2023-12-14 18:33:58
While Vladimir Putin praises the strength of the Russian economy and announces one success figure after another at the beginning of his annual television question time “Direct Wire,” another number appears on the screen behind him on the left: “Why does a layer of eggs in Dagestan cost 550 rubles?” The questions that Russians asked the president via text message or video message are shown on the screen.
Questions like this that sound like criticism of the conditions in Russia can be read again and again: “How much longer can the corruption at Gazprom be tolerated?” – “Why do the local authorities work in such a way that thousands of people are forced to comply? to contact the president personally? Do we need such authorities?”
Such questions are part of the ritual of the live broadcast in which Russia’s president answers questions from citizens. In the first year of the war against Ukraine, Putin skipped Direct Line, this time combining it with his annual press conference. For more than four hours on Thursday, Putin portrayed himself as a leader who listens to the voice of the people and can provide extemporaneous, detailed information on almost any issue he is asked about – from international politics to the problem of siltation the Volga.
Soldiers’ questions about the war against Ukraine
Again and again, when his spokesman Dmitry Peskov wants to give the floor to a journalist from the major Russian media in the hall, Putin interrupts him and instead selects a representative from a regional media. While they mostly praise their regional rulers, many of the citizens whose questions are recorded on video complain about the local authorities. For example, a group of children from Crimea reported on the terrible condition of the sports hall in their city and the administration’s inaction despite many requests. The president promises to take care of it.
One of the seemingly critical citizens’ questions on the screens is: “Mr. President, when will the real Russia no longer be different from the one on TV?” Putin’s appearance is intended to give the impression that the real concerns and needs of the citizens get through to him. While he is answering a question about big politics, the state television director shows the demand from a village in central Russia to finally get running water. At regular intervals, the two moderators who present the citizens’ questions mention that over the course of the year, each of the hundreds of thousands of questions received will be processed by activists from an organization close to the Kremlin.
Questions about “military special operations” (as the war against Ukraine is officially called in Russia) run through the show as a common thread. Problems with bureaucracy also play a role here. A medical soldier from Donbass complains that she cannot get the certificate that gives her social benefits as a participant in the war. Putin knows where the difficulty lies: a loophole in the law that affects people who joined the fighters of the “Donetsk People’s Republic” before the region was annexed to Russia. We are working on solving the problem.
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