Dutifully performing its role in a highly-choreographed display of political theater, Russia’s highest court on Monday approved constitutional changes that opened the way for President Vladimir V. Putin to crash through term limits and stay in power through 2036.

With a dense 52-page ruling clogged with legalese, the Constitutional Court removed one of the last, albeit very flimsy potential obstacles to Mr. Putin effectively becoming president for life.

A final hurdle to be crossed is a nationwide referendum on constitutional changes that is scheduled for April 22. That exercise, too, is little more than a formality because of the Kremlin’s tight grip on the news media and bodies responsible for organizing the vote, not to speak of a ban on public protests.

The steady march of the coronavirus pandemic, however, could delay the final act of what the Kremlin and state-controlled news media have presented as a nail-biting drama of democracy at work but which critics denounce as a risible sham.