The first channel in the news showed questions about the direct line with Putin

On the First Channel, questions about the mobilization, the war and rising prices were aired on the preparation for the direct line and the big press conference of the President of Russia Vladimir Putin. “Important Histories” drew attention to this.

In the evening news broadcast on December 13, on the federal First Channel, in a report from Gostiny dvor, where a direct line with Putin will be held today, the questions were displayed on the screen behind the correspondent Anton Vernytskyi: “When will the mobilized be released? Why should 300 thousand people serve for the whole country?” , “How long will our country depend on the dollar? And why the price of products is very high, and the quality is very low?”, as well as “When will the war end? When will peace prevail? When will peace negotiations begin?”.

It is not known how these questions got on the screen and whether they will be asked at Putin’s press conference. In the report, the journalist did not comment on it in any way. On the website of the First channel, the footage with questions was deleted.

The day before, relatives of mobilized Russians, who are seeking the return of loved ones from the front, organized a flash mob, trying to “burden” the frontline team with questions about demobilization.

Last year, against the background of the full-scale invasion of Russian troops into Ukraine, the Kremlin did not hold a direct line or press conference of the president.

Initially, it was assumed that the direct line would be held in the summer this year (since 2017, it was held in June). However, later sources in the presidential administration said that the event will be postponed until the end of the year – after “certainty with the situation at the front”.

This year, the press conference and direct line will be held on the eve of the presidential elections, which are scheduled for March 17, 2024, but the voting will take place in three days – from 15 to 17. President Vladimir Putin has already announced that he will run for a fifth term as a self-nominated candidate. The CEC has received a notice of a meeting of a group of voters in support of Putin, which will be held on December 16 in Moscow.

Putin first became president in 2000 and has four terms remaining (with a break of 2008–2012). Amendments to the Constitution adopted at the initiative of Putin himself allow him to run for the fifth term.

The Kremlin set officials the task of securing more than 80 percent of the votes for the president during the voting, “Meduza” and “Vyorstka” wrote. In the 2018 elections, his victory was declared with a record result of 76.69 percent.