A timeline of Vladimir Putin's eight years as president

Major events in President Vladimir Putin's rise to power and eight years in office:

_ August 1999: President Boris Yeltsin appoints KGB veteran Vladimir Putin as acting prime minister. Putin vows to restore order to the restive southern republics.

_ September 1999: Almost 300 people killed in apartment bombings in Moscow and other cities, attacks blamed on Chechen separatists. Putin orders the bombing of the Chechen capital, Grozny, leading to the second Chechen war.

_ Dec. 1999: Yeltsin announces resignation on New Year's Eve; Putin becomes acting president.

_ March 2000: Putin scores convincing victory in Russia's first democratic …