In 1999 , Prime Minister Putin 's popularity soared to double digit figures after he decisively sent troops to the rebellious Chechnya republic as a retaliation for terrorist bombings in Moscow and other cities and in response for the Chechen invasion of Dagestan . Putin 's war effort was hugely popular and portrayed positively by the Boris Berezovsky-owned Channel One Russia as well as by state-controlled RTR
terrorist bombings
Russian apartment bombings
United Russia