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After a one-year hiatus, Russian President Vladimir Putin will again hold his marathon end-of-year press conference on Thursday, which will be broadcast live on state television.
Putin, who has been in power as prime minister or president since 2000, has held these media events most years. They sometimes last more than four hours.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the session would begin at 10 a.m. local time (0800 GMT). The program is expected to last about three hours, but Peskov said there was no time limit.
Last December, Putin canceled the press conference for the first time in 10 years. At the time, Kremlin watchers were convinced that Putin wanted to avoid questions from international journalists while his army suffered a series of setbacks in Ukraine.
But nearly two years into his offensive, Putin may be sensing a resurgence in his fortunes. Ukraine’s latest counteroffensive has failed to penetrate Russia’s heavily entrenched lines, and support from its allies is fraying.
What does Putin’s press conference look like?
Putin, who recently announced he’ll run for another presidential term in the March 2024 election, uses the show to portray himself as a problem-solver.
Unlike Putin’s previous year-end press conferences, there was no official accreditation procedure this time, and the Kremlin issued invitations only to selected journalists.
The press conference will be followed by a carefully choreographed call-in television show for ordinary Russians called “Direct Line with Vladimir Putin.”
Citizens who get a chance to ask Putin a question tend to focus on domestic issues, with health care, the economy, and infrastructure being common topics.
More than one and a half million questions have been submitted, Russian state media reported.
dh/rt (AFP, dpa)
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