Moscow

Photo: Pool photograph by Vladimir Rodionov

Dimitri A. Medvedev, the Kremlin insider and unprepossessing lawyer who had never held elected office before, was sworn in as Russia’s president on Wednesday inside the Grand Kremlin Palace. The ceremony, mixing czarist splendor with renewed Russian confidence, marked the passing of formal power from departing President Vladimir V. Putin to his young and untested protégé.

But the events also served as a tribute to the enduring stature and popularity of Mr. Putin, who Mr. Medvedev nominated as prime minister within hours of taking office.