Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday will be inaugurated to another six-year term. Most European Union countries are boycotting the ceremony.

For some Russian regions, the country’s invasion of Ukraine means they face shelling and dwindling export revenues due to sanctions. For others, it means an unprecedented influx of cash as they profit from the flywheel of war and growing domestic consumption.

The ongoing state of war and uncertain future mean that the Russian elites cannot make long-term plans, which encourages them to flout the old rules, live for today, and undertake power moves to score a win against their rivals.

Carnegie Politika podcast host Alex Gabuev is joined by Mark Galeotti, director of Mayak Intelligence, and Vera Mironova, an associate fellow at Harvard's Davis Center, to discuss the consequences of the March 22 terrorist attack on a Moscow concert hall and its consequences for regime stability.

Putin is more likely to promote people in their forties than older generations who have been in power for too long and can envisage life without him. But Russia doesn’t have enough young administrators ready to replace those in their sixties.

The formation in Russia of a new concept of “fairness” is testament to how long the war in Ukraine is expected to continue. The “special military operation” is fast approaching a way of life.