Vladimir Putin began his fifth term on May 7 as Russian leader at a glittering Kremlin inauguration, setting out on another six years in office after destroying his political opponents, launching a devastating war in Ukraine and concentrating all power in his hands.

Already in office for nearly a quarter-century and the longest-serving Kremlin leader since Josef Stalin, Putin’s new term doesn’t expire until 2030, when he will be constitutionally eligible to run again.

At the ceremony inside the gilded Grand Kremlin Palace, Putin placed his hand on the Russian Constitution and vowed to defend it as a crowd of hand-picked dignitaries looked on.

Since succeeding President Boris Yeltsin in the waning hours of 1999, Putin has transformed Russia from a country emerging from economic collapse to a pariah state that threatens global security. Following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine that has become Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II, Russia has been heavily sanctioned by the West and is turning to other regimes like China, Iran and North Korea for support.

The question now is what the 71-year-old Putin will do over the course of another six years, both at home and abroad.

Significant dates in Vladimir Putin’s 24 years in power in Russia

Dec 31, 1999 – In a surprise address to the nation, Russian President Boris Yeltsin announces his resignation and makes Mr. Putin, the Prime Minister he appointed four months earlier, the acting President.

May 7, 2000 – After winning election with about 53% of the vote, Mr. Putin is inaugurated for his first four-year term.

May 11, 2000 – Tax police raid the offices of NTV, a popular independent broadcaster noted for critical coverage of the Kremlin. It is the first salvo in moves against prominent independent media that have characterized the Putin era.

Aug 12, 2000 – The submarine Kursk sinks in the Barents Sea with 118 people aboard, setting off the first widespread criticism of Putin, who stayed on vacation early in the crisis and waited five days before accepting Western offers of help.

Oct 23, 2002 – Militants from Russia’s region of Chechnya take about 850 people hostage at a Moscow theater. Three days later, Russian special forces pump an unidentified gas into the theater to end the crisis, killing at least 130 hostages along with the militants. Putin defends the operation as having saved hundreds of lives.

Oct 25, 2003 – Oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who is Russia’s richest man and seen as a potential challenger to Putin, is arrested and later sentenced to 10 years in prison for tax evasion and fraud. His oil company is dismantled, most of it acquired by state oil company Rosneft. He has since become an opposition figure in exile.

March 14, 2004 – Mr. Putin is elected to a second term as president.

Sept 1, 2004 – Islamic militants seize a school in the southern city of Beslan, and more than 300 people die in the chaotic explosions and shootout ending the siege two days later. Putin blames regional leaders’ incompetence and announces that governors will be appointed figures rather than elected.

April 25, 2005 – Putin alarms international observers by describing the collapse of the Soviet Union as “the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century.”

Feb 10, 2007 – In a speech at a conference in Munich, Putin turns away radically from earlier attempts to develop closer ties with the United States.

May 8, 2008 – Barred by the constitution from running for a third consecutive term, Putin is appointed prime minister by new President Dmitry Medvedev but effectively remains Russia’s political leader.

Aug 8-12, 2008 – Russia fights a short war with Georgia, gaining full control of the separatist Abkhazia and South Ossetia regions.

March 4, 2012 – Putin is elected to a new presidential term, which is now six years long under constitutional changes he engineered. Protests by tens of thousands before the vote and on the eve of his inauguration lead to laws toughening penalties for unauthorised political protests.

June 6, 2013 – Putin announces on state television that he and his wife, Lyudmila, are divorcing.

Feb 7, 2014 – Putin opens the Winter Olympics in Sochi, a costly prestige project that he was instrumental in winning for Russia.

March 18, 2014 – Following the ouster of Ukraine’s Russia-friendly president amid protests in Kyiv, Moscow annexes Crimea after the Kremlin sends in troops wearing uniforms without insignia. A quick referendum is staged on the peninsula, splitting it from Ukraine. Putin admits a year later that he planned the annexation weeks ahead of time.

April 2014 – Fighting between Ukrainian forces and Russia-backed separatist rebels begins in eastern Ukraine.

Feb 27, 2015 – Boris Nemtsov, a top figure of Russia’s beleaguered political opposition, is gunned down on a bridge next to the Kremlin. Nemtsov was working on a report about Russian soldiers in eastern Ukraine.

Sept 30, 2015 – Russia begins airstrikes in Syria that Putin calls necessary to destroy terrorist groups. The action helps Syrian President Bashar Assad, a longtime ally, remain in power.

May 15, 2018 – Putin opens the 18-km (12-mile) bridge from Russia to Crimea, solidifying Moscow’s annexation. The bridge later becomes a target of attacks during the war with Ukraine.

July 16, 2018 – Putin and US President Donald Trump meet at a summit in Helsinki, where Trump is asked about allegations that Russia had interfered in the 2016 election that brought him to power. He dismissed the claims and said Putin was “extremely strong and powerful in his denial”.

July 1, 2020 – A referendum approves constitutional changes proposed by Putin, allowing him to run for two more terms starting in 2024.

Aug. 20, 2020 – Opposition leader Alexei Navalny falls severely ill while organizing political opposition to Putin in Siberia and is later flown to Germany, where he is diagnosed with nerve-agent poisoning. Navalny blames the Kremlin, which denies it.

Dec 22, 2020 – Putin signs a bill granting lifetime immunity to former presidents.

Jan 17, 2021 – Navalny is arrested at a Moscow airport upon returning from Germany. He is later convicted on several charges and sentenced to 19 years in prison.

July 2021 – Putin publishes an article declaring the “historical unity” of Russia and Ukraine, an ideological precursor to Moscow’s invasion.

Feb 24, 2022 – The invasion of Ukraine begins, and Putin characterises it as a “special military operation” needed for Russia’s security.

March 4, 2022 – Putin signs a law that calls for up to 15 years in prison for spreading false or defamatory information about the military.

Sept 30, 2023 – The International Criminal Court issues a war-crimes indictment for Putin, accusing him of the unlawful deportation and transportation of children from Ukraine’s war zone into Russia.

June 23, 2023 – Mercenary force leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, who accused officials of denying ammunition and support to his fighters in Ukraine, mounts a rebellion in which his troops take control of Russia’s southern military headquarters and head for Moscow. The uprising ends the next day, but undermines Putin’s image of power. Prigozhin is killed exactly two months after the uprising in a mysterious plane crash.

Feb 16, 2024 – Navalny dies at an Arctic prison colony of unspecified causes. “There is no doubt that the death of Navalny was a consequence of something that Putin and his thugs did,” said US President Joe Biden. More than 350 people were arrested paying tribute to Navalny at ad-hoc memorials and monuments to victims of political repression.

March 17, 2024 – Putin wins a fifth term in an election that reportedly gave him 87% of the vote. His victory had never been in doubt; the other three candidates on the ballot were low-profile politicians from token opposition parties that support the Kremlin’s line.

March 22, 2024 – Gunmen storm a concert hall on Moscow’s outskirts, killing people coming to hear a rock group and setting the building on fire. The attack, which killed 144 people, was claimed by an offshoot of the Islamic State group and Russia arrested 11 citizens of Tajikistan as suspects, but Putin and other officials claimed without presenting evidence that the attack was carried out under Ukraine’s direction.

May 7, 2024 – Putin begins a fifth term in office.

Russian President Vladimir Putin takes the oath during an inauguration ceremony at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia May 7, 2024, in this still image taken from live broadcast video.
| Photo Credit: Reuters/KREMLIN.RU

Vladimir Putin began his fifth term on May 7 as Russian leader at a glittering Kremlin inauguration, setting out on another six years in office after destroying his political opponents, launching a devastating war in Ukraine and concentrating all power in his hands.

Already in office for nearly a quarter-century and the longest-serving Kremlin leader since Josef Stalin, Mr. Putin’s new term doesn’t expire until 2030, when he will be constitutionally eligible to run again.

At the ceremony inside the gilded Grand Kremlin Palace, Mr. Putin placed his hand on the Russian Constitution and vowed to defend it as a crowd of hand-picked dignitaries looked on.

Since succeeding President Boris Yeltsin in the waning hours of 1999, Mr. Putin has transformed Russia from a country emerging from economic collapse to a state that threatens global security.

Following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine that has become Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II, Russia has been heavily sanctioned by the West and is turning to other regimes like China, Iran and North Korea for support.

The question now is what the 71-year-old Mr. Putin will do over the course of another six years, both at home and abroad.

Russian forces are gaining ground in Ukraine, deploying scorched-earth tactics as Kyiv grapples with shortages of men and ammunition. Both sides are taking heavy casualties.

Ukraine has brought the battle to Russian soil through drone and missile attacks, especially in border regions. In a speech in February, Mr. Putin vowed to fulfil Moscow’s goals in Ukraine, and do what is needed to “defend our sovereignty and security of our citizens.”

Shortly after his orchestrated re-election in March, Mr. Putin suggested that a confrontation between NATO and Russia is possible, and he declared he wanted to carve out a buffer zone in Ukraine to protect his country from cross-border attacks.

At home, Mr. Putin’s popularity is closely tied to improving living standards for ordinary Russians.

He began his term in 2018 by promising to get Russia into the top five global economies, vowing it should be “modern and dynamic.” Instead, Russia’s economy has pivoted to a war footing, and authorities are spending record amounts on defense.

Analysts say now that Putin has secured another six years in power, the government could take the unpopular steps of raising taxes to fund the war and pressure more men to join the military.

At the start of a new term, the Russian government is routinely dissolved so that Putin can name a new prime minister and Cabinet.

One key area to watch is the Defence Ministry.

Last year, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu came under pressure over his conduct of the war, with mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin launching withering criticism against him for shortages of ammunition for his private contractors fighting in Ukraine.

Prigozhin’s brief uprising in June against the Defence Ministry represented the biggest threat to Putin’s rule.

After Prigozhin was killed two months later in a mysterious plane crash, Shoigu appeared to have survived the infighting. But last month, his protege, Deputy Defence Minister Timur Ivanov, was detained on charges of bribery amid reports of rampant corruption.

Some analysts have suggested Shoigu could become a victim of the government reshuffle but that would be a bold move as the war is still raging in Ukraine.

In the years following the invasion, authorities have cracked down on any form of dissent with a ferocity not seen since Soviet times. There is no sign that this repression will ease in Putin’s new term.

His greatest political foe, Opposition leader Alexei Navalny, died in an Arctic penal colony in February. Other prominent critics have either been imprisoned or have fled the country, and even some of his opponents abroad fear for their security.

Laws have been enacted that threaten long prison terms for anyone who discredits the military. The Kremlin also targets independent media, rights groups, LGBTQ+ activists and others who don’t hew to what Putin has emphasized as Russia’s “traditional family values.”

“A third man has been detained in a bribery case involving one of Russia’s most senior defence officials,” Moscow’s court service said on April 25.

It said businessman Alexander Fomin is suspected of paying bribes to Deputy Defence Minister Timur Ivanov, who was detained on April 24, as well as Mr. Ivanov’s associate, Sergei Borodin. All of the men are to remain in custody until at least June 23.

“It is rare for such a high-ranking official to be accused of a crime in Russia. Mr. Ivanov, an ally of Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, was jailed pending an investigation and trial on charges of bribery,” court officials said in a statement. He was in charge of military construction projects and was previously accused of living a lavish lifestyle in anti-corruption investigations conducted by the team of late Russian Opposition leader Alexei Navalny. It is unclear what sparked the decision to charge him with bribery.

Mr. Ivanov (48) was sanctioned by both the United States and European Union in 2022 after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. President Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said on April 24 that the construction projects that were overseen by Mr. Ivanov will continue.

Moscow’s court service said Alexander and Borodin contributed to Mr. Ivanov receiving a “particularly large bribe” — an offense punishable by up to 15 years in prison. As part of the case against Alexander and the Deputy Minister, the courts service added that Alexander did not pay for goods, work and services related to repairing and reconstructing buildings.

Russian state news agency Tass reported on Wednesday that a Moscow businessman whose company is involved in construction gave testimony which incriminated the Deputy Defence Minister. Tass did not name the individual who gave the evidence, but public records and Russian newspapers say that Alexander Fomin owns half of the company, called Olimpsitistroy.

In 2021, Mr. Ivanov awarded Alexander and the co-owner of Olimpsitistroy a state award called For Merit to the Fatherland for building medical centers, the Russian newspaper Kommersant reported.

According to a court statement on Wednesday, investigators told the judge that Mr. Ivanov conspired with third parties to receive a bribe in the form of unspecified property services “during contracting and subcontracting work for the needs of the Ministry of Defence.”

Mr. Ivanov’s lawyer, Murad Musayev, told the state news agency Tass on Wednesday that his client is accused of “taking a bribe in the form of free construction and repair work on supposedly his personal properties,” and in turn providing “assistance to companies that were contractors for the Defence Ministry.”

Another lawyer, Denis Baluyev, was quoted by state news agency RIA Novosti as saying that Mr. Ivanov maintains his innocence. Mr. Baluyev told RIA Novosti on Thursday that the authorities froze Mr. Ivanov’s bank accounts and seized his real estate.

According to the Defence Ministry’s website, Mr. Ivanov was appointed in 2016 by a Presidential decree. He oversaw property management, housing and medical support for the military, as well as construction projects.

RIA Novosti quoted Mr. Peskov as saying that Mr. Shoigu and Mr. Putin were informed of Mr. Ivanov’s arrest, which comes as Moscow’s war in Ukraine grinds through its third year.

Independent Russian news outlets reported on Wednesday that the bribery charges were intended to hide more serious charges of treason and avoid scandal, citing two unidentified sources close to the Federal Security Service, or FSB.

Mr. Peskov dismissed the suggestion and described the reports as speculation. “There are a lot of rumors. We need to rely on official information,” he told journalists. Mr. Musayev, Mr. Ivanov’s lawyer, also denied any other charges, telling RIA Novosti that Mr. Ivanov faced only bribery allegations.

Before his arrest, Mr. Ivanov was seen attending a meeting with Mr. Shoigu and other top military brass. The move against Mr. Ivanov came nearly a month after Mr. Putin called on the FSB to “keep up a systemic anti-corruption effort” and pay special attention to state defence procurement.

Russian media reported that Mr. Ivanov oversaw some of the construction in Mariupol, a Ukrainian port city that was devastated by bombardment and occupied by Russian forces early in the war.

Zvezda, the official TV channel of the Russian military, reported in summer 2022 that the Ministry was building an entire residential block in Mariupol and showed Mr. Ivanov inspecting construction sites and newly erected buildings.

That same year, the team of Opposition leader Navalny alleged Mr. Ivanov and his family had been enjoying luxurious trips abroad, lavish parties and owned elite real estate. The activists also alleged that Mr. Ivanov’s wife, Svetlana, divorced him in 2022 to avoid sanctions and continued living a lavish lifestyle. Few high-level officials have been prosecuted in Russia.

In April 2023, former Deputy Culture Minister Olga Yarilova was arrested and charged with embezzling more than 200 million rubles ($2.2 million). Olga, who held her post from 2018 to 2022, is on trial and facing a possible seven-year jail term.

Former Economics Minister Alexei Ulyukayev received an eight-year prison sentence in 2017 for accepting a $2 million bribe from one of Mr. Putin’s top associates. The high-profile trial was widely seen as part of infighting between Kremlin clans. Ulyukayev, now 68, was granted early release from prison in May 2022.

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba. File
| Photo Credit: AP

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister arrived in New Delhi on March 28 for a two-day visit to boost bilateral ties and cooperation with India, which considers Russia a time-tested ally from the Cold War-era.

Dmytro Kuleba will meet with his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar on March 29, as well as the deputy national security advisor, according to India’s Foreign Ministry. On March 28, Mr. Kuleba will pay his respects to Indian independence leader Mahatma Gandhi at the Rajghat memorial site.

His visit comes a week after Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladmir Putin, whom India has so far avoided criticising over the war in Ukraine. Instead, New Delhi, has stressed the need for diplomacy and dialogue on ending the war and has expressed its willingness to contribute to peace efforts.

On March 20, PM Modi posted on social media platform X, formerly Twitter, to say he had expressed to Mr. Zelenskyy “India’s consistent support for all efforts for peace and bringing in an early end to the ongoing conflict,” adding that the country will continue to provide humanitarian assistance.

This came after Mr. Modi spoke to Mr. Putin to congratulate him on his re-election as President. According to a statement from India’s Foreign Ministry, the two leaders agreed to further strengthen their relationship, while Mr. Modi reiterated that dialogue and peace was the best way forward for the Russia-Ukraine war.

Under Mr. Modi, India has promoted itself as a rising global player who can mediate between the West and Russia on the war in Ukraine.

In his phone call with PM Modi last week, Mr. Zelenskyy said he encouraged India to participate in the Peace Summit that Switzerland has offered to organise.

Palestinians denied of homeland, India talks to Russia bluntly: Jaishankar

“Ukraine is interested in strengthening our trade and economic ties with India, particularly in agricultural exports, aviation cooperation, and pharmaceutical and industrial product trade,” the Ukrainian President said in a post on X.

At the United Nations, New Delhi, has refrained from voting against Moscow, and has ramped up its purchases of Russian oil at discounted prices following the invasion.

Meanwhile, India has stepped up its engagements with Western powers like the United States and the European Union. New Delhi has been trying to reduce its dependance on Moscow for arms and technology because of disruptions in supplies due to the war. India is also part of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, or Quad, along with the U.S., Australia and Japan.

On a visit last year, Ukraine’s Deputy Foreign Minister Emine Dzhaparova urged India to play a bigger role in helping end Russia’s invasion, saying Kyiv would “welcome any effort that is directed at resolving the war.”

Thousands of Russians braved the cold for hours earlier this month to honour the Opposition politician Alexei Navalny after his funeral. They chanted anti-war slogans and covered his gravesite with so many flowers that it disappeared from view.

It was one of the largest displays of defiance against President Vladimir Putin since he invaded Ukraine, and happened just weeks before an election he is all but assured to win. But Russians watching television saw none of it.

A leading state television channel opened with its host railing against the West and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO.) Another channel led with a segment extolling the virtues of domestically built streetcars. And there was the usual deferential coverage of Mr. Putin.

Since coming to power almost 25 years ago, Mr. Putin has eliminated nearly all independent media and the Opposition voices in Russia — a process he ramped up after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The Kremlin’s control over media is now absolute.

State television channels cheer every battlefield victory, twist the pain of economic sanctions into positive stories, and ignore that tens of thousands of Russian soldiers have died in Ukraine.

Some Russians seek news from abroad or on social media using tools to circumvent state restrictions. But most still rely on state television, which floods them with the Kremlin’s view of the world. Over time, the effect is to whittle away their desire to question it.

“Propaganda is a kind of drug and I don’t mind taking it,” said Victoria, 50, from Russian-occupied Crimea. She refused to give her last name because of concerns about her safety.

“If I get up in the morning and hear that things are going badly in our country, how will I feel? How will millions of people feel? … Propaganda is needed to sustain people’s spirit,” she said.

Vladimir Putin’s broken promises

When Mr. Putin first addressed Russians as their new President on the last day of 1999, he promised a bright path after the chaotic years that followed the Soviet Union’s collapse.

“The state will stand firm to protect freedom of speech, freedom of conscience, freedom of mass media,” he said.

Yet just over a year later, he broke that promise: The Kremlin neutered its main media critic, the independent TV channel NTV, and went after the media tycoons who controlled it.

In the following decades, multiple Russian journalists, including investigative reporter Anna Politkovskaya, were killed or jailed, and the Russian parliament passed laws curbing press freedoms. The crackdown intensified two years ago after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

New laws made it a crime to discredit the Russian military and anyone spreading “false information” about the war faced up to 15 years in prison. Almost overnight, nearly all independent media outlets suspended operations or left the country. The Kremlin blocked access to independent media and some social media sites, and Russian courts jailed two journalists with U.S. citizenship, Evan Gershkovich and Alsu Kurmasheva.

“The Putin regime is based on propaganda and fear. And propaganda plays the most important role because people live in an information bubble,” said Marina Ovsyannikova, a former state television journalist who quit her job at a leading Russian state television channel in an on-air protest against the war.

The Kremlin regularly meets with the heads of TV stations to give “special instructions on what can be said on air,” said Ms. Ovsyannikova.

Every day, TV stations serve up a mix of bluster, threats and half-truths — telling viewers the West wants to destroy their country, that sanctions make them stronger and that Russia is winning the war.

The Kremlin’s goal is to squeeze out any Opposition so that citizens “remain inert and compliant,” said Sam Greene, a director at the Center for European Policy Analysis in Washington.

The strength of the Kremlin’s grip on the media means that while Navalny’s death in an Arctic penal colony was major news in the West, many Russians didn’t know about it.

One out of five Russians said they had not heard about his death, according to the independent Russian pollster Levada Center. Half said they only had vague knowledge of it.

The most memorable event for Russians in February, the polling found, was the Russian military’s capture of the eastern Ukrainian town of Avdiivka.

By trumpeting military victories, the Kremlin is focussed on creating a “happy feeling,” ahead of the elections, said Jade McGlynn, an expert on Russian propaganda at King’s College London.

Anti-war candidates are banned from the ballot, and there is no significant challenger to Mr. Putin. State television broadcasts dull debates between representatives of Mr. Putin’s opponents.

President Putin is not openly campaigning but is frequently shown touring the country — admiring remote tomato farms or visiting weapons factories.

The idea that Russia is thriving under Mr. Putin is a potent message for people who have seen their living standards fall since the war — and sanctions — began, driving up prices for food and other staples.

The war has also pushed Russia’s defence industry into overdrive, and people like Victoria from Crimea have noticed.

“If they tell me that new jobs have appeared, should I be happy or sad? Is this propaganda or truth?” she asked.

“Granules of truth”

Russian propaganda is “sophisticated and multi-faceted,” said Francis Scarr, a journalist who analyses Russian television for BBC Monitoring.

There is some “outright lying,” he said, but often Russian state media “takes a granule of truth and massively over-amplifies it.” For example, while unemployment in Russia is at a record low, news reports don’t explain it’s partly because tens of thousands of Russians have been sent to fight in Ukraine or have fled the country.

Many Russians know this, yet the idea that Russia is prospering – even if it contradicts what they see with their own eyes – is still attractive.

“The greatness of Russia tends to be measured throughout history in the greatness of the state and not in the greatness of the quality of life for its people,” said McGlynn of King’s College London.

Ahead of the election, state TV is ramping up that nationalistic theme, telling viewers it is their patriotic duty to vote. The Kremlin, experts say, is worried Russians may not come out in large numbers.

Videos released on social media – but not directly linked to the Kremlin – are aimed at combating apathy, especially among younger voters.

In one, a woman berates her husband for not voting. “What difference does it make? Will he not get elected without us,” the husband asks, indirectly referring to Mr. Putin. To which his wife warns him: inaction could leave their child without maternity payments.

The Kremlin wants high voter turnout, experts say, to lend an aura of legitimacy to Mr. Putin, whose re-election would keep him in power through at least 2030.

“No Opposition in modern Russia”

People can bypass government restrictions by using special links to foreign websites or accessing the Internet over private networks.

But it’s questionable whether many Russians — especially those living in Mr. Putin’s conservative heartland — even want to hear news conveyed in the language of the liberal West.

To “break through to the people who are not putting flowers on Navalny’s grave, they’re going to have to meet those viewers where they are and speak to them in a language that they understand,” said Greene. That means striking a balance between criticism of Mr. Putin’s regime and pride in the nation.

Even those soothed by the Kremlin’s propaganda also could long for a real choice at the polls.

“I don’t see any Opposition in modern Russia,” said Victoria, pointing out that the candidates running alongside Mr. Putin all have the Kremlin’s approval. “I don’t plan to vote in the elections,” she added.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, second left in front, and North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un, second right in front, examine a rocket assembly hangar during their meeting at the Vostochny cosmodrome outside the city of Tsiolkovsky, in Russia, on September 13, 2023.
| Photo Credit: AP

North Korea has likely supplied several types of missiles to Russia to support its war in Ukraine, along with its widely reported shipments of ammunition and shells, South Korea’s military said on November 2.

The assessment was released a day after South Korea’s spy service told law-makers that North Korea recently provided more than a million artillery shells to Russia amid deepening military cooperation between the two countries, both key U.S. adversaries.

In a background briefing for local journalists, South Korea’s military said that North Korea is suspected of sending an unspecified number of short-range ballistic missiles, anti-tank missiles and portable anti-air missiles to Russia, in addition to rifles, rocket launchers, mortars and shells. The contents of the briefing were shared with The Associated Press.

Last week, South Korea, the U.S. and Japan strongly condemned what they call North Korea’s supply of munitions and military equipment to Russia, saying that such weapons shipments sharply increase the human toll of Russia’s war in Ukraine. Any weapons trade with North Korea would be a violation of multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions, which Russia, a permanent U.N. Security Council member, previously endorsed.

Both Russia and North Korea dismissed the weapons shipment accusations as baseless. Outside speculation about North Korean arms shipments flared after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un travelled to Russia in September to meet President Vladimir Putin and visit key military facilities. The U.S. and its allies accuse North Korea of seeking high-tech Russian technologies to modernise its arsenal of nuclear weapons and missiles in return for its shipments of conventional arms.

In a private briefing with lawmakers on Wednesday, the National Intelligence Service (NIS) — South Korea’s main spy agency — said that more than a million North Korean artillery shells have been sent to Russia since August via ships and transport planes. “The NIS said the shells roughly amounted to two months’ worth of supplies for the Russians,” according to lawmaker Yoo Sang-bum, who attended the NIS briefing.

The NIS assessed that North Korea has been operating its munitions factories at full capacity to meet Russian munition demands and has also been mobilising residents to increase production.

The NIS said North Korea, for its part, is likely receiving Russian technological assistance over its plan to launch its first military spy satellite into space. North Korea’s two recent attempts to launch a spy satellite ended in failure due to technical issues. The North failed to follow through with its vow to make a third launch attempt in October, without giving any reasons.

South Korea’s military said North Korea also seeks to receive nuclear-related technologies, fighter jets or related aircraft equipment and assistance on the establishment of anti-air defense networks from Russia.

Abortions were banned under Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin but a commonplace under later Kremlin leaders. Now, after less than a century, official attitudes about abortion in Russia are changing once again.

Although abortion is still legal and widely available, new restrictions are being considered as President Vladimir Putin takes an increasingly socially conservative turn and seeks to reverse Russia’s declining population.

Having embraced the Russian Orthodox Church, he is stressing “traditional family values” — often used as code words to differentiate his country from Western social attitudes toward LGBTQ+ rights and other policies.

Abortion restrictions in Russia spark outrage as the country takes a conservative turn

Some see it as a throwback to the Stalinist era, when abortion was outlawed in 1936, and women ending unwanted pregnancies often turned to illegal and unsafe procedures.

“My grandmother worked as a teacher in a vocational school. She was telling me stories about abortions being performed with wardrobe hangers in the dormitories,” said Lina Zharin, a psychotherapist and feminist activist in Kaliningrad, where lawmakers are considering banning abortion in private clinics.

“Seemingly, everyone knows about it, about how scary it was, and I think that a lot of people are surprised and outraged that we’re going back to it,” she said.

Two years after Joseph Stalin’s death in 1953, authorities reversed the ban to curtail dangerous illegal abortions. But they didn’t endorse contraceptives, says Michele Rivkin-Fish, an anthropologist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, with the government remaining “pro-natalist” and wanting women to have children while staying in the workforce.

Abortion became a common way of dealing with an unwanted pregnancy amid the harsh Soviet economy, even though Mr. Rivkin-Fish said conditions at clinics often were “terrible.”

“Anesthesia was in short supply. … There was no privacy — you would have your abortion with other people in the ward,” she said. Painkillers were of low quality or scarce, she added, “so women were often in excruciating pain.”

Under Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev’s reforms, a movement for family planning and adequate birth control was launched in the late 1980s by physicians who were mostly women, according to Mr. Rivkin-Fish.

After the USSR’s 1991 demise, President Boris Yeltsin funded family planning and birth control programmes, and doctors were trained to prescribe and administer contraceptives.

Also read: Explained | What do Indian laws say about Abortion?

“They all went through a federal family planning course that I taught and led,” said Dr. Lyubov Yerofeyeva, a gynaecologist and a reproductive health specialist at the core of the effort.

By the late 1990s, federal funding fizzled because of conservative opposition. Abortion regulations remained less restrictive, however. Women could terminate a pregnancy until 12 weeks without any conditions, and until 22 weeks for many “social reasons,” such as divorce, unemployment or low income.

In 2003, the authorities cut that list to just four: if a woman was raped, if she was in prison, if her parental rights were restricted, or if her husband died or became severely disabled during her pregnancy.

“This was the first sign that I saw that the government is concerned about lowering abortion rates, and they’re going to do so through access, restricting access,” Mr. Rivkin-Fish said.

Conservative law-makers proposed more restrictions in 2011, including that women need permission from their husbands or from their parents if underage; that doctors could refuse abortion if they opposed it; and that a woman must wait two to seven days, depending on the stage of pregnancy, to give her a chance to change her mind.

Ms. Yerofeyeva and a reproductive health group she ran, Russian Association of Population and Development, pushed back against these proposals, and only two were adopted nationally: allowing doctors to refuse if against their beliefs, and the mandatory waiting period of 48 hours to a week.

In 2012, the number of “social reasons” for allowing abortion between weeks 12 and 22 was cut to just in the case of rape.

Under Health Ministry regulations adopted in 2015-16, doctors had to offer women the chance to listen to the “fetal heartbeat” and show them ultrasound images. They also changed an abortion consent form to emphasize its risks, “the possibility of not resorting to it, and the preference of carrying a pregnancy to term.”

Ms. Yerofeyeva’s Russian Association for Population and Development was declared a “foreign agent” — a label that implies additional government scrutiny and carries strong negative connotations — and soon ceased activities.

Last year, Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova ordered the Health Ministry to look into banning abortions for those under 18 without parental consent.

In a speech to Parliament this year, Health Minister Mikhail Murashko criticised women who prioritise education and careers over childbearing and supported an abortion ban in private clinics — where up to 20% occurred in recent years. He also moved to restrict abortion pills, which are approved to be taken to end a pregnancy in the first 10 weeks.

Chinese President Xi Jinping. File
| Photo Credit: AP

Chinese leader Xi Jinping told Vietnam’s second-highest ranking official on October 20 that both countries must not forget the “original intention” of their traditional friendship.

China and the United States have been jostling for influence among Southeast Asian nations including Vietnam, which in September elevated its ties with Washington to a comprehensive strategic partnership, putting its one-time enemy on a par with Beijing and Moscow.

China has traditionally strong ties with Vietnam since diplomatic relations were established in 1950, despite a brief war in 1979. Beijing has backed Hanoi’s fight against former colonial ruler France, and later, against Saigon and the United States during the Vietnam War.

“Faced with the ever-changing international situation and arduous domestic development tasks, the two countries must not forget the original intention of their traditional friendship,” Xi told visiting Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong.

Mr. Thuong, Vietnam’s No.2 after its Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, held talks with Xi after attending Beijing’s Belt and Road Forum.

In early October, Reuters reported that Vietnamese and Chinese officials were preparing for a possible trip by Xi to Hanoi either at the end of October or in early November, citing people familiar with the plans.

“The two sides should adhere to the principle of joint consultation,” Xi told Mr. Thuong, adding that China and Vietnam should capitalise on their geographical proximity and industrial complementarity. There was no mention of any Xi visit in the Chinese state media readout of their meeting.

On Wednesday, Vietnamese state media reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin had accepted an invitation from Mr. Thuong to “soon” visit Vietnam, when the two men met on the sidelines of the Belt and Road Forum. In September, U.S. President Joe Biden visited Hanoi.

A view of the members of Russia’s State Duma Lower House of Parliament attending a plenary session in Moscow, on October 17, 2023.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

The Lower House of Russia’s Parliament on October 18 gave its final approval to a Bill revoking the ratification of a global nuclear test ban treaty, a move Moscow described as putting it on a par with the United States.

The State Duma lawmakers voted unanimously to revoke the ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty in the third and final reading on October 18. The Bill will now go to the upper house, the Federation Council, which will consider it next week. Federation Council lawmakers have already said they will support the Bill.

The legislation was introduced to Parliament following a statement from Russian President Vladimir Putin, who warned earlier this month that Moscow could revoke its 2000 decision to ratify the treaty to “mirror” the stand taken by the United States, which has signed but not ratified the nuclear test ban.

The treaty, adopted in 1996, bans all nuclear explosions anywhere in the world, although it has never fully entered into force. In addition to the U.S., it is yet to be ratified by China, India, Pakistan, North Korea, Israel, Iran and Egypt.

There are widespread concerns that Russia could resume nuclear tests to try to discourage the West from offering military support to Ukraine. Many Russian hawks have spoken in favour of a resumption. Mr. Putin has said that while some experts have talked about the need to conduct nuclear tests, he hasn’t yet formed an opinion on the issue.

Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said last week that Moscow will continue to respect the ban and will only resume nuclear tests if Washington does so first.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and Chinese President Xi Jinping shake hands after speaking to the media during a signing ceremony following their talks at The Grand Kremlin Palace, in Moscow, Russia, March 21, 2023. Russian President Putin is expected to meet this week with Chinese leaders in Beijing on a visit that underscores China’s economic and diplomatic support for Moscow during its war in Ukraine.
| Photo Credit: AP

Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to meet this week with Chinese leaders in Beijing on a visit that underscores China’s economic and diplomatic support for Moscow during its war in Ukraine.

The two countries have forged an informal alliance against the United States and other democratic nations that’s now complicated by the Israel-Hamas war. China has sought to balance its ties with Israel with its economic relations with Iran and Syria, which are strongly backed by Russia.

Mr. Putin’s visit is also a show of support for Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s signature Belt and Road drive to build infrastructure and expand China’s overseas influence.

The Russian leader will be among the highest profile guests at a gathering marking the 10th anniversary of Xi’s announcement of the policy, which has laden countries such as Zambia and Sri Lanka with heavy debt after they signed contracts with Chinese companies to build roads, airports and other public works they could not otherwise afford.

Mr. Putin’s visit has not been confirmed, but Chinese officials have suggested he will be arriving on late October 16.

Asked by reporters on October 13 about a visit to China, Mr. Putin said it would encompass talks on Belt and Road-related projects, which he said Moscow wants to link with efforts taken by an economic alliance of ex-Soviet Union nations mostly located in Central Asia to “achieve common development goals.” He also downplayed the impact of China’s economic influence in a region that Russia has long considered its backyard and where it has worked to maintain political and military clout.

“We don’t have any contradictions here, on the contrary, there is a certain synergy,” Mr. Putin said.

Mr. Putin noted that he and Mr. Xi will also discuss growing economic and financial ties between Moscow and Beijing.

“One of the main areas is financial relations and creating further incentives for payments in national currencies,” Mr. Putin said. “The volume is growing rapidly, there are good prospects in high-tech areas, in the energy sector.”

Alexander Gabuev, director of Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, said that from China’s view “Russia is a safe neighbour that is friendly, that is a source of cheap raw materials, that’s a support for Chinese initiatives on the global stage and that’s also a source of military technologies, some of those that China doesn’t have.”

“For Russia, China is its lifeline, an economic lifeline in its brutal repression against Ukraine,” Mr. Gabuev told The Associated Press.

“It’s the major market for Russian commodities, it’s a country that provides its currency and payment system to settle Russia’s trade with the outside world — with China itself, but also with many other countries, and is also the major source of sophisticated technological imports, including dual use goods that go into the Russian military machine.”

Mr. Gabuev said that while Moscow and Beijing will be unlikely to forge a full-fledged military alliance, their defense cooperation will grow.

“I don’t expect that Russia and China will create a military alliance,” Mr. Gabuev said. “Both countries are self-sufficient in terms of security and they benefit from partnering, but neither really requires a security guarantee from the other. And they preach strategic autonomy.”

“There will be no military alliance, but there will be closer military cooperation, more interoperability, more cooperation on projecting force together, including in places like the Arctic and more joint effort to develop a missile defense that makes the U.S. nuclear planning and planning of the U.S. and its allies in Asia and in Europe more complicated,” he added.

China and the former Soviet Union were Cold War rivals for influence among left-leaning states, but have since partnered in the economic, military and diplomatic spheres. Just weeks before Russia’s full-fledged invasion of Ukraine last February, Mr. Putin met with Mr. Xi in Beijing and the sides signed an agreement pledging a “no-limits” relationship, and Beijing’s attempts to pose itself as a neutral peace broker in Russia’s war on Ukraine have been widely dismissed by the international community.

Mr. Xi visited Moscow in March as part of a flurry of exchanges between the sides. China has condemned international sanctions imposed on Russia but hasn’t directly addressed the arrest warrant issued for Mr. Putin by the International Criminal Court on charges of alleged involvement in the abductions of thousands of children from Ukraine.