VLADIMIR PUTIN was sworn in for another term as the president of the Russian Federation today in a ceremony at the Kremlin in Moscow.

About 2,600 guests saw Mr Putin take the oath of office for his fifth term as Russia’s president, although the United States and a number of other European Union nations boycotted the ceremony because of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, now in its third year, and their contention that March’s election was not free.

Mr Putin will hold the office for the next six years after securing 87 per cent of the vote.