Medvedev inaugurated as Russian president

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Despite the martial overtones, the ceremony marked a rare constitutional succession in a country where the transfer of power has often resulted from illness, political unrest or violence.

Shortly after noon Moscow time, Medvedev strode up a red carpet and took the oath of office. The brief statement included a pledge "to protect the rights and liberties of every citizen."

Later in a speech, Medvedev declared that "human rights and freedoms ... are deemed of the highest value for our society and they determine the meaning and content of all state activity."

The new president, who worked as Putin's assistant in St. Petersburg City Hall in the 1990s, inherits a robust economy that thanks to high energy and other commodity prices has experienced a decade of rapid growth.

But he must also grapple with double-digit inflation, tight credit markets overseas and the possibility, at least, that the price of natural resources will not grow as fast as they did under Putin.

Medvedev promised in his speech to modernize industry and agriculture, encourage the development of new technologies and attract investment. He also pledged to keep Russia open to the rest of the world and to participate in "constructive and equal dialogue" with other nations.

Putin, 55, endorsed Medvedev as his successor in December, rallying the Kremlin and the United Russia party behind his candidate. Medvedev was elected March 2 with just over 70 percent of the vote.

Medvedev's victory was aided by Russia's major television networks, all formally or informally state controlled, which lavished coverage on Medvedev and paid little attention to his challengers.

Many voters said they were pressured by employers and government officials to support the Kremlin favorite, and there were allegations of ballot stuffing and other irregularities.

The leader of the main European election monitoring mission said the vote was neither free nor fair.

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