What to expect after Putin’s win
Vladimir Putin has a stronger hold on Russia — and stronger place in the world — thanks to a mandate for yet another term as president.
His domestic opponents are largely resigned to another six years in the shadows. His foreign opponents are mired in their own problems, from Britain’s messy exit from the European Union to chaos and contradiction in the Trump administration.
Even widespread voting violations are unlikely to dent Putin’s armour. And accusations that he meddled in the US election and sponsored a nerve agent attack in Britain have only bolstered his standing at home.
Relations between Russia and the West are already at their lowest level since the collapse of the Soviet Union 26 years ago.
Despite a friendly-ish relationship with US President Donald Trump, Putin’s new mandate gives him little incentive to seek entente with Washington.
Putin-friendly leaders have made gains in recent Italian and German elections. Western countries are likely to see more Russia-linked hacking and propaganda aimed at disrupting elections or otherwise discrediting democracy.
Russian-backed Syrian forces helped rout the Islamic State from Syria, and Putin argues that Russia saved the day in a conflict that had confounded US-led forces fighting against IS.
Now those Russian-backed Syrian forces are closing in on the last strongholds of Westernbacked rebel forces.
An emboldened Putin could position the resurgent Russian military as a peacemaker in other regional conflicts — for example in Libya, where Russia has oil interests.
The biggest question for Russians over the next six years is what happens after that. Putin is constitutionally required to step down in 2024, but he could eliminate term limits, or anoint a malleable successor and continue to run things behind the scenes.
MOSCOW:
Born into a working-class family in Leningrad (present-day St Petersburg)
Joins the KGB intelligence service
Posted to Dresden in the former socialist country of East Germany
Resigns from KGB during the Soviet coup d'état attempt
Serves as first deputy chairman of the St Petersburg city government under mentor Anatoly Sobchak
Transferred to Moscow to work under President Boris Yeltsin
Named director of the Federal Security Service (FSB), the successor agency to the
KGB
Yeltsin (right), who is battling alcoholism, names Putin his prime minister. Putin oversees the launch of the second Chechen war
After Yeltsin sensationally resigns on New Year's Eve of 1999, Putin takes over as president. In March 2000, he wins just over 50% votes in the presidential elections
Putin re-elected with over 70% of the vote
Names first deputy prime minister Dmitry Medvedev as his favoured candidate to succeed him
Barred from a third consecutive term by the Constitution, Putin steps down and Medvedev wins presidency. Days after taking office, Medvedev names Putin as his prime minister
Medvedev (right) proposes Putin stand for a third presidential term
Putin elected with 63.6% of the vote, sparking massive protests and accusations of vote-rigging
Divorces his wife Lyudmila after three decades of marriage
Russia annexes the Ukrainian territory of Crimea, sparking massive protests in the West and a wave of nationalism in Russia
Putin authorises Russian intervention in Syria after a formal request by President Bashar al-Assad
Accused of masterminding poll meddling in the 2016 US presidential election as ties with Washington worsen
Re-elected president with over 76% of the vote