Vladimir Putin is set to be sworn in for his fourth term as Russia’s president, extending an 18-year reign that his supporters say has lifted the country “from its knees” but which is denounced by his opponents as a corrupt, calcifying autocracy.
Putin’s inauguration at the Kremlin on May 7 follows his landslide reelection in March that he calls a demonstration of public trust in his stewardship but which critics say was little more than democratic window-dressing.
