the ceremony, Putin will take the constitutional oath before delivering a short address to the nation.
The speech comes two days before the May 9 anniversary of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany. The celebration of this anniversary is one of the pillars of Vladimir Putin's policy of power and influence, which confirms that he is waging a war against "neo-Nazis" in Ukraine.
The inauguration coincides with the improvement of the Russian army's situation on the front after humiliating setbacks in the spring and fall of 2022 during the first months of the large-scale invasion of Ukraine.
In recent weeks, Russian attacks in eastern Ukraine have increased in intensity, allowing the successive control of several cities, especially in the vicinity of the strategic city of Avdiivka, which the Russians took control of in mid-February.
On the other hand, the Ukrainian forces are suffering from a lack of ammunition and equipment after their failed counterattack in the summer of 2023. They are waiting for new American aid to arrive, while the Russian defense industry is working at full capacity.
In the center of Moscow, several barriers were erected along the main streets in preparation for the May 9 inauguration ceremony and military parade.
Ukraine denounced the ceremony, calling it a "sham democracy.
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said on Monday that it aimed to "give the impression of legitimacy" to Putin's continued rule, considering that the latter has turned Russia "into an aggressor state" and the existing regime "into a dictatorship".
Western countries, led by the United States, condemned the elections, which were held without any opposition, a few weeks after the death in prison under mysterious circumstances of the main Russian opposition figure, Alexei Navalny.
Major Russian opponents are in exile or in jail, as are many ordinary citizens who opposed Russia's invasion of neighboring Ukraine.
The authorities have also cracked down on sexual minorities, who have already faced severe repression and are paying the price for promoting the "traditional values" that Putin defends.
Last year, the Russian president also crushed an attempted rebellion by the former leader of the Russian armed group Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, who was later killed in a plane crash.
However, Vladimir Putin faces several challenges, especially in the economic sphere, while the outcome of the war in Ukraine is still unresolved.
Inflation continues to rise due to a significant increase in the federal budget as a result of military spending, causing concern among residents whose purchasing power has been hit particularly hard by the effects of Western sanctions imposed on the country.
The Russian economy, which is heavily dependent on fuel revenues, is supposed to move toward Asia, with Vladimir Putin's personal encouragement, but the necessary infrastructure, which is expensive and takes many years to build, is not yet in place.
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