Due to the conflict in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin will not attend his customary year-end news conference marathon this month. Observers have linked the unusual departure from the long-standing custom to the Kremlin’s anxiety at a string of battlefield setbacks.
Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated that for the first time in ten years, Vladimir Putin would not hold his annual press conference. Many analysts ascribed it to the Russian leader’s reluctance to answer uncomfortable questions concerning Russia’s “special military operation” in Ukraine.
The Kremlin has utilized the yearly press conference to enhance Putin’s image. Putin spoke on a wide variety of domestic and foreign policy themes for up to four and a half hours during the closely stage-managed, live-televised event.
Abbas Gallyamov, a political expert, stated in a video commentary that Putin canceled the annual press conference because “he has nothing to offer from a strategic standpoint.”
The U.K. Defense Ministry tweeted, “The news conference has become an important fixture in Putin’s calendar of public engagement and is frequently used as an occasion to demonstrate Putin’s alleged integrity.”
“Although questions are almost probably typically vetted in before, the postponement is likely due to growing concerns about the predominance of anti-war sentiment in Russia,” the report stated. “Kremlin officials are almost probably extremely alert to the potential that any gathering Putin attends could be hijacked by unauthorized discussion of the’special military operation’.”
Putin authorized the invasion of Ukraine on February 24, claiming NATO’s reluctance to provide Russia with assurances that Ukraine would not be asked to join the alliance as justification. The majority of the world, including Ukraine, condemned the Russian attack on its neighbor as an unjustified act of aggression.
Putin and his officials had anticipated to defeat the Ukrainian military within a few days, but the Ukrainian military’s ferocious resistance rapidly wrecked their plans. In March, following a failed attempt to quickly conquer the Ukrainian capital, Russian troops withdrew from territories surrounding Kiev.
In the eastern Ukraine, fierce battle continues around liberated Kherson 02:09
In September, Ukraine recaptured vast areas of terrain in the Kharkiv region’s northeast, and last month, it reclaimed control of the vital southern port city of Kherson.
Putin’s September order to mobilize 300,000 reservists has thus far failed to change Russia’s fortunes on the battlefield. The mobilization order has driven hundreds of thousands of Russians to leave overseas in order to avoid conscription, and those who have been drafted have reported severe equipment and supply shortages.
Thousands of Russians evade Putin’s troop mobilization by fleeing to Georgia. 03:13
Putin warned last week that completing his “special military operation” could be a “lengthy process” in a rare admission that the campaign in Ukraine is taking longer than intended. In addition, he maintained that the campaign was proceeding according to plan and would achieve its objectives.
The Kremlin has silenced any liberal anti-war criticism of its actions in Ukraine by shutting down critical media outlets and criminalizing the dissemination of any material that contradicts the official viewpoint.
Russian extremists have criticized the president as weak and indecisive and have advocated for an escalation of attacks against Ukraine.
Putin canceled his annual televised call-in show where he receives questions from the people in order to bolster his father-of-the-nation image in the wake of a series of military losses in Ukraine.
Putin has also neglected to deliver the annual televised state-of-the-nation address to parliament, which is required by the country’s constitution.
The Kremlin has not established a date for Putin’s speech
»Putin cancels his usual year-end press conference due to Ukraine’s failures«