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Alexander Zemlianichenko / Pool via AP
Russian President Vladimir Putin and former President Dmitry Medvedev, right, stand as an honor guard march during an inauguration ceremony at the Cathedral Square in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, on Monday.
Updated at 5:45 a.m. ET: MOSCOW -- Vladimir Putin was sworn in as Russia's president at a glittering ceremony on Monday, hours after clashes between police and thousands of protesters in the country's capital laid bare the deep divisions over his return to the Kremlin for six more years.
In the latest demonstrations on Sunday, police detained more than 400 people, including three opposition leaders, after tensions boiled over at a rally attended by about 20,000 people across the Moscow river from the Kremlin.
Police hit protesters on the head with batons as they tried to stop demonstrators advancing towards them, carrying metal crowd barriers and throwing objects. The crowd fought back with flagpoles before the police eventually restored order.
"Putin has shown his true face, how he 'loves' his people -- with police force," said Dmitry Gorbunov, 35, a computer analyst who took part in the protest.
NYT: Russia's Medvedev reveals 'very bad moods'
Months of protests have polarized Russia and left Putin facing a battle to reassert himself or risk being sidelined by the powerful business and political elites whose backing is vital.
Riot police clash with thousands of opposition activists in Moscow as Vladimir Putin returns to power as Russia's president. Msnbc.com's Dara Brown reports.
Lavish reception
Putin, a former KGB spy, took his oath before nearly 2,000 guests in the Kremlin's St Andrew Hall, the former throne room with sparkling chandeliers, gilded pillars and high Gothic vaults, before being blessed by the head of the Russian Orthodox Church and taking charge of the nuclear suitcase.
"We will achieve our goals if we are a single, united people, if we hold our fatherland dear, strengthen Russian democracy, constitutional rights and freedoms," Putin said in a five-minute speech after taking the oath. "I will do all I can to justify the faith of millions of our citizens. I consider it to be the meaning of my whole life and my obligation to serve my fatherland and our people."
He was also due to host a lavish reception featuring only Russian food and drink.
US complains to Russia over harassment of ambassador
Although he has remained Russia's supreme leader for the past four years as prime minister, Putin will take back the formal reins of power he ceded to his ally Dmitry Medvedev in 2008 after eight years as president.
On Sunday, several thousand people staged a rally supporting Putin, seen by his backers as the only leader capable of defending Russia's interests on the world stage and the guardian of the economy at home.
While Putin's critics have tired of a political system that concentrates power in one man, many of his supporters welcome his domination of the country of more than 140 million.
Andrey Smirnov / AFP -Getty Images
Russian Police officers detain opposition supporters during a rally in Moscow on May 6, 2012. Russian riot police violently clashed with protesters at a rally on the eve of strongman Vladimir Putin's return for a third Kremlin term, arresting over 250 people including opposition leaders.
"Democracy is the power of the majority. Russia is everything, the rest is nothing!" Alexander Dugin, a Kremlin-aligned nationalist, told the pro-Putin crowd.
Rifts
The rival rallies Sunday underlined the rifts opened by Putin's return to the Kremlin and protests that were sparked by allegations of electoral fraud but fuelled by many Russians' frustration that one man continues to dominate the country.
The BBC reported that prominent opposition figures Alexei Navalny, Sergei Udaltsov and Boris Nemtsov were among the people detained Sunday.
From the archives: Anti-Putin activists pay high price, but refuse to back down
Although the protests had lost momentum before Sunday's rally, they have given birth to a civil society, two decades after the collapse of the Soviet Union, that is gradually chipping away at Putin's authority.
Putin, who will be 60 in October, grew up in Soviet days and worked as a spy in communist East Germany, is under pressure to show he can adapt to the new political landscape. Few think he has changed much -- if at all.
Russia threatens preemptive strike over planned US missile shield
Putin has eased up on the choreographed macho antics that burnished his image at his peak in Russia, such as riding horseback bare-chested and shooting a tiger with a tranquiliser gun.
Harder to shake off will be his habit of seeking total control and learning to cope with political opponents and a middle class demanding more political freedom.
US ambassador vents on Twitter about Russian media
He has to quell rivalries between liberals and conservatives battling for positions in the new cabinet under Medvedev, who is swapping jobs with Putin. The outcome of the struggle could help determine how far reforms go to improve the investment climate.
Natalia Kolesnikova / AFP/Getty Images
Russians march along a street during an opposition protest rally in Moscow on Sunday. Russian riot police violently clashed with protesters on the eve of Vladimir Putin's return for a third Kremlin term.
The $1.9 trillion economy is in better shape than in most European countries but is vulnerable to any change in the price of oil, Russia's main export commodity. The budget is under pressure from Putin's lavish election spending promises.
Putin has said he wants to attract more foreign investment by improving the business climate, reduce corruption and red tape, and end Russia's heavy dependence on energy exports. He has not spelled out how he will do this.
Putin is likely, as in the past, to use tough anti-Western rhetoric on foreign policy to drum up support if times get tough in Russia. But he has never yielded his strong influence over foreign policy as premier, so a major policy shift is unlikely.
Reuters and msnbc.com staff contributed to this report.
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Leave a Comment:
It's GREAT to see Russians Expressing themselves like, say, the Chinese did in Tiananmen Square - Only WITHOUT getting shot by 'Chinese KGB' people, or anything like that; or, gee, do you think that - Given the apparent lack of Casualties, and the grudging admission of even his most snide detractors that he DID actually "WIN"' the Election with getting close to 55% of the 'actual' vote (versus the count with the 'stuffed boxes' that his 'supporters' DID get caught stuffing) - Russian President Vladimir Putin may just have Really Seen The Light After All?!?
I mean, what IS a "KGB Spy" other than someone who thinks or thought that he is/was doing what was best for his country?
Can such a person be condemned for 'Having Done Their Duty' any more than a "CIA Spy" - or a Three Tour of Duty Sniper in the Vietnam War?
How about The Great Patriotic War/World War Two?It's too bad that Our State Department ignored the advice of our Emmisary to St. Petersburg in 1917 whe, after journying to Moscow, and meeting Illyich, he told them that the Bolsheviks have the best chance of delivering freedom from serfdom to the Russian People without some other bad guys simply taking over the scam from the Romanovs....
Jimbo, I seriously doubt anyone questions Putin's nationalism. His integrity, morality, judgment, and sanity, maybe, but there can be no question that Putin has always done what he thought was best for Russia. It just so happens that he thinks Russia needs to be united through deceit and elaborate electioneering rather than an honest exchange of ideas and deliberation about policy.
And since you brought it up, I would never vote for a former CIA spy for President. They have their job and their place, and it's taking orders from the executive government, not handing them down.
Nothing good can come out of this. I have a strong feeling of people being arrested, tortured and murdered under the tyranny that is soon to come from that tyrant Vladimir Putin and his return to Russian presidency very soon.
Those who still live in Russia who are alive and have suffered under the horrors of Communism and survived it's evil grip will end up living through the horrors and evils under the tyrannical grip under a tyrant.
People please pray for the people of russia and ask God to protect the Russian people from harm from the tyranny that Vladimir Putin will bring with his return to Russian presidency.
Those who not too many years ago were celebrating the end of the Stalinist "Communist" regime in Russia may soon be mourning the death of Russian capitalism.
All Hail Pookitin the ASS HOLE!
Is there a stench in here?
from your mouth.
Putin became popular because he returned the "state control" of corruption! After the fall, of the Soviet Union, a civilian wealthy corrupt society was established. Russians were unfamiliar with civilian corruption. They had always bribed the government workers, for what they wanted. They knew that old system. It WAS familiar. Putin took back the corruption/graft trade, and returned it to the Russian bureaucracy. In a nut shell, this is why the people still support him, and let him continue the tradition of Russian "strong men"/dictators.
Does this guy smile? EVER?????????
Only when he's throttling a man to death with his bare hands.
It reminds him of the good old days, back in the Cold War.
So much for freedom of religion there. Once, Putin began coming into power again, people rights to belief
started getting suppressed. The government said that our beliefs are a threat to the state, even though we are
neutral. Even, after the human rights court favored in giving Christians there freedom to preach.
LOL. What kind of comparision is Bush to Putin? You don't know how well we have it here. OUr Russian
congregations are growing steadily here in the US. So that tells the story.
egations are growing, so that says a lot. Critical time hard to deal with, will be here!
In Soviet Russia, President elect YOU!
IF he is sworn in AGAIN, he was never really out!
kind of like the right wing supreme court giving the presidential race, in Florida, to bush 'the decider.' who then decided to invade Iraq and squander 2 trillion dollars and a quarter of a million lives. even though this Putin victory is much like the bush pretend victory, these so called champions of democracy can do much damage in their time. good luck to the Russian people, like us, they will need it.
The anti-Putin propaganda campaign starts up early. Those Americans who have an ambition to ruthlessly control the world and/or its resources know that in Putin they have a man who will not easily yield Russia's border states or countries of strategic interest. Missiles will no longer sit close to Russia's borders without defensive action.
America will know that you touch President Putin or his beloved Russia and he will touch you.
KGB back in the saddle again. Putin the puke full of treachery.
The world needs a strong Russia under Putin, to partner with a rising China so
as to act as a counter weight to the West( US and the EU) which imposes its value and
will on the world. Welcome back Putin the world needs you.
Right after the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 90's the country went into a total economic chaos and Putin being a former KGB man was able to establish a semblance of control that's why he is still loved. Sure he is a strong man but he fortunately is not like Stalin was so the people will tolerate him. However get on his bad side like the Georgia Republic did and he will crush you. Yes there was corruption in the old Soviet era days with bribery however compared to the total chaos that ensued after the fall of the Soviet Union it was nothing. What Putin and his henchmen accomplished was to pull the failed Soviet Union out of its nose dive into chaos of a failed state. Lets remember Democracy is difficult to establish in a society that has never had it and that's why you only see it in Europe and the United States. To the rest of the world that is not familiar with democracy it looks like chaos to them so they still yearn for the benevolent strong dictator to rule them. It will take years for the former Soviet Union to become more like or even approach what the European nations and the United States are like but at least Putin is not a total fruitcake like some of the other strong men who rule.
Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum...The persisting malaise that is Russia's...
Its gonna be a hard six more years on everyone...except Putin and his bud...Can the Russian people take the repeated "enemas" these folks are demanding they take...or will the "belly" finally burst.
Putin...Let Your People Go!!
I can see that Putin has his KGB Chorus singing his praises on this thread....
Wouldnt be a good KGBer without a smothering AGIT-PROP team leading the "cheering squad" in a repugnant situation.
Nice "Running Dog"....good "Running Dog"....."sit up", "roll over", "bark"..., now here's your kibble...