MOSCOW - Russian President Vladimir Putin was sworn in for a new six-year presidential term on Tuesday in a ceremony boycotted by the United States and many European Union nations due to the war in Ukraine.
Putin won a landslide victory in a presidential election in March more than two years after he sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine.
Some Western governments said his re-election was flawed because voters were not given a real alternative, a charge rejected by Moscow which says Putin enjoys the overwhelming support of the Russian people.
Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said President Vladimir Putin may propose the prime minister who will head his next government on Tuesday.
Under the constitution, the government must resign at the start of a new presidential term, making way for the president to propose a prime minister to parliament.
The current prime minister is Mikhail Mishustin, whom Putin may decide to re-nominate.
American action actor Steven Seagal arrives for the inauguration ceremony of Russian President Vladimir Putin for his next six-year term in office, at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, on Tuesday. (Photo: Reuters)
Opposition slams Putin
Before Putins' inauguration, Russian opposition figure Yulia Navalnaya branded the president as a "liar, a thief (and) a murderer".
She has pledged to continue the work of her husband Alexei Navalny, who was Putin's main opponent and died in an Arctic prison in February this year.
AFP quoted her as saying that Putin's recent term was marked by a "war that is bloody and senseless" in Ukraine and political repression in Russia.
"There are several hundred political prisoners in Russia enduring inhumane conditions," Navalnaya said. "New cases are being opened every day."
- Read more: American soldier detained in Russia
