On this day, exactly 25 years ago, Russian President Boris Yeltsin appointed Vladimir Putin as Prime Minister, a decision that was unexpected at the time and still surrounded by mystery. This mystery deepened further when, on the same day, Yeltsin announced Putin as his "political heir."

Putin had worked for the KGB in bureaucratic roles, distancing himself from the agency after the coup against Gorbachev, returning only in 1998 to assume the position of head of the FSB, the successor to the KGB.

With no political experience, his appointment as Russian Prime Minister caught the world by surprise, with Yeltsin unintentionally initiating an autocracy that has now lasted 25 years and, by law, could continue until 2036.