Russia's Mr Vladimir Putin took the presidential oath of office today to officially start a second four-year term that will be dominated by the challenge of modernising the country.
Mr Putin, popular because of the stability he has brought, won re-election in March by a landslide. He was inaugurated in a ceremony full of tsarist pomp in Moscow's gilded Kremlin halls.
Some 1,700 guests from the elite of Russian society watched the Mr Putin (51), a former Soviet KGB spy and now Russia's undisputed leader, stride into the lavish Andreyevsky hall to take the pledge to serve his country.
He pledged to protect human rights, defend the constitution and Russia's independence and "faithfully serve the people".
But widespread apathy over the presidential election, seen as a walkover, meant many Russians paid little attention to the ceremony, especially as it fell between two long weekends.
Mr Putin faces little dissent from a compliant parliament and hand-picked government and the event emphasised spectacle rather than hard policy in the second term, his last under the constitution.
Mr Putin has won widespread admiration for entrenching stability after a decade under Mr Boris Yeltsin that included an armed rebellion by parliament and an economic meltdown.
But tens of millions remain mired in poverty and commentators say public perceptions of Mr Putin, viewed favourably compared to Mr Yeltsin, could shift, especially if oil prices fall and export revenue with them.