section_path: Political career/2024–present: Fifth presidential term
section_name: 2024–present: Fifth presidential term
paragraph_text: 2024–present: Fifth presidential term
  
  Putin won the 2024 Russian presidential election with 88% of the vote. International observers did not consider the election to be free or fair, with Putin having increased political repressions after launching his full-scale war with Ukraine in 2022. The elections were also held in the Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine. There were reports of irregularities, including ballot stuffing and coercion, with statistical analysis suggesting unprecedented levels of fraud in the 2024 elections. In March 2024, the Crocus City Hall attack took place, causing the deaths of 145 people and injuring 551 more. It was the deadliest terrorist attack on Russian soil since the Beslan school siege in 2004.
  
  In May 2024, Putin was inaugurated as president of Russia for the fifth time. According to analysts, replacing Sergei Shoigu with Andrey Belousov as defense minister signals that Putin wanted to transform the economy into a war economy and is "preparing for many more years of war". Four Russian sources told Reuters that Putin was ready to end the war in Ukraine with a negotiated ceasefire that would recognize Russia's war gains and freeze the war on the then front lines, as Putin wanted to avoid unpopular steps such as further mobilization and increased war spending.
  
  In August 2024, Putin pardoned American journalist Evan Gershkovich, opposition figures Vladimir Kara-Murza, Ilya Yashin and others in a prisoner swap with western countries. The 2024 Ankara prisoner exchange was the most extensive between Russia and United States since the end of the Cold War, involving the release of 26 people.
  
  In September 2024, Putin warned the West that if attacked with conventional weapons Russia would consider a nuclear retaliation, in an apparent deviation from the no first use doctrine. Putin went on to threaten nuclear powers that if they supported another country's attack on Russia, then they would be considered participants in such an aggression. Russia and the United States are the world's biggest nuclear powers, holding 88% of the world's nuclear weapons. Putin has made implicit nuclear threats since the outbreak of war against Ukraine. Experts say Putin's announcement was aimed at dissuading the US, UK and France from allowing Ukraine to use Western-supplied long-range missiles such as the Storm Shadow and ATACMS in strikes against Russia.
  
  In April 2025, US President Donald Trump criticized Putin's determination to continue the war against Ukraine despite the horrific death toll and called for a peace deal, posting on social media: "Vladimir, STOP! 5000 soldiers a week are dying. Lets get the Peace Deal DONE!" Putin rejected a proposal by the United States and Ukraine for an unconditional 30-day ceasefire. In May 2025, Putin attended the Victory Day parade in Moscow with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Brazilian President Lula da Silva and other foreign leaders.
  
  In May 2025, Putin approved Alexander Novak 's coal industry bailout plan.