The Rise of Putin (1999-2000)

Russian Political History II: From Khrushchev to Putin

Chapter 7 · The Rise of Putin (1999-2000)

Chapter 6 closed with a strengthened, real presidential system emerging from the 1993 crisis and a new constitution. By 1999, Yeltsin himself was politically weakened and in declining health — this chapter covers the real, remarkably rapid sequence that brought an obscure security official to the presidency within seventeen months.

An Unlikely Appointment (August 1999)

In August 1999, Yeltsin appointed Vladimir Putin — a former KGB officer with no real prior national political profile — as Prime Minister. Yeltsin later wrote in his own memoirs that Putin, immediately upon appointment, requested "absolute power... to coordinate all power structures" — a real, striking demand from a figure most of the country did not yet know.

The Apartment Bombings (September 1999)

Less than a month after Putin's appointment, a real, deadly wave of apartment-block bombings struck Russia: Buynaksk on 4 September, two in Moscow on 9 and 13 September, and Volgodonsk on 16 September — killing over 300 people and injuring more than 1,000.

The Official Explanation

Russian authorities blamed Chechen rebels, and the bombings genuinely galvanized real public support for renewed military action — directly leading to the Second Chechen War.

Putin's Rising Popularity

The war's own real popularity translated directly into rising support for Putin himself, transforming an unknown appointee into a genuinely viable national leader within weeks.

A Real, Still-Unresolved Controversy A fifth device was discovered in the basement of a building in Ryazan, southeast of Moscow — and those who had planted it were identified not as Chechen militants but as FSB agents. Suspicion deepened further from real, documented evidence that the FSB had advance knowledge the bombings would occur. This remains a genuinely disputed episode: official Russian accounts describe Ryazan as a security "training exercise," while independent investigators and journalists have long questioned that explanation. No definitive, universally accepted resolution exists.

The Second Chechen War

Russian military operations resumed against Chechnya in the war's real second phase, with Putin — now leading the government's response — receiving direct real political credit for a decisive, assertive posture that stood in sharp contrast to Yeltsin's own declining authority.

Yeltsin's Resignation (31 December 1999)

On 31 December 1999, Yeltsin announced his own resignation on live television, handing a formal decree to Putin in the presence of Patriarch Alexy II. Putin automatically became acting president as sitting Prime Minister.

Finding: A Real, Immediate Transactional First Act Putin's very first decree as acting president granted Yeltsin — and his own family — immunity from future prosecution, including for corruption. This real, documented act is widely understood as the concrete price of a smooth, voluntary succession: Yeltsin's own willingness to step aside early, rather than serve out his full term, appears directly tied to this guaranteed protection.

The March 2000 Election

Putin won the presidency in his own right on 26 March 2000, having governed as acting president for less than three months beforehand. His own calm, organized public presentation — deliberately contrasted against Yeltsin's real, well-documented health struggles and erratic public appearances — helped consolidate a genuine, rapid transfer of legitimacy from an exhausted Yeltsin era to a new one.

Looking Ahead

Chapter 8 covers Putin's own real political system as it consolidated over the following decades — "managed democracy" and the power vertical.

Hands-On Exercises

Exercise 1

Explain how the September 1999 apartment bombings, whatever their real origin, produced a specific, concrete political benefit for Putin that a similar event under a different leader might not have.

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Exercise 2

Explain why the Ryazan incident is treated in this chapter as a genuinely unresolved controversy rather than a settled historical fact in either direction.

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Exercise 3

Explain the real, likely connection between Putin's first decree as acting president and Yeltsin's own decision to resign early rather than complete his term.

→ Solution

Quick Reference

  • August 1999: Putin appointed Prime Minister, a real political unknown at the time
  • 4-16 September 1999: Apartment bombings kill 300+, injure 1,000+; officially blamed on Chechen rebels
  • Real, disputed controversy: the Ryazan incident implicates the FSB, officially described as a "training exercise"
  • Real consequence: the bombings trigger the Second Chechen War and rapidly boost Putin's popularity
  • 31 December 1999: Yeltsin resigns; Putin becomes acting president and immediately grants Yeltsin immunity
  • 26 March 2000: Putin wins the presidency in his own right