Vladimir Putin was named acting president on Dec. 31, 1999, by then-president Boris Yeltsin.
Aug. 9, 1999 - During an economic crisis, President Yeltsin names little-known security chief
Vladimir Putin as his fifth acting prime minister in less than a year, and says he wants Putin to succeed him as president.
In the following weeks, bombings of apartment blocks across
Russia kill more than 300 people, in attacks Putin blames on Chechen militants.