Russia

====Movement towards a modernized economy, political centralization and democratic backsliding====
On 31 December 1999, president Yeltsin unexpectedly resigned,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/1999/dec/31/russia.marktran|title=Yeltsin resigns|website=[[The Guardian]]|date=31 December 1999|access-date=4 April 2023|archive-date=13 August 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230813133147/https://www.theguardian.com/world/1999/dec/31/russia.marktran|url-status=live}}</ref> handing the post to the recently appointed prime minister and his chosen successor, [[Vladimir Putin]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/01/01/world/yeltsin-resigns-overview-yeltsin-resigns-naming-putin-acting-president-run-march.html |title=Yeltsin Resigns: The Overview; Yeltsin Resigns, Naming Putin as Acting President To Run in March Election |work=[[The New York Times]] |first=Celestine |last=Bohlen |date=1 January 2000 |access-date=30 May 2021 |url-access=limited |archive-date=11 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220411205641/https://www.nytimes.com/2000/01/01/world/yeltsin-resigns-overview-yeltsin-resigns-naming-putin-acting-president-run-march.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Putin then won the [[2000 Russian presidential election|2000 presidential election]],<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/03/27/world/election-russia-overview-putin-wins-russia-vote-first-round-but-his-majority.html |title=Election in Russia: The Overview; Putin Wins Russia Vote in First Round, But His Majority Is Less Than Expected |work=[[The New York Times]] |first=Mark |last=Wines |date=27 March 2000 |access-date=30 May 2021 |url-access=limited |archive-date=15 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230715224429/https://www.nytimes.com/2000/03/27/world/election-russia-overview-putin-wins-russia-vote-first-round-but-his-majority.html |url-status=live }}</ref> and defeated the Chechen insurgency in the [[Second Chechen War]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=O'Loughlin |first1=John |last2=W. Witmer |first2=Frank D. |title=The Localized Geographies of Violence in the North Caucasus of Russia, 1999–2007 |jstor=27980166 |volume=101 |number=1 |date=January 2011 |journal=[[Annals of the Association of American Geographers]] |publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]] |pages=178–201|doi=10.1080/00045608.2010.534713 |s2cid=52248942 }}</ref>

Putin won a [[2004 Russian presidential election|second presidential term]] in 2004.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/15/world/as-expected-putin-easily-wins-a-second-term-in-russia.html |title=As Expected, Putin Easily Wins a Second Term in Russia |work=[[The New York Times]] |first=Seth |last=Mydans |date=15 March 2004 |access-date=30 May 2021 |url-access=limited |archive-date=17 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210817223858/https://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/15/world/as-expected-putin-easily-wins-a-second-term-in-russia.html |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Price of petroleum|High oil prices]] and a rise in foreign investment saw the [[Russian economy]] and living standards improve significantly.<ref name="Ellyatt-2021">{{cite web |last=Ellyatt |first=Holly |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2021/10/11/russias-economy-under-president-putin-in-charts.html |title=5 charts show Russia's economic highs and lows under Putin |date=11 October 2021 |access-date=19 January 2022 |work=[[CNBC]] |archive-date=8 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220408173641/https://www.cnbc.com/2021/10/11/russias-economy-under-president-putin-in-charts.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Putin's rule increased stability, while transforming Russia into an [[Authoritarianism#Examples|authoritarian state]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Kotkin |first=Stephen |title=The Resistible Rise of Vladimir Putin: Russia's Nightmare Dressed Like a Daydream |jstor=24483492 |volume=94 |number=2 |date=2015 |journal=[[Foreign Affairs]] |publisher=[[Council on Foreign Relations]] |pages=140–153}}</ref> In 2008, Putin took the post of prime minister, while [[Dmitry Medvedev]] was [[2008 Russian presidential election|elected president]] for one term, to hold onto power despite legal [[term limit]]s;<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/may/08/russia |title=Putin ever present as Medvedev becomes president |work=[[The Guardian]] |first=Luke |last=Harding |date=8 May 2008 |access-date=6 June 2021 |archive-date=21 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220321211752/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/may/08/russia |url-status=live }}</ref> this period has been described as a "[[Medvedev–Putin tandemocracy|tandemocracy]]".<ref>{{cite journal|last=Monaghan|first=Andrew|title=The vertikal: power and authority in Russia|volume=88|number=1|date=January 2012|pages=1–16|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|journal=[[International Affairs (journal)|International Affairs]]|doi=10.1111/j.1468-2346.2012.01053.x |jstor=41428537}}</ref>
[[File:Annexation of Southern and Eastern Ukraine.svg|thumb|[[Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine]] as of 30 September 2022 at the time their [[Russian annexation of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia oblasts|annexation was declared]]]]
Following a [[2008 Russo-Georgian diplomatic crisis|diplomatic crisis]] with neighbouring [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]], the [[Russo-Georgian War]] took place during 1–12 August 2008, resulting in Russia recognising two separatist states in the territories that it [[occupied territories of Georgia|occupies in Georgia]].<ref>{{cite book | last1=Harzl | first1=B.C. | last2=Petrov | first2=R. | title=Unrecognized Entities: Perspectives in International, European and Constitutional Law | publisher=Brill | series=Law in Eastern Europe | year=2021 | isbn=978-90-04-49910-2 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ECBXEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA246 | access-date=18 December 2022 | page=246 | archive-date=25 December 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221225095408/https://books.google.com/books?id=ECBXEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA246 | url-status=live }}</ref> It was the first [[List of conflicts in Europe|European war]] of the 21st century.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Emerson |first=Michael |date=August 2008 |title=Post-Mortem on Europe's First War of the 21st Century |url=http://aei.pitt.edu/9382/2/9382.pdf |magazine=CEPS Policy Brief |number=167 |publisher=[[Centre for European Policy Studies]] |access-date=6 April 2022 |doi=10.2139/ssrn.1333553 |s2cid=127834430 |ssrn=1333553 |archive-date=7 December 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141207214701/http://aei.pitt.edu/9382/2/9382.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>