The annual televised occasion through which Vladimir Putin solutions questions from the Russian public goes forward this yr, the Kremlin has stated.

It signifies that the Russian president is more likely to be addressing questions from residents as his battle in Ukraine rages on and other people really feel the pinch of powerful worldwide sanctions.

A Direct Line with Putin has been held yearly since 2001 and sees folks throughout Russia's 11 time zones ask their chief questions on politics, economics and even his private life.

Whereas it purports to be an open discussion board, the occasion is fastidiously stage-managed and the questions, which come through e-mail, telephone, textual content and reside video, are believed to have been vetted prematurely.

Russian President Vladimir Putin
The Kremlin has stated that the annual televised phone-in with the nation's residents "Direct Line with Vladimir Putin" will go forward this yr. On this photograph Russian President Vladimir Putin is seen throughout final yr's phone-in at Moscow's World Commerce Middle studio on June 30, 2021. SERGEI SAVOSTYANOV/Getty Photographs

The variety of questions from overseas information shops has dwindled lately. The crackdown on impartial and overseas media shops within the final yr additionally signifies that dissenting voices or questions from worldwide journalists are unlikely this yr.

This system has taken place yearly apart from 2004 and 2012. Information company Tass reported that the variety of questions submitted rose from 400,000 in 2001 to greater than 3.25 million in 2016. There have been round 2 million final yr.

On Wednesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated that "preliminary preparations" had been underway for the occasion though "the date is but to be set," in accordance with Tass.

Peskov stated that there can be no hyperlink between this system and Putin's annual state of the nation deal with to the Russian parliament and the Federal Meeting.

In 2021 Direct Line was broadcast reside on June 30 by TV channels Rossiya 1, Rossiya 24, Channel One, NTV, Public Tv of Russia and Mir, in addition to a lot of state-backed radio stations.

Nonetheless, the world has modified loads since then. Within the months that adopted, there was a construct up of Russian troops alongside the border with Ukraine earlier than an invasion was launched on February 24. Additionally, Russia has been remoted from the worldwide monetary system and confronted powerful U.S. and EU-led sanctions.

Throughout final yr's broadcast, when requested if he would meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Putin stated, "Ukrainians and Russians are a single folks." It prompted Kyiv to reply that they had been a part of "two separate nations" and Putin's remark was a harbinger for the battle to come back.

Putin additionally used the phone-in to accuse the U.S. and the U.Okay of a "provocation" within the Black Sea that month through which Moscow stated it fired warning pictures and dropped bombs to discourage the British Navy destroyer HMS Defender because it sailed previous Crimea.

"The interval of the uni-polar world is gone, and it's essential to function on the premise that the world is altering, and doing so quickly," Putin stated.