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Russia quietly marks Putin’s anniversary

Russia quietly marked the one-year anniversary of the landmark announcement that Vladimir Putin would return to the Kremlin for a new term which has already seen a fresh clampdown on civil society.

Putin’s plan to trade jobs with then president Dmitry Medvedev was unveiled at a ruling United Russia party congress on 24 September 2011, followed months later by unprecedented protests against his domination.

After winning the presidential election on 4 March, Putin – who first became president in 2000 – was inaugurated for an unprecedented third term on 7 May.

The anniversary of the controversial move went largely unnoticed in the pro-government or loyal media, and it was business as usual for the country’s top political leadership.

But several critics used the occasion to stress that a year after the job swap announcement it was increasingly obvious the country was heading into an unpredictable future.

Opposition newspaper Novaya Gazeta said Russia was now suffering from ‘governance paralysis’ now that Medvedev no longer provided a counterbalance to his mentor’s famously tough style.
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