Yeltsin 's main opponents and would-be successors were already campaigning to replace the ailing president , and they fought hard to prevent Putin 's emergence as a potential successor . Following the Russian apartment bombings , Putin 's law-and-order image and unrelenting approach to the Second Chechen War against the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria soon combined to raise his popularity and allowed him to overtake his rivals
Russian apartment bombings
Russian apartment bombings
Vladimir Putin