You're reading: RFE/RL: Putin starts new term after protests, amid tension with West

Vladimir Putin has been sworn into a new six-year term as Russian president, vowing to “serve the people” and improve their lives while protecting what he called a country of “great victories and feats.”

Putin took the oath of office in a midday ceremony in an ornate Kremlin hall on May 7, with his right hand on a red-bound copy of the Russian Constitution.

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