2000
January 1, 2000
President Boris Yeltsin resigns and gives the presidency to Prime Minister, and former KGB officer, Vladimir Putin. Months later Putin wins the 2000 presidential election.
May 11, 2000
Media Most, the parent company of Russia's
largest independent TV network, is raided.
June, 2000
Vladimir Gusinsky, the owner of Media Most, is arrested. To get out, he gives control of the NTV independent channel to state-dominated gas monopoly Gazprom.
2003
June 23, 2003
TVS, Russia's only remaining independent
TV station, is taken off air
2004
March, 2004
Vladimir Putin is re-elected for a second term.
2005
August, 2005
Moscow bans journalists of the ABC from working in Russia after the network aired an interview with a leader of the Chechen independence movement.
