Putin sworn in for another term as Russian president in glittering Kremlin ceremony

Vladimir Putin was sworn in for his fifth term as Russia's leader Tuesday, renewing his dominance over the country in a glittering Kremlin ceremony as his army advances in Ukraine at the height of Moscow’s worst confrontation with the West since the Soviet era.

Putin, 71, extended his rule in an effectively uncontested election in March, having crushed any political opposition and launched the invasion of Ukraine that set Russia on its path to unprecedented global isolation and domestic repression.

Having tightened his quarter-century grip on power, Putin placed his hand atop the Russian Constitution at Tuesday’s ceremony and vowed to serve the Russian people.