May 5:
Outgoing President Vladimir Putin has said that the planned display of heavy weaponry at the Victory Day parade that will take place on Red Square on May 9th is not meant to threaten any nation, Agence France-Presse reports. “For the first time in many years heavy military equipment will be used,” he said. “This is not saber-rattling. We are not threatening anyone and don’t plan to. This is a demonstration of our growing defense capability. We are capable of defending our people, citizens, our state, our wealth, which is not small.” Putin was speaking at his last cabinet meeting before stepping down as president on May 7th and sat next to President-elect Dmitry Medvedev. The two are due to swap places as Medvedev is to appoint Putin to the prime minister’s post on May 8th.
May 7:
Dmitry Medvedev has been sworn in as Russia’s new president. Addressing the inaugural ceremony in the Kremlin, outgoing President Vladimir Putin called the inauguration a “uniting moment” for all of Russia’s political forces and said the obligation to “take care Russia” that guided him in the Kremlin will continue to guide him. According to the Kremlin’s website, Putin also thanked Russians for their “faith, understanding and support” that helped him achieve “serious concrete results” as president, adding: “Today we are already formulating new goals and tasks, not for a month or two months ahead, but for 20-30 years ahead.” Putin wished Medvedev good fortune and success. “Let’s give him our support,” Putin said.
Medvedev promised in his inaugural speech to “spare no effort” in his work as president and stressed “the particular importance on the fundamental role of the law,” which he called “the cornerstone of our state and our civil society,” according the Kremlin’s website. “We must ensure true respect for the law and overcome the legal nihilism that is such a serious hindrance to modern development,” he said. According to NEWSru.com, the inaugural ceremony marked the emergence “of a new structure of power that in the West is already being called a ‘tandemocracy’, since it is thus far unclear how Medvedev, the successor president, and Vladimir Putin, who is leaving for the post of premier, will divide power among themselves.”
May 8:
President Dmitry Medvedev has signed a decree nominating Vladimir Putin as prime minister and the State Duma has backed the nomination in a 392-56 vote, with only the Communist Party faction opposing it. According to NEWSru.com, Putin said in a speech to the Duma that Russia can increase its economic competitiveness, adding that its GDP should overtake that of Britain this year. “We must rank among the leading countries in the key indicators of the lives of our citizens: the level of income and social guarantees, the quality of education and health care, life expectancy and the provision of housing,” Putin said. He also said that a “mass class of investors” needs to be created and called for lower taxes on oil companies.
May 9:
Russia has marked the 63rd anniversary of Nazi Germany’s defeat with a parade at Moscow’s Red Square featuring 111 tracked and wheeled military vehicles (including T-90 tanks and Topol-M mobile ICBM launchers), more than 8,000 servicemen and flyovers by 32 military planes and helicopters. According to RB.ru, President Dmitry Medvedev, who as commander-in-chief presided over the Red Square military parade, delivered a Victory Day speech in which he warned against “any attempts to sow racial or religious hatred, to unleash ideological terror and extremism [or] plans to meddle in the affairs of other nations” and, above all, against any “attempts to revise borders.”
Want these sent to your inbox?
Subscribe