Dmitry Medvedev was sworn in as Russia’s third president since the fall of the Soviet Union at a Kremlin ceremony on Wednesday that stressed the continued authority of his predecessor Vladimir Putin, APA reports quoting Russian media.

Medvedev "has assumed the office of President of the Russian Federation," Valery Zorkin, head of the constitutional court, said after Medvedev pronounced the oath of office with his hand on a copy of the constitution.

Medvedev took the oath in the Andreyevsky Hall in the Kremlin shortly after Putin gave a speech thanking Russians for their support and talking up his successes in two terms in office.