As we've reported, Vladimir Putin's return to Russia's presidency was fraught with drama. But a disputed parliamentary election and many unprecedented protests later, Putin took the oath of office for a third time today.
Putin took the oath amid protests. The New York Times reports 300 were detained, following the round up of 400 detained after a surprisingly large anti-Putin demonstration popped up on Sunday.
We'll leave you with some pictures that tell the story of today.
![Russia's Vladimir Putin enters St. Andrew's Hall to take the oath of office during his inauguration as Russian president in the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow on Tuesday.](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/2a1b3c9/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1000x640+0+0/resize/880x563!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmedia.npr.org%2Fassets%2Fimg%2F2012%2F05%2F07%2Frussia_putin_11641722_custom-9e1fadf677917c278b6f8460dd536c75f60692d5.jpg)
Alexei Druzhinin / AP
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AP
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![Russia's President Vladimir Putin and his wife Lyudmila speak with Russian Orthodox Church head, Patriarch Kirill, during a service at Blagoveshchensky (the Annunciation) cathedral after Putin's inauguration ceremony. Putin took his oath of office today to become Russia's president for a historic third mandate at a glittering ceremony inside the Kremlin.](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/159a5d5/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1000x702+0+0/resize/880x618!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmedia.npr.org%2Fassets%2Fimg%2F2012%2F05%2F07%2F143985781_custom-d6db428b2d8470d819733d0eea4702d83997d17c.jpg)
Alexey Druzhinin / AFP/Getty Images
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AFP/Getty Images
![Alexei Navalny, a prominent anti-corruption whistleblower and blogger, holds an issue of <em>Time</em> <em>Magazine</em>, with his photograph, as he stands behind bars in a prison after he was detained in Moscow on Sunday.](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/6f7f9ef/2147483647/strip/true/crop/750x712+0+0/resize/880x835!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmedia.npr.org%2Fassets%2Fimg%2F2012%2F05%2F07%2Frussia_putin_navalny_11639119_custom-f779642b811800f4bdef9cd3a860c499a7218e3f.jpg)
Maria Baronova / AP
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AP