MOSCOW, December 14. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin will on Thursday hold his annual televised Direct Line question-and-answer session, which this year will be combined with his year-end press conference.

The event, named "Results of the Year," is scheduled to begin at noon Moscow time (9:00 a.m. GMT).

Plans to hold the direct line and the large press conference were announced on November 30. The event will take place against the backdrop of Putin’s declared plans to run in the 2024 presidential election.

The two-in-one press conference/direct line format was also used in 2020 when the pandemic interfered with holding these events separately. It continued for almost four and a half fours, and the head of the state gave answers to 50 questions asked by journalists and citizens.

This time, correspondents from federal and regional media outlets, as well as foreign journalists accredited in Russia, will be present in the hall. The discussion will be moderated by presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov, Channel One TV host Yekaterina Berezovskaya and Rossiya-1 journalist Pavel Zarubin.

Vital questions and words of support

Earlier, Peskov said that words of support for Putin poured in as he decided to participate in the 2024 presidential election. Also, just like in the previous years, citizens are asking questions on various subjects.

The special military operation in Ukraine and the international situation are among the main topics of people’s questions, Peskov said. In his words, many questions refer to "the special military operation in all its aspects" - the current situation, Russia's objectives and the future of servicemen who are returning from the battlefield. Although, Russians are asking Putin whether the Russian economy and social sphere are resilient enough and whether the state will continue to fulfill its social obligations.

According to latest reports, more than two million calls and messages have already been sent by Russian citizens to the call center of the All-Russia People’s Front. Messages can be submitted in the video or text form via the moskva-putinu.ru website, via the ‘Moscow - to Putin’ mobile app, via Vkontakte and Odnoklassniki social networks, as well via text messages.

According to Peskov, the president prepares thoroughly for the event, reviewing questions grouped in main thematic blocks. In his words, none of the messages will be left unanswered, they will all be processed and all problems reported by citizens will be resolved within the next year.

About the format

The previous live question-and-answer session of the Russian president took place in 2021. It lasted three hours and 42 minutes. Putin answered to 70 questions from Russian citizens. There have been 18 such standalone events. Since 2001, Putin has taken to live TV 15 times to answer the Russian public’s questions as president and four more as prime minister.

The longest of them was in 2013, when the event lasted four hours and 47 minutes. The shortest was Putin’s very first question-and-answer session, held in 2001.

The previous annual press conference was held in 2021, it continued for 3 hours and 56 minutes. A total of 44 questions on domestic and foreign policy issues were asked. As a standalone event, it was held 17 times. The longest press conference took place in 2008, when it lasted four hours and 40 minutes. The shortest was Putin’s first media conference in 2001, it took one hour and 35 minutes.