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Call centre begins to receive questions to Russian president for special live program “Direct Line with Vladimir Putin”

The SMS delivery in Russia from the mobile phones of any mobile operator is free

MOSCOW, April 21 (Itar-Tass) - The special call centre began on Sunday noon to receive the questions to the Russian president for a special live program titled “Direct Line with Vladimir Putin”. Any person can call the phone 8-800-200-40-40 from any point in Russia. The call centre traditionally began working at 12:00 Moscow time and will close after the Direct Line with Vladimir Putin program is over.

People can ask questions to the Russian president over the Internet through the websites www.moskva-putinu.ru or moskva-putinu.rf (in the Cyrillic alphabet) in the section “Ask the question”. The questions can be put in the SMS messages on the mobile phone number 0-40-40. The SMS delivery in Russia from the mobile phones of any mobile operator is free. A question can be asked only in Russian and can contain no more than 70 characters, the Kremlin press service reported.

The special live program titled “Direct Line with Vladimir Putin” will be broadcast at 12:00 Moscow time, on Thursday, April 25, on the television channels Channel One, Rossiya 1 and Rossiya 24, the radio stations Mayak, Vesti FM and Radio Rossii, the Russian presidential press service reported on Sunday.

The Russian president will come back to this format of communication with the Russians after an interval of 18 months. Putin has already held nine Direct Lines with the Russians, including four Direct Lines in the capacity of the Russian prime minister.

In 2012 Putin decided not to hold the Direct Line, because he decided to take into account the Russian climatic conditions and to hold a question-and-answer live session “in a warm season, but not when the ears and the legs are freezing,” Russian president’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov said.

In keeping with more than a ten-year tradition of holding such programs, Putin will answer questions on socio-political and socio-economic life of the country that are of special interest to Russian citizens.

"Like in previous years, not only guests in the studio will be able to pose a question to the president of Russia. Vladimir Putin will also communicate with Russians during live-ins from various Russian cities. People will also be able to put their questions by calling or sending an SMS message to the call center,” the Kremlin press service said.

"Visitors to the Program’s website will also be able to ask for the president’s opinion on subjects that concern them. The most interesting and urgent questions received by the call center and on the website will be posed to Putin live on air,” the Kremlin press service explained.

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