Twenty years ago on Friday, Russian President Boris Yeltsin appointed his fourth prime minister in less than 18 months, Vladimir Putin, who was then a relatively unknown head of the intelligence service with little experience in politics.
Before his departure from power, Yeltsin was looking for a successor, and few expected Putin to remain in power two decades later, playing a key role in world affairs.
But this is a difficult time for the Russian president.
Although his ratings are still high compared to most support for Western leaders, they have declined somewhat because of the stagnation of the economy and low living standards.
The protest movement in Moscow has led to the arrest of thousands of people in recent weeks in the largest crackdown since the wave of demonstrations against Putin, which spread to the capital when he returned to the Kremlin in 2012 after he was prime minister.
But the 66-year-old president also faces the dilemma of preparing his succession.
This is his last presidential term, according to the constitution, but after he ruled out all his rivals and dominated most of the media, it seems that no one is ready to succeed him.
Analysts say Putin, who took Russia's longest term since Joseph Stalin, is unlikely to hand over power fully when his term ends in 2024.
"Russia, despite its poverty and its problems with crime, is still a democratic and liberal state," said prominent journalist Nikolai Svanidze, who interviewed Putin when he first came to power in the Kremlin.
"After 20 years in power, he is not facing any restrictions in any way, he is practically a Sultan."
Political analyst Konstantin Kalachev said Putin had begun a liberal willing to work with the West, but over time he had become more conservative and more aggressive.
He noted that the West's cynical attitude towards Russia, as well as its intervention in Iraq, Libya and elsewhere in the world, has changed Putin's position. "I think his disappointment was behind this change towards a tougher approach," he said.