Vladimir Putin on Friday moved to prolong his repressive and unyielding grip on Russia for at least another six years, announcing his candidacy in the presidential election next March that he is all but certain to win.Putin still commands wide support after nearly a quarter-century in power, despite starting an immensely costly war in Ukraine that has taken thousands of his countrymen바카라 게임 웹사이트�s lives, provoked repeated attacks inside Russia 바카라 게임 웹사이트� including one on the Kremlin itself 바카라 게임 웹사이트� and corroded its aura of invincibility.A short-lived rebellion in June by mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin raised widespread speculation that Putin could be losing his grip, but he emerged with no permanent scars. Prigozhin바카라 게임 웹사이트�s death in a mysterious plane crash two months later reinforced the view that Putin was in absolute control.Putin announced his decision to run in the March 17 presidential election after a Kremlin award ceremony, when war veterans and others pleaded with him to seek re-election.바카라 게임 웹사이트�I won't hide it from you 바카라 게임 웹사이트� I had various thoughts about it over time, but now, you're right, it's necessary to make a decision,바카라 게임 웹사이트� Putin said in a video released by the Kremlin after the event. 바카라 게임 웹사이트�I will run for president of the Russian Federation.바카라 게임 웹사이트�Tatiana Stanovaya of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center noted that the announcement was made in a low-key way instead of a live televised speech, probably reflecting the Kremlin's spin effort to emphasize Putin's modesty and his perceived focus on doing his job as opposed to loud campaigning.바카라 게임 웹사이트�It's not about prosperity, it's about survival,바카라 게임 웹사이트� Stanovaya observed. 바카라 게임 웹사이트�The stakes have been raised to the maximum.바카라 게임 웹사이트�About 80% of the populace approves of Putin's performance, according to the independent pollster Levada Center. That support might come from the heart or it might reflect submission to a leader whose crackdown on any opposition has made even relatively mild criticism perilous.Whether due to real or coerced support, Putin is expected to face only token opposition on the ballot.Putin, 71, has twice used his leverage to amend the constitution so he could theoretically stay in power until he바카라 게임 웹사이트�s in his mid-80s. He is already the longest-serving Kremlin leader since Soviet dictator Josef Stalin, who died in 1953.Video below: Biden on funding for Ukraine: 'We can't let Putin win'In 2008, he stepped aside to become prime minister due to term limits but continued calling the shots. Presidential terms were then extended to six years from four, while another package of amendments he pushed through three years ago reset the count for two consecutive terms to begin in 2024.바카라 게임 웹사이트�He is afraid to give up power,바카라 게임 웹사이트� Dmitry Oreshkin, a political analyst and professor at Free University of Riga, Latvia, told The Associated Press this year.At the time of the amendments that allowed him two more terms, Putin바카라 게임 웹사이트�s concern about losing power may have been elevated: Levada polling showed his approval rating significantly lower, hovering around 60%.In the view of some analysts, that dip in popularity could have been a main driver of the war that Putin launched in Ukraine in February 2022.바카라 게임 웹사이트�This conflict with Ukraine was necessary as a glue. He needed to consolidate his power,바카라 게임 웹사이트� said commentator Abbas Gallyamov, a former Putin speechwriter now living in Israel.Brookings Institution scholar Fiona Hill, a former U.S. National Security Council expert on Russian affairs, agrees that Putin thought 바카라 게임 웹사이트�a lovely small, victorious war바카라 게임 웹사이트� would consolidate support for his reelection.바카라 게임 웹사이트�Ukraine would capitulate,바카라 게임 웹사이트� she told AP this year. 바카라 게임 웹사이트�He바카라 게임 웹사이트�d install a new president in Ukraine. He would declare himself the president of a new union of Belarus, Ukraine and Russia over the course of the time leading up to the 2024 election. He바카라 게임 웹사이트�d be the supreme leader.바카라 게임 웹사이트�The war didn바카라 게임 웹사이트�t turn out that way. It devolved into a grueling slog in which neither side makes significant headway, posing severe challenges to the rising prosperity integral to Putin바카라 게임 웹사이트�s popularity and Russians바카라 게임 웹사이트� propensity to set aside concerns about corrupt politics and shrinking tolerance of dissent.Putin바카라 게임 웹사이트�s rule has spanned five U.S. presidencies, from Bill Clinton to Joe Biden. He became acting president on New Year바카라 게임 웹사이트�s Eve in 1999, when Boris Yeltsin unexpectedly resigned. He was elected to his first term in March 2000.When he was forced to step down in 2008 by term limits, he shifted to the prime minister바카라 게임 웹사이트�s post while close ally Dmitry Medvedev served as a placeholder president.When Putin announced he would run for a new term in 2012 and Medvedev submissively agreed to become prime minister, public protests brought out crowds of 100,000 or more.Although Putin has long abandoned the macho photo shoots of bear hunting and scuba diving that once amused and impressed the world, he shows little sign of slowing down. Photos from 2022 of him with a bloated face and a hunched posture led to speculation he was seriously ill, but he seems little changed in recent public appearances.바카라 게임 웹사이트�He바카라 게임 웹사이트�s a wartime president, is mobilizing the population behind him,바카라 게임 웹사이트� Hill said. 바카라 게임 웹사이트�And that will be the message around the 2024 election, depending on where things are in the battlefield.바카라 게임 웹사이트�___Jim Heintz, who reported from Tallinn, Estonia, has covered Vladimir Putin for The Associated Press for the whole of his Kremlin leadership.