CHRONOLOGY-Vladimir Putin's years as Russian leader

(Reuters) - Vladimir Putin, who hands over the Russian presidency to his protege Dmitry Medvedev on Wednesday, rose from obscurity to dramatically change the face of Russia in his eight-year rule.

Following are key events during his two terms in office:

August 9, 1999 - The ailing and unpopular President Boris Yeltsin names 46-year-old Putin, the low-profile head of the FSB security service, as his new prime minister and preferred successor.

September 1999 - More than 300 civilians die in apartment block blasts blamed on Chechen rebels in cities including Moscow.

September 23, 1999 - Putin orders bombing raids against Chechen capital Grozny followed by a full-scale land offensive. Within months Russian troops retake Chechnya and install a loyal administration. Putin's popularity rating rockets to 48 percent in November from 5 percent in August.

December 31, 1999 - Yeltsin announces his early resignation. Putin becomes acting president.

March 26, 2000 - Putin wins the presidential election with 53 percent of the vote.

May 2000 - Putin appoints liberal economist Mikhail Kasyanov as his prime minister. A series of bold market reforms including tax reform, the adoption of a new land code and liberalisation of monopolies are introduced. The Russian economic recovery, helped by high oil prices, takes off.

May 2000 - The Kremlin launches a campaign against the media empire of tycoon Vladimir Gusinsky, one of a handful of "oligarchs" who wielded huge influence over the Kremlin at the end of the Yeltsin presidency.

The jewel of Gusinsky's empire, NTV television, ends up in the hands of state-controlled gas giant Gazprom. The campaign against Gusinsky launches a process which puts Russia's biggest media outlets under the control of the Kremlin and its allies.

August 2000 - Nuclear submarine Kursk with 117 sailors and officers on board sinks in the Barents Sea. There are no survivors. The incident exposes Putin to a barrage of media reports alleging he mishandled the crisis.

September 2002 - Nearly 130 hostages die in a Moscow theatre seized by Chechen rebels. The government introduces a set of anti-terrorism laws restricting the media.

October 2003 - Russia's richest businessmen and owner of the YUKOS oil major, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, is arrested on fraud and tax evasion charges. He is sentenced to 9 years in prison in May 2005, later reduced to eight years. The trial becomes a signal to the business community to stay away from politics.

September 1, 2004 - More than 330 people, half of them children, killed in attack by Chechen rebels on a school in the southern town of Beslan. Putin orders a crackdown on the rebels and demands more powers he says are needed to fight terrorism.

Within two years, rebel leaders Aslan Maskhadov and Shamil Basayev are killed. Large-scale rebel resistance ceases.

Parliament approves new laws changing the rules of parliamentary elections and scrapping gubernatorial elections. Critics say the changes give Putin sweeping powers.

March 14, 2004 - Putin is re-elected with 71 percent of vote.

July 2006 - Russia hosts the G8 summit in St Petersburg, the high point in Putin's drive to revive Russia as a key global player.

January 2007 - Putin, addressing an international conference in Munich, accuses the United States of a desire to dominate the world. The speech irks Western governments already concerned about how Moscow uses its growing energy might.

Early 2007 - The Russian government says Gross Domestic Product has passed the level it was at in 1990, a key landmark on Russia's path to economic recovery.

December 2007 - Putin presents his long-time ally Dmitry Medvedev as his preferred successor and agrees to become his prime minister. Putin's support makes Medvedev's victory in the March 2 presidential election certain.

For online coverage of the Russian presidency, click on:

http://uk.reuters.com/news/globalcoverage/russia

(Writing by Oleg Shchedrov; editing by Keith Weir)

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