Czar Vladimir?

Vladimir Putin is the only leader that Russians 25 and younger have ever known.

And last May, his hand on a red-bound copy of Russia’s Constitution, he was inaugurated for a fifth term as Russia’s president. He has spent much of his presidency chipping away at the democratic rights protected by Russia’s Constitution.

If Putin, 72, serves a full six years of this term, he’ll become the longest-serving Russian leader since Empress Catherine the Great. She lived in the 18th century and ruled Russia for more than 34 years.

“Together we will overcome all obstacles,” Putin declared in his inaugural address. “We will achieve everything we have planned. Together we will win.”

According to election results released by the Kremlin, voters showed their overwhelming approval of Putin by giving him 87 percent of the vote in the March 2024 election. He ran against three other candidates chosen by his government. Western powers including the United Kingdom, European Union, and United States quickly declared the elections undemocratic because no genuine opposition candidates could get permission to run.

While Russia tried to become a democracy after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, Putin’s 25-year rule has transformed the country’s political system into “an authoritarian state where he is more or less a dictator,” says Angela Stent, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. Stent is also the author of Putin’s World: Russia Against the West and With the Rest.

Experts say Putin sees himself as a history-making leader. He believes he is continuing the legacy of past rulers who were willing to do whatever it takes to build a stronger Russian state. This includes sacrificing an untold number of lives. The recent election has allowed him to portray the almost three-year-long war with Ukraine as having widespread public support. He has also justified a tougher crackdown on those who disapprove of his leadership and the war.

“The feeling that [Russia] is under siege . . . is kind of sustaining Putin,” says Aleksandar Matovski*, a Russia expert and professor at the Naval Postgraduate School.

Autocratic governments have ruled Russia for most of its history. For centuries, czars, essentially all-powerful emperors, led the nation. In 1917, the Russian Revolution overthrew the monarchy and established the Soviet Union, but the Communist government changed into a totalitarian dictatorship.

After World War II, the Soviet Union became one of the world’s two superpowers, along with the U.S. But it remained a police state. Citizens couldn’t speak freely or criticize the government.

When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, Russia tried to embrace democracy. But the chaos of the transition led to an economic crash and rising prices. Many Russians were left in poverty and disillusioned with the idea of democratic government.

So in 1999, when then-president Boris Yeltsin resigned and named as acting president Vladimir Putin—a former spy for the KGB, the Soviet Union’s intelligence agency—Russians embraced Putin’s message of security and prosperity. And in March 2000, Putin officially won election to the presidency.

“You had a traumatized population that was looking for a messiah,” Matovski says. “The essence of [Putin’s] campaigning has always been stability.”

During his first two four-year terms, the economy boomed, thanks largely to global demand for Russian oil, and life for many Russians improved. Brands like Nike and Starbucks opened up shop and appealed to a new middle class.

In 1999 then-president Boris Yeltsin resigned his office. He named Vladimir Putin, a former spy for the KGB (the Soviet Union’s intelligence agency) as acting president. Russians embraced Putin’s message of security and prosperity. And in March 2000, Putin officially won election to the presidency.

“You had a traumatized population that was looking for a messiah,” Matovski says. “The essence of [Putin’s] campaigning has always been stability.”

During his first two four-year terms, the economy boomed, thanks largely to global demand for Russian oil. Life for many Russians improved. Brands like Nike and Starbucks opened up shop and appealed to a new middle class.

After term limits forced Putin to step down from the presidency in 2008, he selected Dmitry Medvedev as his successor, and stayed on as prime minister, maintaining control behind the scenes. After Medvedev’s term ended in 2012, Putin ran again for president and changed the Russian constitution so that he could stay in power until 2036.

Most opponents of Putin’s government have been jailed or forced into exile. Others have died under mysterious circumstances, such as by poisoning or, in the case of Yevgeny Prigozhin, a militia commander who challenged Putin over the war in Ukraine, a conveniently timed plane crash. Alexei Navalny, the country’s most prominent opposition leader, died in February at a Russian prison in the Arctic. Many Russia experts believe the Kremlin was responsible.

“He’s creating a system where there’s no public opposition to him,” says Stent, the author. “Anyone who’s going to lead the opposition movement is now outside of Russia.”

Term limits forced Putin to step down from the presidency in 2008. Dmitry Medvedev was selected as his successor. Putin stayed on as prime minister and maintained control behind the scenes. After Medvedev’s term ended in 2012, Putin ran again for president. After regaining office, he changed the Russian Constitution so that he could stay in power until 2036.

Most opponents of Putin’s government have been jailed or forced into exile. Others have died under mysterious circumstances, such as by poisoning. Yevgeny Prigozhin, a militia commander who challenged Putin over the war in Ukraine, died in a conveniently timed plane crash. Alexei Navalny, the country’s most prominent opposition leader, died in February at a Russian prison in the Arctic. Many Russia experts believe the Kremlin was responsible.

“He’s creating a system where there’s no public opposition to him,” says Stent, the author. “Anyone who’s going to lead the opposition movement is now outside of Russia.”

Putin has called the collapse of the Soviet Union “the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century.”  He views the war with Ukraine as a way to reclaim Russian territory and return Russia to its status as a global superpower.

Putin views Ukraine as a threat to Russian power because it has become a Western-leaning democracy. The conflict has become the deadliest in Europe since World War II (see “The U.S. & Ukraine”).

According to U.S. officials, roughly a million Ukrainian and Russian troops have been killed or wounded since the war began in 2022.

Putin has a large propaganda machine. It controls all national television channels and has devised a “patriotic” curriculum in schools.  The war has been portrayed as part of a broader struggle against the West. A particular target of Putin’s anger is the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO. It is a political and military alliance of European and North American States, including the U.S., that began during the Cold War.

“A lot of Russians really do believe that they’re at war with the West . . . and only Putin can save them,” says Stent.

In response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the U.S. and other Western nations have imposed economic sanctions on Russia, blocking millions of Russians from using their credit cards internationally, accessing bank deposits, or traveling abroad, and cutting oil and gas exports from Russia. The sanctions have hurt Russia’s economy, but not as much as anticipated because the Kremlin responded by strengthening financial ties with China, Turkey, and India.

Some experts compare current tensions between Russia and the West to a new Cold War, referring to the period (1946-91) when the Soviet Union and the U.S. battled—but never fought face-to-face—in a contest of ideologies that pitted Communism against democracy and capitalism.

“A lot of Russians really do believe that they’re at war with the West . . . and only Putin can save them,” says Stent.

In response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the U.S. and other Western nations have imposed economic sanctions on Russia. They have blocked millions of Russians from using their credit cards internationally, accessing bank deposits, or traveling abroad. Oil and gas exports from Russia have been cut. The sanctions have hurt Russia’s economy, but not as much as anticipated because the Kremlin responded by strengthening financial ties with China, Turkey, and India.

Some experts compare current tensions between Russia and the West to a new Cold War. The Cold War was a period (1946-91) when the Soviet Union and the U.S. battled about the ideologies of Communism versus democracy and capitalism. The countries never fought face-to-face during this time.

Russians who may seek better relations with the West lost their strongest leader with Navalny’s death. Russians can face fines or imprisonment for speaking out against Putin’s administration, yet many have found ways to express their disagreement.

On the last day of voting in March, Navalny supporters formed long lines outside of polling places. They protested the sham election by voting against Putin or spoiling their ballot. Navalny had organized the effort before his death.

“According to the Russian Constitution, the source of power is the Russian people,” said Kristina, 22, as she waited to cast a protest vote outside a Moscow polling station. “We are supposed to be the ones with power here.”

The purely symbolic form of civil disobedience showed how little influence the opposition has amid widespread repression.

And according to independent polls, Putin’s approval rating has actually climbed since the start of the war, thanks to the economic and patriotic boost it’s provided.

With no one who could replace him, the likelihood that Putin will hold office for life feels increasingly possible to many Russians, says Andrei Kolesnikov, a Moscow-based journalist and Russian politics expert.

 “The longer he is in power,” Kolesnikov says, “the more apprehension there is about who will be next, who will be worse.” 

And according to independent polls, Putin’s approval rating has actually climbed since the start of the war, thanks to the economic and patriotic boost it’s provided.

With no one who could replace him, the likelihood that Putin will hold office for life feels increasingly possible to many Russians, says Andrei Kolesnikov, a Moscow-based journalist and Russian politics expert.

“The longer he is in power,” Kolesnikov says, “the more apprehension there is about who will be next, who will be worse.”

With reporting by Kim Barker, Paul Sonne, Valerie Hopkins, Roger Cohen, and Anton Troianovski of The New York Times.

With reporting by Kim Barker, Paul Sonne, Valerie Hopkins, Roger Cohen, and Anton Troianovski of The New York Times.