MOSCOW, April 17. /ITAR-TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has opened his 12th live question-and-answer session Thursday noon with the topic of latest developments in Ukraine, which he described as a government coup.

Presidential press-secretary Dmitry Peskov speculated on the eve of the event that this time Crimea, Ukraine and Russia’s social problems would be in focus. More than two million questions poured in over one week.

The duration of the marathon dialogue with the nation kept growing with every year to reach a record of four hours and 48 minutes. Questions will continue to be received till the very last minute of the broadcast. This year questions can be asked in more ways than ever before - by putting through a telephone call, via a text messaging service, by e-mail, or by sending a pre-recorded video clip. There will be several video linkups with various regions of Russia. People in the audience will be able to put questions to the president in person.

This year two newly-incorporated territories of the Russian Federation — the Republic of Crimea and the federal city of Sevastopol — will participate in the event for the first time. Their residents are invited to use a special free long-distance telephone line.