When Russian President Vladimir Putin rose to power seven years ago, most citizens had little idea who he was aside from his background as a former KGB agent. But most saw him as a stable change from his ailing predecessor Boris Yeltsin.

That stability was needed. After the Soviet Union collapsed, Russians hoped to regain their nation's status as a true world power. But there were setbacks. Mass privatization of state assets in the 1990s had led to the so-called oligarchy, a group of wealthy businessmen who some suspected of corruption and criminal activity.

There was also the question of Chechnya -- separatists wanted independence from the Russian Federation, and extremists were willing to terrorize citizens to get it.

First Term

1999

August
Yeltsin removes Sergei Stepashin as prime minister, in the latest of several sackings. Stephashin's replacement is Putin.

September
Just weeks after his appointment, Putin vows to punish Chechen rebels who officials claim are responsible for a series of bombing attacks in Russia. A recent explosion in Moscow has left 94 people dead. Putin sends Russian planes to attack Grozny, the Chechen capital.

Former Russian President Boris Yeltsin (AP Photo)

December
Yeltsin's health has become a major concern. He abruptly resigns and Putin takes his place as acting president on Dec. 31, 1999, just months after being named prime minister.

"Russia must enter the new millennium with new politicians, new faces, intelligent, strong and energetic people," Yeltsin says in a televised address. "Those of us who have been in power for many years must go."

2000

March
Putin wins the election on March 26 to become Russia's second president, promising to "respect and guard the human and civil rights" of the country. At age 47, he's Russia's youngest leader since Joseph Stalin.

August
Russia's Kursk submarine, considered a technical marvel, sinks in the Barents Sea. Officials say the vessel was likely struck by another submarine, and have little hope the 118 crew members are alive.

British and Norwegian rescue teams complain that Russian officials are hesitant about allowing their assistance. Meanwhile, Putin is criticized for failing to make an immediate response to the disaster. For the first few days, the president stays at his official holiday residence in Sochi on the Black Sea.

It's later revealed the Russian navy lacks a deep-sea diving team capable of rescuing any possible survivors. And after two years, a Russian investigation concludes a fuel leak caused the explosion, not a clash with another submarine.

December
Putin changes the country's national anthem and flag in his last major act of the year. It's a sign he wants to restore Russia's previous glory, but not completely ignore the communist upheaval at the start of the century.

The new flag is actually the old flag, used before the revolution - three stripes coloured white, blue and red.

Putin scraps the anthem selected by Yeltsin in 1991, replacing it with the same tune used during the Soviet era. But the Soviet anthem's original lyricist, Mikhail Mikhalkov, removes any mention of Lenin or Stalin.

2001

March
Putin replaces defence minister Marshall Igor Sergeyev with a civilian, Sergei Ivanov. Like the president, Ivanov is a former KGB agent. "This is the logical conclusion to the completion of our bid to modernize the country's military structure," Putin says on state television.

November
Russia discusses an alliance with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The treaty was created in 1949, partly as a way for North American and some European countries to unify themselves against possible attacks by the former Soviet Union.

Under Yeltsin, Russia had previously expressed interest in cooperating with NATO members. But Putin's move is a clear indication political boundaries have been re-drawn following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. Russia and the West are now united in the fight against terrorism.

2002

May
Russia and the U.S. agree to reduce their nuclear weapons supplies by about two thirds. Both countries had amassed enormous stockpiles during the Cold War. And later, Russia finalizes a new partnership with NATO, called the NATO-Russia Council. "Two former foes are now joined as partners," U.S. President George Bush tells reporters.

October
Chechen militants launch a major operation in Russia's capital, storming a theatre and holding about 800 people captive. The captors demand Russia remove its forces from Chechnya. Putin demonstrates his now well-known - and often criticized - steely resolve by refusing to negotiate. Police storm the theatre as Russians watch. The result: the militants are almost entirely wiped out, but about 130 hostages are dead.

Reports show police released a gas into the theatre before entering, to subdue the captors before they could detonate any explosives. Officials keep the type of gas a secret, even as doctors attempt to treat hundreds of civilians taken to hospital.

The gas is eventually confirmed to be fentanyl, used as a painkiller and roughly 100 times more potent than morphine. The vast majority of hostages who died were killed from the gas and not by the terrorists -- some reports say all of them but one.

2003

March
Controversial results from a Chechen referendum show most people support the region being officially designated as a republic of the Russian Federation.

October
Billionaire Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who founded Russia's Yukos oil firm, is arrested on fraud charges. Khodorkovsky had been setting himself up as a potential political rival of Putin, and was funding parties opposed to the president.

He is also a member of Russia's so-called oligarchy, a group of men who earned their fortunes after the collapse of the Soviet Union, buying state assets at greatly reduced rates during the first years of heavy privatization.

Khodorkovsky is later convicted and sentenced to nine years in a Siberian prison, where he remains. His term was later shortened to eight years.

December
Putin helps win major support for the pro-Kremlin United Russia government.

Second Term

March 2004
Mikhail Fradkov is named prime minister and Putin wins a second term as president.

May
A bomb explosion kills Chechen President Akhmad Kadyrov. He was supported by the Russian government.

September
Pro-Chechen gunmen seize the Beslan school on Sept. 1, 2004. It's the first day of the Russian school year, traditionally celebrated by children and their families.

Three days later, most of the 331 hostages are killed in a hail of gunfire and blasts during a rescue attempt by Russian security forces. About half of the dead are children.

Russian officials say all the hostage-takers except Nur-Pashi Kulayev, a Chechen carpenter, are killed.

2005

March
Chechen rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov is killed by Russian troops.

August
In what Russians worry may be an echo of the Kursk disaster, a submarine with seven crewmembers sinks to bottom of the sea floor. But this time, Putin's government is quick to allow foreign help. A British team rescues the crew after a tense 76 hours.

December
Putin, a well-known judo enthusiast, demonstrates his skill of the Japanese martial art in St. Petersburg. Russian television shows him teaching a master class -- Putin holds a black belt, and wrote a book on judo. "When I am on a judo mat, I feel at home," The Associated Press quotes him as once saying.

2006
January
Russia's state-owned Gazprom slashes supplies of natural gas to Ukraine, after its government refuses to sign a contract that would raise the price by four times.

Putin's critics wonder if the move is political -- Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko wants to reduce Moscow's influence in his country. And when Ukraine holds parliamentary elections in March, Yushchenko will run against Viktor Yanukovych, who has close ties to Moscow.

In the same month, Putin signs a controversial law giving authorities extensive new powers to monitor the activities of non-governmental organizations.

February
Putin invites leaders of Hamas to Moscow. The group won legislative elections in Palestine the previous month, but most Western nations consider the group a terrorist organization that seeks the complete destruction of Israel.

June
Four Russian diplomats are killed in Iraq, despite Putin's opposition to the U.S.-led military presence in the war-torn country. He vows that Russian forces will "find and destroy the criminals."

July
Putin announces that Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev, who allegedly masterminded the Beslan school hostage-taking, has been killed by Russian security forces near Chechnya.

The president says Basayev "deserved retribution" for what happened at the school.

CTV's Ellen Pinchuk describes Basayev as the "(Osama) bin Laden of Russia," and someone who "wanted to create a separate country from Russia and was willing to go to incredibly bloody lengths to further his intentions."

Starting July 15, Russia hosts a G8 meeting in St. Petersburg.