AVA - Vladimir Putin has been sworn in as Russian president

Vladimir Putin has been sworn in for his fourth term as president of Russia at a ceremony in the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow.

He has been in power in Russia since 1999, whether as prime minister or president.

After winning a landslide victory in March, Mr Putin, 65, is expected to continue to control Russia until at least 2024.
He is Russia's longest-lasting leader since the Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin, who ruled for nearly 30 years.
Supporters see Mr Putin as a father-of-the-nation figure who has restored national pride and expanded Moscow's global power.
The Kremlin has planned a low-key inauguration ceremony that will not include a lavish Kremlin reception in an apparent effort to eschew any bad publicity.
His inauguration follows nationwide rallies and protests which resulted in the arrests of at least 1,200 demonstrators.
Russia's interior ministry said about half of the 1,200 arrests happened in Moscow, but monitoring group OVD-Info put the number at more than 1,600 across 20 cities.