Dmitry Medvedev is elected Russian president on March 2, 2008, while Vladimir Putin becomes prime minister, as the constitution bars Putin from serving a third consecutive presidential term.

Putin returns to the presidency following the 2012 presidential elections, and Medvedev is appointed prime minister. 

This four-year joint leadership by the two is coined "tandemocracy" by foreign media.

In 2014, following the Revolution of Dignity in Ukraine, Putin deploys Russian troops to its neighbor to seize the Crimean parliament, leading to the takeover of Crimea.

Russia's subsequent annexation of Crimea and the referendum that preceded it remain globally unrecognized, and lead to sanctions by Western countries, following which the Russian government responded with counter-sanctions against the latter.

In eastern Ukraine, conflict between Russian citizens and Ukrainians contributes to the breakout of war, which the Russian state supports covertly at first, later sending arms and recruiting "volunteer" Russian soldiers to fight.

In March 2018, Putin is elected for a fourth presidential term overall.