Breaking from a long tradition of keeping the corridors of Russian power shrouded in mystery, this year’s inauguration ceremony gave a rare insight into where and how the head of the Russian state works.

The Kremlin’s Senate building is used both as a private residence and the office of the Russian president. The exact room where many key decisions are taken has been shown many times. But relatively few people knew exactly how one gets to it – that is until Monday, when the entire path from the office to the main entrance was shown live on TV.

The corridors of the Senate building – complete with red carpets, white shades on the windows, glittered decorations and many pictures on the walls – were shown as part of Vladimir Putin's inauguration ceremony. He went to the swearing-in ceremony right from his working office as cameras tracked him along the entire walk.

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