INDEPTH: RUSSIA
Russian Democracy: Timeline
CBC News Online | May 31, 2005
The Russian presidency emerged as a powerful position even before the Soviet Union dissolved to be replaced by a loose coalition of republics.
Boris Yeltsin was elected chairman of Russia's parliament while the republic was still part of the Soviet Union. As the power of the last Soviet leader – Mikhail Gorbachev – sagged under the pressure for rapid reforms, Yeltsin rode a wave of public support.
The first directly elected head of the Russian republic's parliament filled the void after Gorbachev threw in the towel and resigned on Christmas Day 1991. Days later, the flag of the Soviet Union atop the Kremlin was replaced by the flag of the Russian republic.
Yeltsin held the post nine years, until he resigned. He was replaced by his prime minister, Vladimir Putin, who won two presidential elections and is currently serving his last term under Russia's constitution. The war in Chechnya – which shaped Putin's public image as a tough, energetic leader in 1999 – rages on. The Kremlin has dubbed it a war against terrorism and has linked it to U.S.-led wars in Afghanistan and in Iraq.
May 31, 2005:
Russian oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky is sentenced to nine years in prison after he is found guilty of fraud and tax evasion. Many claim Khodorkovsky's arrest was politically motivated because he openly funded opposition political parties in defiance of President Vladimir Putin.
May 16 2005:
A Russian judge starts reading the verdict in the trial of billionaire Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the former head of Russian oil company Yukos. Khodorkovsky, 41, has denied guilt on the charges of tax evasion and fraud dating back to his first days at the helm of Yukos. Analysts say he angered the Kremlin when he funded opposition political parties in defiance of President Vladimir Putin. He also sought foreign investment to build a private oil pipeline, something that has always been controlled by the state.
April 25, 2005:
In his annual state of the nation address, President Vladimir Putin calls the collapse of the Soviet Union "the greatest political catastrophe of the last century."
March 8, 2005:
Russian forces kill Chechen leader Aslan Maskhadov during a special operation in the Chechen village of Tolstoy-Yurt.
Feb. 27, 2005:
Moscow signs a deal with Iran under which Russia will supply nuclear fuel to a power plant in southern Iran. Under the deal, Iran will return spent fuel rods from the reactor to prevent their use in nuclear weapons.
Feb. 24, 2005:
U.S. president George W. Bush and Vladimir Putin meet in Bratislava, Slovakia. Bush brings up concerns that Putin is looking back to Soviet-style governing by rolling back some democratic reforms and clamping down on civil and press liberties.
Oct. 27, 2004:
Russian parliament ratifies Kyoto accord.
Sept. 1, 2004:
335 people – half of them children – are killed in a hostage taking at a school in southern Russia. The siege at the school in Beslan is blamed on Chechen rebels. Putin promises a tougher response to terrorism.
March 14, 2004:
Putin elected to a second term as president, capturing more than 70 per cent of the vote. Concerns over possible voter apathy vanished as nearly two-thirds of eligible voters cast their ballots.
March 1, 2004:
Putin names a former head of Russia's tax police – Mikhail Fradkov – as his choice for the country's next prime minister.
Feb. 24, 2004:
Putin fires Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov and his entire cabinet. He says the move has nothing to do with their performance, but is needed to prepare for the aftermath of the upcoming presidential election.
December 2003:
Putin gains control over parliament after his party, United Russia, clinches the parliamentary election.
October 2003:
Russia's richest man and head of Yukos oil, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, is arrested on tax evasion and fraud charges. His supporters both at home and abroad see this as a government move to stifle opposition funded by Khodorkovsky, and to warn other oligarchs to keep out of politics.
October 2002:
Chechen rebels seize a Moscow theatre and hold about 800 people hostage. The siege ends when Russian special forces storm the theatre – 129 people and nearly all the hostage-takers die in the operation.
May 2002:
Russia and the U.S. sign an agreement on reducing their nuclear arsenals. Russia joins 19 NATO countries in a new council that gives it equal decision-making power in security matters.
April 2001:
Russia's last remaining independent television network, NTV, undergoes a change in ownership, which, according to critics, puts it too much under the control of the Kremlin.
March 2000:
Russia elects Putin to the presidency, with approximately 53 per cent of the vote. Putin chooses Mikhail Kasyanov to be his prime minister.
Dec. 31, 1999:
Yeltsin resigns and Putin replaces him as interim president.
October 1999:
Vladimir Putin sends Russian troops into Chechnya after a series of attacks in Russia blamed on Chechen militants.
August 1999:
Yeltsin fires Prime Minister Sergey Stepashin and replaces him with Vladimir Putin. Militants from Chechnya invade Dagestan, a Russian constituent republic, in an attempt to establish an Islamic state there.
May 1999:
Yeltsin fires Yevgeny Primakov and replaces him with Sergey Stepashin as prime minister.
September 1998:
The legislature approves Primakov and he is made prime minister.
August 1998:
Yeltsin fires Prime Minister Sergey Kiriyenko and renominates Viktor Chernomyrdin. The legislature rejects his selection. Yeltsin nominates Yevgeny Primakov.
March 1998:
Yeltsin dismisses his entire cabinet and fires Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin. He replaces him with Sergey Kiriyenko.
November 1996:
Boris Yeltsin signs an agreement on the withdrawal of Russian troops from Chechnya, following a peace agreement signed in May.
July 3, 1996:
Yeltsin is elected to his second term as president despite suffering a heart attack the previous month.
December 1995:
The Communist party wins one-third of legislative seats in parliamentary elections.
December 1994:
Russia begins war with Chechnya, a former Soviet republic that declared its independence in 1991.
Dec. 12, 1993:
In a national referendum, the people of Russia approve a new constitution that increases presidential power. It limits presidents to two four-year terms.
December 1992:
Yeltsin fires Yegor Gaidar and appoints Viktor Chernomyrdin as prime minister.
June 1992:
Yeltsin appoints Yegor Gaidar to serve as acting prime minister of Russia.
Dec. 31, 1991:
The flag of the Russian republic replaces the Soviet flag atop the Kremlin.
Dec. 25, 1991:
Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev resigns, signifying the collapse of the Soviet Union. With Boris Yeltsin as its leader, independent Russia joins the Commonwealth of Independent States.
Dec. 8, 1991:
The Commonwealth of Independent States is formed. The organization was conceived as the successor to the Soviet Union, to co-ordinate foreign and economic policies for member nations.
August 1991:
The military confines Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev to house arrest and tries to install a new government. Demonstrators – led by Boris Yeltsin – stare down the authorities and the military backs off. Three days later, Gorbachev is reinstated.
June 16, 1991:
Boris Yeltsin wins the first direct election for president of the Russian Republic. The Republic is still part of the U.S.S.R., although the Kremlin's hold on the republics is shaky as demands for rapid reform sweep the country. Two years earlier, Gorbachev introduced free elections for the new congress of people's deputies, as part of his attempt to reform the Soviet Union.
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