Putin Inaugurated for 4th Term as Russian President

Vladimir Putin has been sworn in for a fourth term as Russian president and pledged to harness the country’s talents to “achieve breakthroughs”. Some 5,000 guests attended the lavish ceremony in an ornate Kremlin hall. Putin has been in power for 18 years, as president and prime minister, BBC reported. Russian TV showed Putin, 65, leaving his Kremlin office and walking to the ceremony, down long corridors. He then took a short ride in a new, Russian-made limousine, called Cortege, in the Kremlin compound. German former chancellor Gerhard Schroder, now in charge of a branch of Russian gas giant Gazprom, was in the front row alongside Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill. “We have revived pride in our fatherland,” Putin said. “As head of state I will do all I can to multiply the strength and prosperity of Russia.” He added, “We need breakthroughs in all areas of life. I’m deeply convinced that such a leap forward can only be secured with a free society that accepts all that is new and advanced.”