The Putin Era: Stability, Power and Crimea
Under Vladimir Putin, oil money brings rising living standards and order, while elections, media and courts are brought under Kremlin control and Russia annexes Crimea in 2014.
- Mr. Putin: Operative in the Kremlin — Fiona Hill and Clifford G. Gaddy, Brookings Institution Press (2015)
- The Future Is History: How Totalitarianism Reclaimed Russia — Masha Gessen, Riverhead Books (2017)
- The Return: Russia's Journey from Gorbachev to Medvedev — Daniel Treisman, Free Press (2011)
Putin, a former KGB officer, came to prominence in 1999 by launching a second war in Chechnya after deadly apartment bombings in Russian cities; the war devastated Grozny and re-established Moscow’s control. High oil prices in the 2000s brought real wage growth, consumer goods, foreign holidays and mortgages to millions for the first time. Independent television was taken over in his first term, and the jailing of oil magnate Mikhail Khodorkovsky in 2003 warned other oligarchs to stay out of politics.
- Mr. Putin: Operative in the Kremlin — Fiona Hill and Clifford G. Gaddy, Brookings Institution Press (2015)
- The Return: Russia's Journey from Gorbachev to Medvedev — Daniel Treisman, Free Press (2011)
In 2008 Russia fought a short war with Georgia. When Putin announced in 2011 that he would return to the presidency, the largest protests since the 1990s filled Moscow’s squares; they were followed by new laws restricting protest, “foreign agents” and “gay propaganda”. In 2014, after Ukraine’s Revolution of Dignity, Russia seized and annexed Crimea and backed an armed uprising in the Donbas. At home the annexation was hugely popular; the West answered with sanctions. A 2020 constitutional amendment allowed Putin to stay in power until 2036.
- The Future Is History: How Totalitarianism Reclaimed Russia — Masha Gessen, Riverhead Books (2017)
- Mr. Putin: Operative in the Kremlin — Fiona Hill and Clifford G. Gaddy, Brookings Institution Press (2015)
- Address by President of the Russian Federation (on Crimea), 18 March 2014 — Vladimir Putin, Kremlin.ru (2014)
- Backing Ukraine's territorial integrity, UN Assembly declares Crimea referendum invalid — UN News, United Nations (2014)
Opposition politician Boris Nemtsov was shot dead near the Kremlin in 2015. Anti-corruption campaigner Alexei Navalny was poisoned with a nerve agent in 2020, imprisoned on his return in 2021, and died in an Arctic prison colony on 16 February 2024.
- The Future Is History: How Totalitarianism Reclaimed Russia — Masha Gessen, Riverhead Books (2017)
- Anti-war repressions in Russia: data and reports — OVD-Info, OVD-Info
Putin rebuilt the state, tamed the oligarchs, won the war in Chechnya, paid off foreign debt and stood up to a West that ignored Russia's interests. Crimea "came home" in 2014.
- Mr. Putin: Operative in the Kremlin — Fiona Hill and Clifford G. Gaddy, Brookings Institution Press (2015)
- Address by President of the Russian Federation (on Crimea), 18 March 2014 — Vladimir Putin, Kremlin.ru (2014)
Putin built a personalist, kleptocratic system that rigged elections, crushed independent media and jailed or killed critics, and turned to aggression abroad to shore up support at home. The annexation of Crimea broke international law.
- The Future Is History: How Totalitarianism Reclaimed Russia — Masha Gessen, Riverhead Books (2017)
- Backing Ukraine's territorial integrity, UN Assembly declares Crimea referendum invalid — UN News, United Nations (2014)
Why it matters today
Many Russians credit Putin with ending the chaos of the 1990s and restoring national pride; others see two decades of stolen elections, poisoned opponents and missed chances. The "social contract" of prosperity in exchange for staying out of politics shapes how most Russians relate to power.