FACTBOX - President Vladimir Putin's 'Direct Line' Q&A Session With Russian Citizens

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 30th June, 2021) Russian President Vladimir Putin will answer questions from the public during his traditional live Q&A session dubbed "Direct Line with Vladimir Putin" on Wednesday.

The first "Direct Line with Vladimir Putin" was broadcast live on Russian television networks ORT and RTR and the radio station Mayak on December 24, 2001. At that time, Putin received 400,000 questions. Considering that the broadcast lasted for about two and a half hours, one hour longer than had been planned, Putin answered 46 questions.

The studio from which the Q&A session was broadcast was connected with sites in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kaliningrad, Murmansk, Kazan, Rostov-on-Don, Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk, Vladivostok, and a settlement in the Krasnodar Territory. The president then promised to continue to hold these sessions to answer citizens' questions through live broadcasts.

The second session was held on December 19, 2002, and was broadcast by the television networks Channel One and Rossiya, and the radio stations Mayak and Radio Rossii. The session lasted for 2 hours and 35 minutes. Putin answered 51 questions, while the call processing center received 1,422,000 calls.

Unlike the first session held in 2001, when the studio was mainly connected to large cities, in 2002 the studio spoke to six regional centers, two villages, and two towns.

The bulk of the questions concerned social issues, such as wages, pensions and high utility rates. About 20 percent of the questions concerned living standards, about half of which concerned housing. As in 2001, the majority of questions came from pensioners.

The third "Direct Line" program was held on December 18, 2003.

The president answered 68 questions from people in Moscow, Komsomolsk-on-Amur, the coal quarry Chernigovsky in the Kemerovo Region, Krasnoyarsk, the Kant Air Force Base in Kyrgyzstan, Drilling Rig No. 504 in the Vostochno-Surgutskoye oilfield, Nalchik, Vologda, the village of Novaya Derevnya in the Stavropol Territory, Nizhny Novgorod, Michurinsk, and Vyborg.

The session lasted for 2 hours and 50 minutes. The percentage of questions answered was divided evenly between those sent via the Internet, which the president chose himself, those asked over the telephone, and those asked during the live broadcast. In all, there were about 1,553,000 calls.

The event was dominated by Russians complaining about low incomes, with around 80 percent of all questions focusing on wage arrears for budgetary workers. Russians also brought up such issues as dilapidated housing, lack of running water, low pensions and social benefits.

During that Q&A session, Putin announced his intention to run for re-election.

In 2004, the Russian president held a large-scale news conference in the Kremlin instead of a Q&A session.

On September 27, 2005, the fourth "Direct Line" was held. This time questions could be asked not only on a specially created website and by telephone, but also, for the first time, through a short messaging service.

As in previous years, most people were worried about economic and social matters. Within 2 hours and 53 minutes, Putin answered 60 questions, 14 of which he had chosen himself.

The overwhelming majority of the questions had to do with domestic policy; only six questions concerning international problems were raised, and just one was of a personal nature.

More than one million questions were registered, including one million by telephone and over 100,000 via the short messaging service. The most active categories were blue-collar workers, office workers, pensioners, students, and housewives, who were mainly concerned about salaries, pensions, housing, healthcare services, and support for those serving in the military.

On October 25, 2006, Putin conducted his fifth "Direct Line" with the nation. It was broadcast live on television and radio and lasted 2 hours and 54 minutes.

The president answered more than 50 questions asked vis video linkup with populated centers in various parts of the country, by telephone, and on the Direct Line website. Of these, 41 dealt with domestic matters, nine with international affairs, and two were of a personal nature.

The overall number of questions exceeded 2.3 million, including 2.2 million lodged by telephone and 100,000 via the Internet. A special text message line was also available throughout the broadcast.

Direct linkups were organized with Baltiysk, Bryansk, Irkutsk, Kaspiysk, Kondopoga, Naberezhnye Chelny, Nakhodka, the village of Podgorodnyaya Pokrovka in the Orenburg Region, and Tver. Additionally, a number of questions were also asked live from Sevastopol.

On October 18, 2007, the sixth "Direct Line with President Vladimir Putin" was broadcast by the television networks Vesti, Rossiya, and Channel One.

It was the largest at that time in terms of both duration and the number of questions asked. During the 3 hours, 5 minutes and 40 seconds the session lasted, Putin answered 72 of the more than 2.5 million questions. As before, people mostly expressed social concerns related to improving salaries and pensions, social benefits for pregnant women and young mothers, housing, and rising food prices.

Eight questions each were asked about the economy, international issues and domestic policy. The President also answered four personal questions, three questions about the Olympic Games, three about the army, and two about football.

The studio was connected to 67 cities throughout Russia and the CIS countries, with people from 12 of them getting to ask questions. Some cities even got to ask two or three questions. In all, there were 2,276,931 calls.

On December 4, 2008, Vladimir Putin held his seventh Direct Line with the citizens of Russia. This was the first time he answered questions as prime minister and the head of the United Russia party.

The "Talk with Vladimir Putin" special program began at noon (09:00 GMT) and was broadcast by the Rossiya and Vesti channels for 3 hours and 8 minutes, or 3 minutes longer than a year earlier.

Putin answered 80 questions asked by phone, text messages, and online, as well as via mobile television stations installed in Russian regions. There were 1,636,800 calls and 642,000 text messages.

The bulk of the questions concerned the consequences of the global financial crisis, rising petrol prices, pensions, social benefits and wages in the public sector, as well as maternity capital and mortgages for young families.

On December 3, 2009, Putin held the eighth Q&A session called "A Conversation with Vladimir Putin: Continued."

The program was broadcast by the television networks Rossiya and Vesti and the radio stations Mayak and Radio Rossii. It lasted 4 hours and 2 minutes and the prime minister answered over 80 of the more than two million questions that came in via phone, text messages, and emails sent to www.moskva-putinu.ru.

The 2009 Q&A session focused on support for industries. Putin spoke with employees of the companies he had previously visited, telling them about practical support measures and promising to visit again in the event of any problems. Putin also spoke about macroeonomics,� mentioning gloomy figures of the 2009 GDP and industrial production decline, but expressed the hope that things might start getting better in 2010.

The 2010 Q&A session "A Conversation with Vladimir Putin: Continued" was broadcast on December 16 by the television networks Rossiya-1 and Rossiya-24 and radio stations Mayak, Vesti FM, and Radio Rossii. It was the ninth live session and beat the previous record by 24 minutes; it lasted for 4 hours and 26 minutes. Of the more than 2 million questions received, Putin answered 90 questions, 31 of which he chose himself.

Most of the questions concerned socioeconomic issues and the consequences of the devastating wildfires that had hit Russia that summer. The prime minister was also asked about preparations for the 2014 Sochi Olympics and 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Putin received over 2,000,000 questions, of which half a million were texted, while 1,400,000 were phone calls and the rest came from the website.

On December 15, 2011, Putin spent four and a half hours answering questions. About 40 percent of the television audience that day tuned into the broadcast. Putin's tenth Direct Line Q&A session began at noon and ended 4 hours and 32 minutes later. During this time, Putin answered 88 questions, 25 of which concerned parliamentary election results, the next presidential vote, Russian political parties, Putin's political plans, personnel issues, among others.

According to the direct line hosts, most of the 1,882,000 calls and texts which the specially set-up call center had received by 3:30 p.

m. local time concerned social welfare. Utilities and amenities were the second most popular questions, followed by labor relations and wages. Putin was also asked private questions such as about his dreams, his plans for New Year, what would bring him happiness, and which of his character traits he disliked.

The "Direct Line" session was not held in 2012, but the Kremlin said they had not abandoned the format. In the future, the live talk was to be held during the warm season.

April 25, 2013 saw the eleventh traditional "Direct Line with Vladimir Putin," broadcast live by the television networks Channel One, Rossiya-1 and Rossiya-24 and the radio stations Mayak, Vesti FM, and Radio Rossii.

With this Q&A session, Putin again broke his own record with the session lasting 4 hours and 47 minutes. The President answered 85 questions, including 24 rapid-fire questions, eight of which he chose himself and the rest put forward by the session's hosts. During the 2013 session, the call center fielded a record number of calls; around three million calls were received as of 4 p.m. local time.

Russians were mostly concerned about social issues, with some complaining about inflated utility payments and low wages.

On April 17, 2014, the annual "Direct Line with Vladimir Putin" was held. This was his twelfth Q&A session overall, the second of his previous presidency, and the first to involve residents of Russia's new region - Crimea. It was broadcast live by the television networks Channel One, Rossiya-1 and Rossiya-24 and by the radio stations Mayak, Vesti FM, and Radio Rossii.

The 2014 "Direct Line" lasted 3 hours and 55 minutes. Putin answered 81 questions, 35 of which concerned Crimea and Ukraine. The studio was connected with four Russian regions as well as to a studio in Berlin, which brought together international experts from the Valdai Discussion Club. Four of the questions asked during the broadcast came from Sevastopol. Putin also answered a video question from former US intelligence employee Edward Snowden.

On April 16, 2015, Putin's 13th direct line was held broadcast live by the Channel One, Rossiya 1, Rossiya 24 channels, and the Mayak, Vesti FM and Radio Rossii radio stations. A total of 2,486,000 questions were put to the President, of which 1,700,000 were by phone, and over 400,000 were texted.

The direct line went for 3 hours 57 minutes. Videolinks with six Russian regions were included. Vladimir Putin had time to answer 74 questions, which concerned sanctions and reciprocal sanctions, the situation in Ukraine, the investigation into opposition politician Boris Nemtsov's murder, and such domestic issues as loans, mortgages and state service.

April 14, 2016 was the date of another "Direct line with Vladimir Putin." The program was broadcast by the Channel One, Rossiya 1, Rossiya 24 channels, and the Mayak, Vesti FM and Radio Rossii radio stations.

A total of 2,500,000 questions were put to the president. That year, the program lasted for 3 hours 40 minutes and the president answered 80 questions, which focused mainly on domestic political and economic issues. They concerned the current state of the economy, rising prices of food products and medicines, inflation, wage arrears, and layoffs at social institutions.

Russians were very much interested in international affairs, asking questions about nearly all key foreign policy issues and the more relevant issues on the international agenda. Putin talked about the situation in Syria, crisis resolution in Donbass and the Nagorno-Karabakh region, Russia-US relations, and Ukraine. Videolinks included Crimea, Sakhalin, Voronezh Region, Tomsk and Tula.

The 15th Q&A session took place on June 15, 2017. The event was broadcast by the Channel One, Rossiya 1, Rossiya 24 channels, and the Mayak, Vesti FM and Radio Rossii radio stations.

The Russian leader received some 2 million questions. The event lasted for about four hours and the president answered 73 questions that were asked by the residents of Murmansk, Irkutsk, Kaliningrad, Krasnodar and Ulyanovsk Region among others.

Russian citizens were mostly interested in the spheres of economy, demography, international relations, housing, medicine and the environment. The president also touched on the Moscow-Washington ties, the aerial operation of the Russian Aerospace Forces in Syrian, corruption-related issues, and the Russian opposition.

The 2018 Q&A session with Putin lasted 4 hours and 20 minutes. The president answered 79 questions, while call centers received nearly 3 million questions through different channels.

The session started with economy-related questions. Answering the first question of the "Direct Line," Putin said that Russia was moving in the right direction.

Commenting on the composition of the new Russian government, Putin called it optimal, as it includes both experienced and new players.

The question about rapidly rising gasoline prices in Russia was one of the most popular among those received by call centers on the eve of the Q&A session. Answering this question, the president asked Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak and Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak to join the session and provide some details on the current situation in this sphere. The president called the increase in gasoline prices in Russia unacceptable.

The discussion moved in a different direction when Russian lawmaker Valery Gazzaev, the former football player and coach, joined the session, and the president started to talk about the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.

During the session there also were a number of questions devoted to Russian positions in the world arena and the West's ongoing pressure. The president also spoke a lot about the need to ensure strategic parity between the world's leading military powers, as well as Russia's plans for space exploration.

Besides all these issues, Russians also asked Putin personal questions. They especially wanted to know about Putin's belief in God, his successor, or whether he felt lonely on the "political Olympus."

The 17th Q&A session of the Russian leader lasted slightly over four hours and covered 81 questions. Call centers received about 2 million questions through different channels.

The session started with economic and social issues. Putin recalled that the Russian economy had faced a number of "external shocks" over past years, not only sanctions but also the adverse situation on the global market for the country's traditional export products such as oil, metals and chemical products. The international agenda also drew significant attention.

The questions mainly touched upon the problems of waste processing, tariffs, healthcare, salaries, possible liberalization of anti-drug legislation, and Russia's relations with other countries. Russians also asked Putin some unexpected questions, in particular about the fate of the Chudes, Finno-Ugric people living in northwestern Russia, how the president is fighting laziness and whether he is an alien.

The "Direct Line" was not held in its traditional format in 2020, but some of its elements were included in Putin's large end-of-year press conference in December. Russians had an opportunity to submit their questions in advance either on a special mobile application or through the show's website.

In addition to the "Direct Line" program, the Russian president held two online Q&A sessions answering questions by the internet users from all over the globe.

On March 6, 2001, Putin held his first online Q&A session for users of the BBC News, Gazeta.ru and Strana.ru websites. Putin received more than 20,000 questions from web users, however, during the hour-long session he managed to answer just two dozen questions that the event's organizers had deemed most relevant and interesting.

The Internet audience raised a wide range of questions on topics ranging from internal policy and freedom of speech in Russia to the future of economic reforms and democracy, and from missile defense to Russia's relations with the United States and the European Union. Some users inquired about Putin's family, his passion for sports and cultural penchants, as well as his personal attitude towards the Internet.

On July 6, 2006, Putin held his second online Q&A session, which was organized in cooperation with the BBC and Russia's Yandex search engine.

In total, more than 162,000 questions were submitted by Russian and foreign Internet users, and 1,250,000 people voted in favor of previously asked questions. The session lasted for 2 hours and 9 minutes. Putin answered 49 questions, most of which concerned Russia's internal problems and international affairs.