Live Blog: Putin's 'Direct Line' To The Nation

Putin says "of course" there were Russian troops in Crimea.
Putin says he's already addressed this. We had to take measures to avoid radicals and nationalists, he said.

Questioner says we have self-defense troops and former Berkut, who helped avoid a tragedy by coming into Crimea and preventing radicals from entering. He has harsh words for Yanukovych. Says he was abandoned by him after resisting using force in Kyiv.

Putin: Yanukovych told him he thought about using force, but couldn't use it against his own citizens.

What happened to you and what is happening to your colleagues in Kyiv right now will hurt the Ukrainian state back. "You can't put officers on their knees."

Amazingly harsh words for Yanukovych from questioners.

Q: Yanukovych fled, but would you die for your country?

Putin: I wouldn't say he fled. He went to the east and then they took over his building. He would have agreed to anything, but as soon as he left Kyiv protesters captured his administration building.

"This was a coup d'etat."

Putin says as a former KGB officer he will always be loyal to state.

Shakhnazarov was one of the artists who signed a letter in support of the referendum on Crimea. The host says there are some opponents of the move also in the audience.

On journalism and patriotism

Journalist from "Kommersant": "I'm really very concerned that lots of young people have a distorted view of the world. I have to put in a lot of effort to explain to colleagues that patriotism and idiotism are not the same thing. It's out of fashion to be a patriot now."

Putin responds with a dig at journalists: "Maybe in your circle it's not fashionable."

If even you as a journalist were touched and troubled, that means that the patriotism is rooted deeply in you too.

Host introducing anti-Crima questioner: You probably know that the people who disagree with the reunification of Crimea with Russia have been very local. Some are calling at people to shoot at Russian soldiers.

Irina Khamamada: You have indeed conducted an operation without making a shot. Only people who started the war will be able to put an end to the war.

As long as Russia and U.S. continue to hold onto its views and war will spill over to whole former Soviet space. No one wants this. Do you think Russia can offer a compromise between Russia and the U.S. -- one the one hand there will be elections, on the other hand there will be regionalization.

Putin: Compromise can't be found between outside parties, but among internal political forces themselves.

Mentions that under the Tsar, the places in Eastern Ukraine were called Novorossiya, but given up by Soviet leaders. Why did they do that? Only God knows.

Irina Prokhorova: We have persecution against modern artists. People accusing them of all sorts of mortal sins. Culture is becoming a slave to ideology. Will this deprive Russia of status as a great cultural power.

Putin: To be honest, I don't feel any special tension. Everyone is free to express their opinions. No one is "sent to labor camps." People express their opinions freely and those people who do so are sound and healthy. It's only natural that there are other people who oppose them -- some of our intellectuals are not used to that. They believe that what they say is the absolute truth and when they hear an objection they become very emotional.

In World War I, people also called for defeat of their own country and that started the revolution.

Putin: We shouldn't be euphoric about what's happening. We should be honest about the reality. The ethnic makeup of Ukraine is different in the East. These regions were given to Ukraine "for some reason."

We must fight for these people. The Federation Council gave me the right to use armed forces in Ukraine but "I hope" I won't have to use this right.