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Elderly women watch a live broadcast of Russian President Vladimir Putin's annual question-and-answer session in the village of Yelna, Ivanovo region, on June 7.
Elderly women watch a live broadcast of Russian President Vladimir Putin's annual question-and-answer session in the village of Yelna, Ivanovo region, on June 7.

Live Blog: Putin's Annual Call-In Show

Russian President Vladimir Putin fielded questions on June 7 from across the country in an annual call-in show that lasted for more than four hours, one of a handful of live performances he holds every year to burnish his image.

-- Russian President Vladimir Putin painted an upbeat picture of the country's economy and accused the West of seeking to thwart its progress, setting a familiar tone for his new term in a marathon call-in show broadcast live on state TV.

-- The Direct Line broadcast on June 7 came a month after Putin was sworn in to a new six-year term following a landslide election that foes said was marred by fraud and international observers said did not present voters with a genuine choice.

-- The event was closely choreographed, with Putin fielding selected questions from among more than a million submitted and sending signals about an array of domestic and foreign policy issues.

*NOTE: Times are stated according to local time in Moscow (GMT/UTC +3)

12:19 7.6.2018

Putin says more weapons are in the pipeline and he'll be talking about them soon.

12:20 7.6.2018

"We've been going for more than three hours, and the questions keep coming," the moderator says.

12:23 7.6.2018

Moderator is now summarizing various questions about the problem of the landfills. Definitely not just an issue for Moscow and Moscow Oblast. Says there are "very many" questions/complaints on this topic. One environmental activist says that local governors have not responded to their appeals for help.

12:27 7.6.2018

Putin says the matter is "extremely important and urgent." Begins by going back to Soviet times and describing their practice of just piling garbage up in dumps. Says Russia has "tens of thousands" of "gray" or "illegal" landfills. Says part of the trash industry is "criminalized." Discusses the advantages/disadvantages of incineration/recycling/reprocessing. Calls for the creation of the "most modern" incineration plants, like they have in Japan. "We have to follow this same path in contact with activists such as yourselves and with the All-Russia People's Front and with local and regional powers," he says. "A lot will depend on governors."

12:28 7.6.2018

12:28 7.6.2018

Then Putin turns to the matter of "personal responsibility" for the problem of trash. Then he hands over the mic to Deputy Prime Minister Aleksei Gordeyev, who pulls out some paper and starts reading a monotonous list of figures.

12:30 7.6.2018

Again, moderator interrupts Gordeyev and reminds him that the program is live. Gordeyev basically ignores the hint and continues reading from his paper even after moderator continues talking over him.

12:31 7.6.2018

For the second time today the moderator interrupts a government official -- this time Deputy Prime Minister Aleksei Gordeyev -- to tell him to hurry it up because there are a lot of questions.

12:32 7.6.2018

Putin asks Gordeyev, who is a specialist in agriculture, why meat from cows is called beef. Gordeyev says he doesn't know why.

12:33 7.6.2018

Putin reads question from SMS asking when Gazprom will stop funding Ekho Moskvy. Putin uses the opportunity to say the existence of Ekho Moskvy is proof that Russia respects freedom of the press, and adds that many things broadcast by Ekho Moskvy "need correcting."

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