Putin canceled a press conference, hockey and an appeal to the State Duma: why the Russian president is hiding from the public

In Russia, rumors about the health of the Russian President have again intensified - he has canceled all important events that were previously planned, reports with the BBC.

Photo: IStock

First it became known that Vladimir Putin this year will not hold a big press conference. This format of his communication with journalists was practiced for ten years in a row every December.

According to Russian Presidential Representative Dmitry Peskov, there will be no Vladimir Putin conference this year, but the Kremlin expects the head of state to talk to journalists “during his trips abroad.” On December 14, it became known that Vladimir Putin canceled traditional New Year's plans: this year he will not play hockey on Red Square, and he also canceled his message to the Duma.

On the subject: Five citizens of the Russian Federation were accused in the United States of illegally transporting ammunition and technology from America to Russia

Dmitry Peskov said that Putin does not plan to play hockey on Red Square on New Year's Eve this year. He also said that the Kremlin was tired of questions about the message and offered to stop guessing on coffee grounds.

“Colleagues report that the message may take place as early as next year, and there have also been reports that it may be in writing. No, it does not exist in written form. As for the messages, is it possible next year? Of course, it’s possible,” Peskov added.

Peskov did not explain the reason for the cancellation. However, rumors about certain Putin problems have resurfaced on Russian telegram channels. Although there is no official confirmation of this.

The first big press conference of Vladimir Putin was held back in 2001, and after returning to the Kremlin in 2012, they were held annually in December. All of them were long (about 4 hours on average) and attracted a lot of attention.

Putin has always tried to demonstrate his immersion in economic and social issues - he used a lot of numbers and statistics that should show that the situation in the country is better than it seems. The media published materials analyzing Putin’s mistakes.

On the one hand, questions were raised at press conferences on topics important to Russian society. On the other hand, Putin did not often give meaningful and precise answers. At a conference in 2020, he was asked about the criminal case against Russian journalist Ivan Safronov, who at that time was arrested on charges of treason (in 2022 he received 22 years in a strict regime colony).

Putin argued then that Safronov was not being tried for his journalistic activities, that the case was related to “the long period of his work as an assistant or adviser to Rogozin (Dmitry Rogozin is the former head of Roscosmos).” Moreover, before his arrest, Safronov worked at the state corporation for only two months and did not have access to state secrets there. As a result, Dmitry Peskov had to comment on the president’s words the next day, who said that the information for the president was “provided by the investigation.”

Another typical example is the question of the media investigation into the former son-in-law of the president, Kirill Shamalov. From the publication it followed that Shamalov became a dollar billionaire by purchasing a 3,8% stake in the largest petrochemical company in Russia, Sibur, for a symbolic $100.

At a 2020 press conference, Putin called the investigation “a compilation that is impossible to read.” It is not surprising that his son-in-law could purchase a stake in Sibur for $100, as the Russian President said then. He added that the customers of the investigation were the US State Department and their intelligence services, and the purpose of the publication was revenge and an attempt to influence Russian domestic political life.

In a similar manner, Putin also responded to a question about an investigation by foreign media that Alexei Navalny could have been poisoned by FSB officers. The president's explanation then came down to the phrase that if Russia wanted to poison Navalny, it would have brought the matter to an end.

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Such statements by Putin, especially in recent years, made these press conferences less meaningful. This was facilitated by both the signs with which journalists tried to attract the attention of Vladimir Putin (“I’m looking for happiness”, “Let’s drink!”, “Give me poison”, “Let’s get married”), as well as specific questions - “how to describe this life without using profanity” what the president asks from Santa Claus, etc.

"Psychological reluctance to report"

Russian political scientist Mikhail Vinogradov says the postponement of the big press conference and the suspension of the message reinforces “the feeling of a general pause on the situation.” “This feeling timidly began to appear in October and began to accumulate in November. Despite the fact that, it would seem, so much was happening,” he said.

Russia last fall announced the annexation of four Ukrainian regions, mobilized and suffered a series of painful defeats at the front.

“It’s impossible to say that nothing is happening in the country - so much is happening that a month now fits much more events than in another year,” agrees political scientist Abbas Gallyamov.

According to him, “he (Putin) can still talk about some specifics within the framework of everyday measures, but he is no longer able to talk about the prospects of the country as a whole, about long-term goals, about the movement strategy.”

However, political scientist Tatyana Stanova sees the reason for the cancellation of the measures not in the fact that Putin has nothing to say, but in the fact that he does not want to do it.

“The more strength and energy Putin devotes to “global” topics, the less desire he has to spend on “little things” like direct lines or press conferences,” the Russian expert writes in his telegram channel.

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According to her, the Russian president has a “psychological reluctance to report, answer boring and routine questions, spend time on preparation, play a good dad, etc.”:

“For external audiences, he can say whatever he deems necessary - there will be a reason, but he sees no point in communicating with the internal audience. Let the subordinates do this,” she added.

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