MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to hold on Thursday combined annual press conference and Q&A session. As of December 18...
MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to hold on Thursday combined annual press conference and Q&A session.
As of December 18, the People's Front headquarters already received over 1.5 million citizen requests to the president ahead of his annual year-end press conference and Q&A session.
The call center for the program, located at the central headquarters of the Popular Front, has been open for 11 days to collect applications. So far, a total of 1,539,761 requests in various formats have been received and processed.
According to statistics from the Rossiya-24 TV channel on Wednesday, phone calls remain the most popular method of contacting the center, with Russians making 831,966 calls to the direct line. Additionally, over 373,000 SMS and MMS messages have been received.
Over 198,000 people submitted their requests through the Odnoklassniki and VK social networks. Additionally, more than 40,000 letters were sent via the Moscow - to Putin mobile application, while 96,363 appeals were received through the website of the same name.
Healthcare, roads, housing and utilities, and social payments remain the most pressing issues for citizens. The special military operation is also a top concern. Additionally, according to a reporter from the Rossiya-1 TV channel speaking from the call center, a significant number of appeals have been submitted by emergency workers requesting a review of their benefits.
In 2023, the People's Front headquarters received over 2,840,000 appeals to the president. The center received about 1,700,000 calls, while about 800,000 people chose to address the head of state via SMS and MMS. The rest of the appeals were traditionally received via the Moscow - to Putin mobile application, the website of the same name, as well as via social networks.
Putin’s press conferences and Q&A sessions
This will be the third time the event has been combined in this way. The president first tested this format in 2020, with the Kremlin describing the concept as "part press conference, part call-in show." That year, the two events were combined due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which prevented them from being held separately.
The government returned to this format in 2023, with the Kremlin explaining that it helped to "summarize outcomes in all areas." The new format was called "Year-End Recap with Vladimir Putin." Since 2001, the Q&A session has been held 18 times, while the year-end press conference took place 16 times, excluding the combined events.
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