The promise Putin made to Russia – and broke

When Vladimir Putin launched his bid to be elected as Russia’s president in 2000, he had already been in the role for a month and a half. His predecessor Boris Yeltsin had stepped down on 31 December 1999, appointing his young prime minister in his place to prevent political opponents from prosecuting him and his associates – on well-founded grounds – for corruption. At the time, less than a decade after the collapse of the USSR, Russia had fair elections, freedom of expression, a thriving press and a growing economy. A quarter of a century on, all of that has gone.

Today marks exactly 25 years since Putin was elected President of Russia for the first time. Publishing his manifesto in the form of an open letter to the Russian public, he wrote in February 2000: ‘If I were to look for a slogan for my election campaign, it would be very simple.