Photograph of Vladimir Putin at the coronavirus monitoring center, Moscow, 17 March 2020 — At the coronavirus monitoring center, Moscow, 17 March 2020 — kremlin.ru (CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons). Pictured during the year the constitutional amendments were adopted.

Constitutional Changes

In 2020 Russia amended its constitution — resetting Putin's presidential term count and potentially permitting him to remain in office through 2036. The Kremlin called it the people's will; critics called it a power grab. Both positions are attributed.

What changed

The amendments, proposed by Putin in January 2020 and approved in a national vote held 25 June – 1 July 2020, included:

The term reset. Previous presidential terms were “zeroed out,” allowing Putin to stand for two more six-year terms — potentially keeping him in office until 2036.
Social guarantees written into the constitution: minimum wage floors, pension indexation.
The definition of marriage as between a man and a woman; the primacy of Russian law over international law; a mention of God and of Russia’s “thousand-year history.”
A ban on top officials holding foreign citizenship or residency.

The official account

The Kremlin’s stated position: the amendments were proposed to strengthen sovereignty and social protections, and were approved by the people — the Central Election Commission reported 77.92% voting yes, with turnout around 65%. Putin said the term reset was needed to preserve stability and keep his “lieutenants” from “darting their eyes around” in search of successors — his own stated rationale.

The criticism

Critics — including Russian opposition figures, independent election observers (notably the Golos movement), and Western governments — argued the vote was neither free nor fair: it was held over multiple days with limited independent observation, and the term reset was, in their stated view, designed to keep one man in power indefinitely. The OSCE’s ODIHR did not observe the vote, citing late invitation and pandemic constraints — a documented fact, not a judgment.

The 2024 election under the new rules

Putin stood for a fifth term in the 15–17 March 2024 election and was declared the winner with 87.28% of the official vote (Central Election Commission). Western governments, including the U.S. and EU members, stated the election was neither free nor fair, citing the absence of genuine competition — Alexei Navalny had died in prison a month earlier, and anti-war candidates were barred. The Kremlin rejected the criticism and cited the official turnout and result. Both positions are attributed; see Public Record.

Source notes

Amendment texts: the official published Constitution of the Russian Federation as amended.
Referendum figures: Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation (official results).
Criticism: statements of the Golos movement, EU and U.S. government positions, and reporting in sources — all attributed.
ODIHR’s non-observation of the 2020 vote: ODIHR public statements.