Putin Starts New Term After Protests, Amid Tension With West

[TomSea]

Putin Starts New Term After Protests, Amid Tension With West

Vladimir Putin has been sworn in to 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.

Putin, 65, has been president or prime minister since 1999 and just finished a six-year Kremlin term.

Read more at: https://www.rferl.org/a/putin-inauguration-russia-navalny-protests/29211663.html

More coverage at: https://themoscowtimes.com/

and: https://meduza.io/en

‘Why don't the real police arrest them?’ How the Moscow authorities crushed Saturday's anti-Putin protest
Meduza
17:23, 5 may 2018

On May 5, thousands of Russians across the country protested against Vladimir Putin’s upcoming inauguration. In Moscow, where demonstrators did not get a permit from city officials, the police detained more than 700 people (almost half of the 1,600 protesters detained nationwide on Saturday), including the campaign’s organizer, anti-corruption activist Alexey Navalny. Arriving at Pushkin Square, demonstrators encountered members of the pro-Kremlin “National Liberation Movement” and men dressed as Cossacks, who antagonized and attacked them. Meduza correspondent Irina Kravtsova attended the protest and witnessed the day’s events.

Read more at: https://meduza.io/en/feature/2018/05/06/why-don-t-the-real-police-arrest-them