While Vladimir Putin has been linked to the deaths of scores of prominent Russians who crossed him — notably, political opponent Boris Nemtsov in 2015 and imprisoned dissident Alexei Navalny earlier this year — the Russian strongman is rarely called out as an illegitimate leader for the very reason he came to power 25 years ago.
That changed last week, when a group of Kremlinologists and Russian dissidents in the U.S. denounced Putin as illegitimate since his first day in power because of the so-called "apartment bombings" of September 1999.
With the Kremlin charging Chechen terrorists with widespread violence throughout Russia, the bombings in Moscow, Buynaksk, and Volgodonsk that killed more than 300 people and injured hundreds more led to then-Secretary of State Security Vladimir Putin placed in charge of a war against the Republic of Chechen.
His popularity soared and a lightning political career followed. Putin was promoted to prime minister and elected president in March 2000.
"[W]hat had taken place was the greatest political provocation since the burning of the Reichstag," said David Satter, former Financial Times correspondent in Moscow and author of "The Less You Know, The Better You Sleep: Russia's Road To Terror and Dictatorship Under Yeltsin and Putin."
Satter recalled to the assembled reporters how in 2002, three motions to investigate the bombings were thwarted in the Russian Duma (parliament) and a citizens commission of human rights activists was formed to find the truth.
"Among the members were Sergei Yushenkov, Yuri Shchekochikhin, and journalist Anna Politkovskaya," Satter told us, "who were all murdered in 2006."
Russian dissident Evgeny Savostiyanov, onetime head of the Moscow FSB (state security bureau), said flatly that "Putin could not be elected in a normal way" so his election was provided for by what he called "a state-sponsored act of terror."
Congress has shown signs of taking up the cause that Putin came to power illegitimately. In March, Reps. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., offered House Resolution 1087, which states that "any attempt by the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin to remain in office beyond May 7, 2024 [when his last term ended] shall warrant nonrecognition on the part of the United States."
No action was taken, and Putin remains a head of state recognized by the U.S. and most world governments. But it is clear from the remarks of Satter, Savostiyanov, and others, the cause to prove him an illegitimate leader is alive and well.
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.