'We elect our president': Kremlin defends 'purely democratic' Russia
We've been covering the fifth inauguration of Vladimir Putin as Russian president.
The ceremony took place in Moscow's Grand Kremlin Palace, and our correspondent Ivor Bennett was there to experience the entire event.
He also interviewed Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov about the state of democracy in Russia and the lack of opposition during the presidential election back in March.
Bennett asked Mr Peskov: "Western leaders and Western governments believe that Vladimir Putin has turned Russia into a dictatorship, why do you think that’s not the case?"
Mr Peskov replied: "This is not the case.
"It's just propaganda, it's rough propaganda, nothing else."
He went on to say Russia was "purely democratic", adding: "We choose our power. We elect our power. We elect our president. We vote for the president or don’t want to vote for the president.
"And we insist that we have the right to do it the way we want to do it.
"And we don’t want a third country to interfere in our choices, in our preferences."
Pressed on whether the lack of opposition to Vladimir Putin in Russia was democratic, Mr Peskov said: "But there is opposition inside the country, of course the conditions are much tougher here because we are in war conditions."
Mr Peskov used the word "war" twice in the interview - typically, the Kremlin refers to its invasion of Ukraine as a "special military operation" - a term he also used once.
Ivor Bennett then asked if it was even more important for the public to have the right to speak out in wartime.
"No, to the contrary. It needs tougher measures to ensure the victory, to ensure that we reach our goals," Mr Peskov replied.
Asked whether this was democratic, Mr Peskov insisted: "It is, it is."
He added that the Western media in Europe and the US exists in the "same circumstances".