Putin sworn in as Russian president for 5th time

MOSCOW. May 7 (Interfax) - Vladimir Putin has been sworn in as the Russian president for the fifth time.

Putin took the presidential oath on the constitution, which vests him with presidential powers for the next six years until 2030 and allows him to run for reelection, at the inauguration ceremony in the Kremlin on Tuesday.

"I swear in exercising the powers of the President of the Russian Federation to respect and protect the rights and freedoms of man and citizen, to respect and defend the Constitution of the Russian Federation, to protect the sovereignty and independence, security and integrity of the state, and to faithfully serve the people" the presidential oath says.

Putin repeated the oath with his right hand on a special copy of the Russian constitution, which, together with the banner and presidential insignia, is a symbol of the presidency in Russia.

The cover of this copy of the constitution is the same as the one on which Putin took the oath in 2018. The text of the constitution was updated in 2020, it "reset the presidential terms to zero" and enabled Putin to run for reelection in 2024 and 2030.

Once the oath was taken, Russian Constitutional Court Chairman Valery Zorkin announced that Putin had formally taken office as Russian president.

Young people and children from various regions of Russia, among them family members of special military operation participants, members of presidential programs, activists of the Movement of the First, and those who met with Putin during his domestic trips, attended the inauguration ceremony for the first time in history.