2024 was a year of triumphs and setbacks for Russian leader Vladimir Putin. Here's how it unfolded
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In 2024, President Vladimir Putin further cemented his grip on power and sought to counter Russia's isolation from the West over the war in Ukraine. But he faced continuing challenges, with a deadly attack by gunmen in Moscow and an incursion by Kyiv's troops on his territory.
As Russia's nearly 3-year-old war in Ukraine enters a new, potentially pivotal phase amid a new U.S. administration and its uncertain support for Kyiv, here's a look back at how the year unfolded for Putin:. January: A presidential campaign with no real opponents.
Putin ran for a fifth term in office with his top opponents either jailed or exiled abroad. But in a rare show of defiance, thousands of Russians queued in the January cold to sign petitions for an unlikely challenger. Boris Nadezhdin, a 60-year-old legislator and war critic, got the 100,000 signatures needed to put him on the ballot, but election authorities eventually barred him from running. Still, the support he received reflected anti-war sentiment and public longing for political competition in an embarrassment for Putin.
February: Alexei Navalny dies in prison. On Feb. 16, Putin's longtime foe Alexei Navalny died in an arctic prison colony while serving a 19-year sentence on charges widely seen as politically motivated. The news of his death at age 47 shocked the world and robbed the opposition of its most charismatic leader. No exact cause of death was given, and his family and allies blamed the Kremlin, which denied involvement. Tens of thousands of mourners attended his Moscow funeral two weeks later in a show of defiance.
