Direct Line 2024: Results of the Year with Vladimir Putin Part One

Roughly the same arrangement as last year. The program "Results of the Year with Vladimir Putin" was hosted by Channel One war correspondent Dmitry Kulko and VGTRK TV presenter Alexandra Suvorova. This year’s program as per its video lasted 4.5 hours, which is now the par. A lot of the accumulated data will be displayed on the big map displayed on the screen behind the desk; so, for those able to read the display, they will gain additional information, some of which will be explained below. Yes, many thousands of questions were poured over and vetted to be answered intermixed with live Q&A from the live audience and via video link. The programs length means its reporting will require three parts. Many serious recent events will undoubtedly be asked about, but the program aims at reviewing the entire year, which included Putin’s reelection, his declaration of 2024 as the Year of The Family, his extremely important Leap Day Speech, his later address to the Federal Assembly, his equally important address at the Foreign Ministry, as well as his many State Visits, and Russia’s BRICS Presidency. In his recent address to the United Russia Congress, Putin invoked the great importance of feedback as a fundamental tool for providing good governance. This event is the most evident manifestation of that concept. This event isn’t just for Putin to tell Russians about 2024’s accomplishments, but for him to hear how Russians’s assess 2024. All emphasis throughout is mine. Part One:

Dmitry Peskov: Good afternoon, everyone!

In a few minutes, the President will be here, and he will begin to sum up the results of the outgoing year, 2024. I would like to remind you that our format is combined: this is both a press conference and a direct line with the citizens of our country.

I ask you to show respect to your colleagues when I give questions to journalists, and ask them as concisely and clearly as possible. This will allow the President to answer more questions.

The moderators and co-hosts of today's program will be Alexandra Suvorova and Dmitry Kulko. They will communicate with the President, they have done a great job, they have personally reviewed very, very many, probably tens of thousands of citizens ' appeals. They understand what citizens are asking, and will help the President identify those topics that are mostly on the agenda in our country.

You are welcome.

Anna Suvorova: Good afternoon!

The program "Results of the year with Vladimir Putin" is on the air. Traditionally, there were several ways to ask your question at once, and you can do this until the end of the program, because my colleagues continue processing all incoming messages.

First, by calling the phone number: 8-800-200-40-40. You can also send an SMS or MMS message to the number 0-40-40; ask your question via the social networks "VKontakte" or " Odnoklassniki". In addition, there is a website for Moscow-Putin.Russian Federation and the app of the same name.

At the moment, according to recent statistics, there are already more than two million 200 thousand requests. At the same time, one million 200 thousand are phone calls. SMS messages – about 43 thousand. More than 140 thousand people applied through the site. We can see how these numbers continue to increase in real time.

There are also interesting facts about the program "Results of the Year with Vladimir Putin". The fact is that previously there was only a direct line format, it was held separately, and a press conference was held separately. The combined format takes place for the third time. In the beginning, it was before Covid, then after Covid, already 2023, and now, 2024, when the continuation of combined formats, where citizens of our country and, of course, journalists can ask their questions.

From the statistics, there are such interesting figures. For example, the maximum number of questions that were asked: in 2015, two million 250 thousand requests were received to the President. Now this number is less. But I think the point is also that there are now regional direct lines, when the questions of all citizens are answered by the governors in the regions. And thus, some of the issues are already being resolved at the regional level.

It is worth noting that if you add up all the time that Vladimir Putin answered questions during such formats, it is already more than 64 hours. They are held from the very beginning, since 2001, and it is worth noting that this format will certainly be held today, of course, during the years that both the direct line and the results of the year are being held, people are very actively participating and, of course, not only some issues and problems they also send requests to the head of state, but also words of gratitude. And now, considering that on December 19, they also congratulate you on the New Year—there is also such a trend.

Of course, today the focus of attention, given the appeals that we have selected, is a huge block of social issues, and a lot of issues related to the special military operation. Of course, there is also a block of international topics. So here we go.

Dmitry Kulko: President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin.

For the third year now, volunteers of the All-Russian Popular Front are taking part in the preparation of our program and in processing appeals. But this year they were also joined by veterans of the special military operation. All 10 days since the opening of the telephone line, they also received phone calls, but today the work of the ONF does not end. Moreover, we can say that it is just beginning, because immediately after the broadcast, the volunteers of the popular front will continue to work on these appeals, so that none of them will be left without attention.

Anna Suvorova: Well, I would like to note that during the preparation for the Results of the Year program, some of the requests were processed and some of the issues were resolved jointly by the People's Front volunteers and regional and federal authorities.

There is another difference this year. Sber's artificial intelligence, GigaChat, helped us with these requests and questions. I know that you, Mr Putin, have already met him.

Vladimir Putin: Exactly.

Dmitry Kulko: Yes, GigaChat has made a conclusion. This technology allows you not only to decipher audio messages into text, but also to highlight the meaning and essence of the problem, so the processing of requests this year has significantly accelerated. And these are the conclusions of GigaChat that you can see on the screen during the entire program. These are the main topics of citizens ' appeals both in the country and in each region. And of course, we will use this virtual assistant throughout the program.

Anna Suvorova: But before we start asking questions that citizens and, of course, our fellow journalists have, I would like to ask you a general question.

Now it seems that the world has either already gone mad or is going mad, because the conflict potential in all parts of the world is actually off the scale, and the world economy is also in a difficult situation. How does Russia manage not only to stay afloat, but also to continue its growth?

Vladimir Putin: You know, when everything is calm, measured and stable, we get bored. Stagnation. I want to move. As soon as the movement starts, everything whizzes at my head: seconds and bullets. Unfortunately, the bullets are whistling now. So we are afraid, "horror-horror". Well, "horror". But not "horror-horror-horror".

Everything is measured by the economy. Traditionally, we start with the economy. Despite your somewhat provocative question, let's turn to economics. Everything is based on the economy, this is the basis of the basics. The standard of living of citizens, stability, defense capability–-everything depends on the economy.

With the economy as a whole in Russia, the situation is normal and stable. We are developing in spite of everything, despite all external threats and attempts to influence us.

Last year, as you know, our economic growth was 3.6 percent, and this year it will be 3.9 percent, and maybe even four percent. It will be necessary to take a look, because the calculation of the end-of-year results is almost completed in the first quarter of the next year, 2025, in this case, and maybe there will be four. This means that over the past two years, the economy has grown by about 8 percent, because, as experts say, I have already exchanged opinions this morning, tenths, hundredths of a percent is a virtual thing. About eight in two years. In the United States-5-6 percent, in the Eurozone—1 percent, in the leading economy of the Eurozone, in Germany–-zero. Apparently, it will be zero next year, too.

International financial and economic institutions have ranked Russia first in Europe in terms of economic size and purchasing power parity, and fourth in the world. Ahead are China, the United States, and India. We overtook Germany last year, and this year we overtook Japan. But this is not an indicator on which we should fall asleep and calm down. Of course not.

Everything is developing, everything is actively moving forward. If the euro zone has fallen asleep, then there are other centers of global development, they are also moving forward. And the situation is also changing in the Eurozone and in the United States. We must maintain the momentum we have gained and change the quality of our economy.

There are other indicators that are generally satisfactory, to put it mildly. First, one of the most important indicators for all countries of the world, for all economies, is the unemployment rate. It is at a record low of 2.3 percent. This has never happened. This is the first one.

The second is the growth of certain branches of production and industry. Our industrial growth was 4.4 percent, and the processing industry--8.1 percent—and in the section by industry—for some even more.

Yes, of course, inflation is a worrying signal. Yesterday, when I was preparing for today's event, I also spoke with the Chairman of the Central Bank. Elvira [Nabiullina] she told me that it's already somewhere between 9.2 and 9.3, but wages have increased by 9 percent in real terms. I want to emphasize this, namely in real terms, minus inflation. And the disposable income of the population has also grown. So in general, this situation is stable, I repeat, and reliable.

I repeat, there are some problems here with this inflation, and the economy is warming up so much. Both the Government and the Central Bank are already setting a goal to slow down these rates somewhat, and I think, according to various estimates, we should have somewhere between 2-2.5 percent next year. Such a soft landing is necessary to preserve macroeconomic indicators.

This is what we should strive for. And we will probably talk about this again during our meeting today. Overall, the situation is stable and reliable.

Anna Suvorova: One clarifying question, because there are really a lot of issues related to rising prices, and we will come back to it later. You have just mentioned Germany and Japan as an example. I would like to focus on Germany, which is zero percent, as you mentioned just as one of the options for where economic growth used to be.

What do you think, is it probably related to politics and sovereignty, because not so long ago, speaking at the VTB Forum "Russia is Calling", you recalled how at Gerhard Schroeder's birthday party all the songs were in English, but there was no German.

Vladimir Putin: We did. Here is a curious episode. It was a long time ago, it was Gerhard's birthday, he invited me, I came. There was a small concert, and indeed all the bands performed songs in English. Even then I said, "Even the Hanover Girls' Choir sang in English."

But there was one band that sang in German. This is the Kuban Cossack Choir. Which I brought with me. Moreover, it was a complete surprise for me, I asked them: "How do you know this?" They told me : "Out of respect for the Germans, out of respect for our hosts, the host country, we learned and sang in German on the way, including the songs of this region where we were.”

Then many people came up to me during the break (I'm telling you what really happened), came up to me and said: "We are ashamed, honestly, we are ashamed that only Russian Cossacks sang in German here."

I told a colleague who was at this event, which is now remembered. You know, sovereignty is a very important thing, it should be inside, in the heart. I think that during the post-war years, the German people have erased this feeling–-the feeling of their homeland and sovereignty.

After all, who are the Europeans? They are all proud to be Europeans. But they are first of all French, Germans, Italians, Spaniards, and then Europeans. They are trying to smooth everything out, to polish something. And in the end, it affects everything, including the economy.

I spoke about the growth of our economy-–this is largely the result of the strengthening of sovereignty, including projected on the economy.

Many manufacturers have left our market. What did it lead to? Our entrepreneurs have started to produce these products themselves, and this has led to the need to connect them, conduct some additional research, and connect institutions, including development institutions. All this–-and we are talking about it–-is the strengthening of technological sovereignty.

Sovereignty is different: defense, technological, scientific, educational, and cultural. It is very important. This is especially important for our country, because if we lose our sovereignty, we lose our statehood. This is the most important thing.

Strengthening sovereignty is also a result of economic growth.

Dmitry Kulko: Mr President, I suggest that we turn to questions from our citizens.

Vladimir Putin: Please.

D. Kulko: You are talking about economic growth. Indeed, if you look at the economic indicators, and they look good, most Russian enterprises are now busy, wages are really growing, but they are not keeping up with the price increase.

Many Russians wrote to us about this, and our artificial intelligence analyzed all these requests and made a rating of regions where residents often asked questions about price increases. These are both eastern regions, such as the Kamchatka Territory and the Sakhalin Region, and the most western region of the country–-the Kaliningrad Region. The majority of requests from residents of the Irkutsk region were also related to the price increase. That is, the topic is relevant.

A. Suvorova: Of course, it is relevant. Now I will announce a few more figures, which are also given now by our Gigachat, with which we work.

The most popular requests are related to the rise in the price of bread, fish, milk, eggs, and butter. In addition, they also talk about rising fuel prices. This is just the daddy of what we have selected—the appeals of citizens who were on this topic.

And if you even look at the official statistics of Rosstat, which came in last night, we see that prices for fruit and vegetable products have increased by 3.4 percent over the past week, including, for example, cucumbers have risen in price by 10 percent, while prices have risen by 43 percent in November.

Vladimir Putin: First of all, I apologize to the audience, especially to those who listen to us today, see and follow our work through various media outlets, on the Internet. When I said that price growth, inflation is somewhere around nine percent with a small 9.2-9.3, and there is an increase in wages and disposable real incomes of the population, these are average figures. And of course, the country is huge. And somewhere someone will listen to me, say: Well, what are you talking about, what an increase in well-being, I have both been and am. And someone will say: I've got less. This, of course, happens, it exists. I'm talking about average figures, because when we plan something, we have to operate on something, rely on something, and we can't rely on anything other than an average indicator.

But as for the price increase: there are both objective and subjective things here.

And most importantly, the supply on the market should correspond to the income of the population, or the income of the population, purchasing power should correspond to the volume of goods produced in the country. Our incomes and wages grew at a faster pace than the growth of this commodity mass and output.

I'll explain. For example, our food production is constantly growing, I will say more about this, there will certainly be some questions about agriculture. Now, looking ahead, I will say: plus three percent annually. We fully provide ourselves with meat, 100 percent.

This is a good indicator. But what is the reason for this? Our meat consumption per year is about 80 kilograms per person, and in the world it is about 42, the average figure. It seems to be enough, but still. Our meat consumption has doubled recently, do you understand? Twice as much.

For milk. Milk production increases every year, but milk consumption also increases, there is not enough milk to produce butter. The increase in oil prices, I know, is 33-34 percent, in some regions it is about the same, maybe there are more somewhere.

It's just that there are no more products as much as consumption has increased – this is the first thing. Here, of course, you just need to work in an industry sense, I'll say more about it now.

The second objective reason is the harvest.

The third objective reason is the increase in world prices for some products.

And of course, to a certain extent, those external restrictions, sanctions, and so on have an impact. They are not of key importance, but they are still reflected in one way or another, because they increase the cost of logistics and so on.

But there are also subjective ones, and there are our shortcomings. For example, some experts believe that the Central Bank could more effectively and earlier start using certain tools that are not related to raising the key rate. Yes, the Central Bank started doing this sometime in the summer. But, I repeat, these experts believe that this can and should have been done earlier. There are many of them, I will not list them now, and there is no need to bore our audience with these considerations about the various ways of regulating the Central Bank.

Our government works efficiently, quite satisfactorily and does a lot when it thinks about the future, and you always need to think about the future. Even in the most difficult times of the Great Patriotic War, we know these examples, we thought about the future. And they did, as it turned out later, correctly.

Our government is thinking about the future: it formulates tasks, national development goals, national projects–-that's fine, but it would be nice to work in a timely manner and in an industry plan, in an industry context, to think about the development of individual industries, consumer goods. I won't repeat them now, maybe there will be more questions about certain industries. It would be necessary to make these timely decisions.

Rising prices are really unpleasant and bad things. But I hope that by generally maintaining our macroeconomic indicators, we will also be able to cope with this, because macroeconomics is the basis for the health of the economy as a whole.

Dmitry Kulko: Mr President, today we have a combined format: a direct line and a press conference. Now I suggest you ask a question to our fellow journalists.

A. Suvorova: We can feel the audience wanting to ask a question.

Dmitry Peskov: The audience is really hungry, let me…

Question(from the audience): ...

Dmitry Peskov: You know, if we do this, unfortunately, we will show disrespect to everyone else.

Vladimir Putin: However… Let's not do this again, but let's get started. what is your name?

A. Khastsaeva: Alina Khastsaeva information portal "15th region", North Ossetia.

Vladimir Putin: Please, Alina, please.

A. Khastsayeva: In today's reality, the issue of military personnel potential is becoming very important. In the North Caucasus, there were many educational institutions that trained military specialists. In particular, in North Ossetia, it is the North Caucasus Military Institute of Internal Troops.

The university, without exaggeration, is legendary, seven of its graduates are Heroes of the Soviet Union, fourteen are Heroes of Russia. To this day, its graduates continue to perform successfully the combat tasks of our state. Former Interior Minister Anatoly Kulikov is among the graduates, and Sergey Khairutdinov became a Hero of Russia during his participation in a special operation.

Is there an opportunity to revive this educational institution, which today is so necessary not only for the North Caucasus, but for the whole of Russia?

Thank you.

Vladimir Putin: Alina, thank you for this question. So this is a good discovery, don't be angry with Alina. And here's why.

First of all, North Ossetia has always been an outpost of Russia in this direction, in the Caucasus, and at all times it has justified its high purpose. We know how the people of the republic relate to their small homeland, and to our great common Homeland, to Russia. They have always stood up for it and performed this function with great dignity and brilliance.

You mentioned the reduction of schools. This is not due to the fact that it was decided to close it in Ossetia. This is due to the fact that the network of military schools in general, as military specialists and military departments considered, was over-sized and did not need so many specialists, so many military personnel for such an army as the Russian army was. Now we are increasing the army and security units due to a number of circumstances to one and a half million people. I can't say right now: yes, we will do it tomorrow. But I promise you that we will definitely work it out.

Thank you.

Dmitry Peskov: We continue to work with the audience. Let's go back to the very center.

ITAR-TASS, please.

Mikhail Petrov: Mikhail Petrov, Editor-in-chief of TASS.

Mr President, before I ask you a question, I would like to thank you.

TASS is celebrating its 120th anniversary this year. We are the oldest news agency in the country. This year, in August, you signed a decree awarding the TASS team the Order for Valiant Labor. On behalf of the entire large team of Tass employees, I would like to convey a big thank you to you on their behalf. This is a high assessment of our work.

Vladimir Putin: Thank you.

M. Petrov: As for the question, I think everyone is concerned about this issue today. By the way, when the TASS people transmitted reports from the front during the Great Patriotic War, it was probably the same, and today, when our guys work in the special military operation zone, they are concerned about it.

How do you assess the progress of the special military operation, which has been going on for almost three years? Is the victory getting closer?

Vladimir Putin: Of course, I was counting on such questions. There are a lot of them in the volume that was received in the previous days. Moreover, I am also grateful to you for this, because it gives us the opportunity to show what is happening and what our guys are doing on the contact line.

You know, the fighters I talk to regularly give me their souvenirs, give me chevrons, give me some kind of weapon, and so on. Just recently, members of the 155th Marine Brigade of the Pacific Fleet gave me a copy of their battle banner.

Who can I ask to assist? Come to me, please, and someone from this side. I have a big request for you: please stand here, and you stand here, and please unfurl this banner from both sides.

D. Kulko: Marines of the Pacific Fleet.

Vladimir Putin: Yes.

I took it with me on purpose.

First of all, I would like to thank the guys for this gift.

Second. We will assume that this banner of the 155th Marine Brigade of the Pacific Fleet here represents all the battle banners of our soldiers who are now fighting for Russia, for the Motherland along the entire line of contact.

I must say that the situation is changing dramatically. You know this very well, and I just want to confirm it. There is movement along the entire front line every day.

And, as I have already said, we are not talking about advancing 100, 200, 300 meters, our fighters are regaining territory by square kilometers. I want to emphasize, every day. Why is this happening?

First, for the previous year, this is basically a classic development of military operations, first the enemy’s losses climb, they are seriously defeated in equipment, ammunition, and personnel, and then we start moving forward. This is exactly what happens here. Fighting is a complex thing, and therefore it is difficult and unnecessary to think ahead. But this is exactly what happens. And we are moving, as we said, towards solving our primary tasks, which we outlined at the beginning of the special military operation.

As for the guys, they are acting, I keep saying this and I will repeat it, because there is every reason for this, they are acting heroically. The capabilities of the Armed Forces are increasing. Now the 155th brigade is fighting in the Kursk region, squeezing out, knocking out the enemy from our territory. Of course, they are not alone there, the 810th Marine Brigade of the Black Sea Fleet, the 76th and 106th Airborne divisions, motorized infantry, and the motorized infantry of the Sever group are also fighting there. Everyone is fighting heroically in the truest sense of the word. And at the moment they are fighting. We wish them all–-both those who are fighting in the Kursk region and those who are fighting on the entire front line—good luck, victory and return home.

Thank you.

Dmitry Kulko: Mr President, I have just returned from the Kursk Region. We have been working for several weeks on the front lines with those units and formations that you have mentioned and which are now performing a sacred duty--liberating our land. The 155th brigade, in particular, liberated several settlements, we also talked about this.

In our reports, we show that when the enemy is driven out of a settlement, it is as if in retaliation they start hitting these streets with drones and artillery. We visited newly liberated Borki, Snagost, and Lyubimovka. And this can be seen in the footage—the houses are intact, and then Ukrainian shells arrive at them. That is, the residents of the borderlands now simply have nowhere to go back. They're trying to rebuild their lives somehow.

I suggest you contact Tatiana Nikolaevna Zibrova by phone. She is now forced to live in a temporary accommodation facility in the Kursk region. Tatiana Nikolaevna, can you hear us?

T. Zibrova: Yes, I can hear it.

Dmitry Kulko: Ask your question to the President.

Tatyana Zibrova: Hello, dear Vladimir Vladimirovich!

Vladimir Putin: Good morning.

T. Zibrova: I am a resident of the Kursk region, Bolshesoldatsky district.

I have a question for you from all residents of the Kursk region. When will our Kursk region be liberated at all? When will the APU be driven so far away that they don't even dare to show themselves to us and can't even look in our direction? When will we be able to return to our homes or somewhere, something, so that we can have our own housing?

And one more thing. Will the small villages that were destroyed be restored, and will the infrastructure be restored? It is from the residents of Bolshesoldatsky district that we have such a question: will the residents of Bolshesoldatsky be included in the list for obtaining housing certificates? Now they do not issue them to us, since the APU did not visit us and we are not listed for obtaining certificates.

Vladimir Putin: Tatyana Nikolaevna, there is no doubt. Right now, I can't and don't want to name a specific date when they will be knocked out. The guys are fighting, right now there is a battle going on, the battles are serious. I have already said that it is not clear why, there was no military sense for the armed forces of Ukraine to enter the Kursk region, stay there now, as they do, throwing their best assault groups and units there for slaughter. Still, it happens.

We will definitely beat them out, absolutely. It can't be any other way. A question about a specific date--sorry, I just can't do it right now. I imagine, I know, there are plans. They report to me on a regular basis. But to say, to such a number–-this is not done. And the guys can hear me. A day or two, I will name such a date, they will go at all costs to this date, will not be considered with losses. We can't do this. A day or two doesn't really matter in this case, but: a) they will definitely be knocked out, and b) after that it will be possible to assess the damage; but what is most important: c) everything will be restored. There can't even be any doubt.

We will restore the road network, municipal infrastructure, and social facilities (schools, kindergartens), we will restore clubs, housing, of course, and certificates for housing restoration will also be issued.

If you want to move, we will help you move to other regions. If my memory serves me correctly, some 108 billion rubles have already been allocated for this purpose. The first money, I know, has already been received. The administration will work all holidays, meet with people and resolve issues, including certificates.

I understand that there is nothing good in this, what happens to you, people suffer heavy losses, losses and inconveniences such as domestic ones, especially related to children. But we will definitely do everything, do not doubt, Tatyana Nikolaevna, we will restore everything, and everyone who needs to restore housing will be satisfied in this sense, everyone will get what is due.

And I very much hope that the new head of the region, who is appointed to the Kursk region, is, in principle, an experienced person who knows how to work directly with people, which is why I appointed him there, he has been working in the State Duma for a long time, works directly with his constituents, and knows how to do it. So I hope that this will be the case, and individual work with everyone will be established.

Dmitry Kulko: Mr President, our fighters who are currently liberating the Kursk Region do not have the status of a member of the Free Self-Defense Forces.

Vladimir Putin: What is it?

Dmitry Kulko: I don't have the status of a Free Trade Association member.

Vladimir Putin: Why not?

Dmitry Kulko: Because they are members of the counter-terrorist operation. This also affects the payments they receive.

We received several appeals, mostly from the wives of military personnel: "My husband serves in an assault company, is in the Kursk region, performs combat missions. In October and November, he received a cash allowance of 42 thousand rubles, although he is in combat positions. Many fighters have not received combat daily payments for three or four months. They argue that they are in the CTO zone, not the CBO zone."

Another appeal: "In the Kursk region, they pay a monetary allowance of 25 thousand rubles per month, and not 210 thousand rubles, as promised in the contracts of the Ministry of Defense."

Can this situation be corrected?

Vladimir Putin: It is possible and necessary. This is our omission. This is unexpected information for me. I understand what you're talking about.

Those soldiers, our servicemen who fought in other sectors of the front are participants in military operations. If they were moved to the Kursk region, they all receive, should receive. I'll check it out.

Probably, there is a category that previously did not take any part at all, did not fight on the contact line, immediately got to the Kursk region and did not fall into the category of participants in a special military operation.

To be honest, it hadn't occurred to me. I apologize, but this will all be fixed. It is a pity that the military department did not pay attention to this–-after all, this is primarily their responsibility.

We will fix everything, everyone will get everything that is due to military personnel who fulfill their duty to the Motherland on the line of contact. We will also recalculate it retroactively.

Dmitry Kulko: Thank you very much.

Vladimir Putin: Absolutely, there is no doubt about it.

D. Kulko: I personally know fighters who are now very much waiting for such an answer.

Vladimir Putin: Yes, yes. I want the guys to hear me. Guys, don't worry, and don't let your families worry: everything will be counted, and all the necessary payments, and everything that is required, everything will be fulfilled.

Dmitry Kulko: Mr President, you have already said today that the Armed Forces of Ukraine are simply sending their special forces units to the Kursk Region for slaughter. Indeed, the losses there are colossal, it is literally striking. To be honest, I have never seen such a large number of abandoned enemy bodies, because all the forest plantations are really littered with them. And how much NATO equipment our fighters have accumulated there: Abrams, Bradley, and Leopard. You know what they say: now the Kursk region, on this Kursk land, is the largest cemetery of NATO equipment in the world.

Vladimir Putin: Maybe so.

D. Kulko: But the only such moment is…

Vladimir Putin: Now the number of armored vehicles destroyed in the Kursk region has, in my opinion, already outgrown the number of vehicles destroyed by our guys over the entire last year along the entire line of contact, approximately comparable figures.

Dmitry Kulko: Let me ask you, put in a word for the fighters who beat this technique: will they get the promised reward?

Vladimir Putin: For the damaged equipment?

Dmitry Kulko: Yes.

Vladimir Putin: We should, of course. Is there a problem with this?

D. Kulko: It's a bit heavy going, to be honest.

Vladimir Putin: Strange. I know that the Defense Minister is also listening to our conversation, and everything will be done. No one should even have any doubts about this. Everything will be done.

Dmitry Kulko: Thank you.

Dmitry Peskov: Maybe we should go to the gym.

Vladimir Putin: Yes.

Dmitry Peskov: Since it's a military issue, please give us the Zvezda TV channel.

To. Kokoveshnikov: Good afternoon!

Zvezda TV channel, Konstantin Kokoveshnikov.

Vladimir Putin: Hello!

To. Kokoveshnikov: I can't help but ask about the statements that we have heard over the past few weeks, speaking about the footage of the first combat tests of the latest Oreshnik rocket that has been replicated all over the world. One gets the impression that it really has no drawbacks, but in the West, for example, they continue to call the "Hazel" a modification of the old Soviet weapon and say that this missile can be shot down by air defense even at the launch stage.

How would you comment on this, if it has any drawbacks?

If I may ask you a clarifying question: what did the creators of "Oreshnik" mean by its name? Because there are different options in this regard.

Vladimir Putin: First, about how old or new these weapons are, and how modern they are. This is a modern, very new weapon. Everything that is done in any field of activity is based on some previous developments, on previous achievements, and then people take a step forward. All the same for "Hazel".

Yes, there were developments, and, by the way, developments already in the Russian time period. Here on this base, scientists, designers, engineers thought about what else to do, coordinated their position with the Ministry of Defense, with the customer. In the end, it dawned on me, and I also took part in the final decision on whether to produce, not to produce, in what volume, when, and how.

This is a new weapon. I'll say it again: these are medium-and shorter-range weapons.

You said that some experts in the West believe that such a missile is easily shot down and destroyed, especially on the initial flight path.

What can you say to such experts? There are several types of air defense systems, as you know, you are from Zvezda—this is Patriot, these are more modern THAAD systems. I don't know if they exist in Ukraine or not, but I don't think so. If the Americans decide to deliver, let them deliver, let them deliver THAAD. These are more modern ones, similar to our S-400. If Patriot can be correlated with the Russian S-300 system, then THAAD is the S-400, the characteristics are weaker, but in general the S-400.

Let them deliver it, and we will ask our guys in Ukraine to tell us what modern, valuable solutions are available there. When I say "our guys", I say without irony, we have someone to talk to in Ukraine, and there are many of our guys who also dream with us of ridding their country of the neo-Nazi regime.

There are other means of destruction–-this is the missile defense system, which has been discussed a lot. We once begged the Americans not to deploy this system, so that we would not need to create coping systems.

In the end, we did it. We have an Avangard glider that does not fly along a trajectory, but spreads along the ground, does not go into space, is not a ballistic missile, and so on. We have done a lot to overcome missile defense.

In general, from the point of view of the interests of American taxpayers, this whole story is a costly thing that does little to ensure the security of their country. But this system is nevertheless created to a considerable extent. Two positional areas have been created: one in Romania and one in Poland. Both there and there are already under 24 anti-missile systems on combat duty. I don't remember any more, I think they are called "Standard-3". In Romania, this is, in my opinion, a modification of "1B". The range of destruction is 300 kilometers, the height of destruction is from 80 to 250 kilometers.

Poland has more formidable weapons, newer ones. There, the intercept range is already a thousand kilometers, and the altitude is 500 kilometers. But "Hazel" is a medium-range weapon, and medium-range weapons are a thousand, one thousand five hundred, three and more, up to 5,5 thousand. That's the range.

Now let's imagine that our system is located at a distance of two thousand kilometers. It's just that even anti-missiles located on the territory of Poland will not reach it. Yes, in the first section, in the upper stage, they say that the vulnerability is large. First of all, nothing will reach there, even if these positional areas are not protected, and they, of course, are protected. Nothing gets there, and there are no systems that can get there.

The second thing is that it takes time to reach such a distance, and in a few seconds we start breeding warheads–-and that's it, the train has left. So there is no chance to shoot down these missiles.

If the Western experts you mentioned think so, let them offer us, and let them offer those in the West and the United States who pay them for their analysis, to conduct some kind of technological experiment, say, a high-tech duel of the XXI century.

Let them identify some target for destruction, say, in Kiev, concentrate all their air defense and missile defense forces there, and we will strike there with the Hazel Tree, and see what happens. We are ready for such an experiment. Is the other side ready? In any case, we don't rule it out. I mean, they still have all the missile defense and air defense systems in operation.

It will be interesting for us. What I have told you is what engineers, scientists, and military specialists tell me. At the level of the political leadership in the United States, they also tell us something.

We will conduct such an experiment, such a technological duel, and see what happens. Interesting. I think it will be useful both for us and for the American side.

To. Kokoveshnikov: Why such a name?

Dmitry Peskov: Why such a name?

Vladimir Putin: Honestly? I don't know.

Dmitry Peskov: Let's have one more question from the audience. Let's go that way. I see-–Rossiyskaya Gazeta, maybe something about peaceful affairs?

A. Gereikhanova: Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Aysel Gereikhanova.

Vladimir Vladimirovich, you recently signed a decree on changing the nuclear doctrine. Do you think that the West correctly heard the signal and understood it correctly?

Vladimir Putin: I do not know how they understood. You should ask them that. I know what the content of these changes is, but it's not a new doctrine, it's really a change. I will mention some key things. We are talking about some military dangers, new ones that may develop into military threats. This is the appearance of these missile defense systems, and some other things, and we call them.

Then we talk about increasing the responsibility of non-nuclear States that may take part in aggression against the Russian Federation together with countries that possess nuclear weapons. And if such countries, like their allies, pose a threat to our sovereignty and the existence of Russia, then we mean that we consider ourselves entitled to use our nuclear weapons against them as well.

And finally, another component related to the management of nuclear weapons, and another, fourth, important thing–-we have announced that if the same threats are created for our ally–-a member of the Union State, for Belarus, the Russian Federation will consider it the same as creating similar threats for itself Russia. And we will do everything to ensure the security of Belarus. We do this in coordination with the Belarusian leadership, in coordination with the President of Belarus Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko. And I think that this is a very important component of the updated nuclear strategy of the Russian Federation.

A. Suvorov: Dmitry Sergeevich, let's have one more question from the audience. I see that you already have your hand on the microphone.

Dmitry Peskov: Yes, let's do it.

Dmitry Shuchalina: Mr President, the Arctic has a word to say.

Dmitry Peskov: We agreed that we will not shout and we will respect each other.

Vladimir Putin: Yes, let's not shout and respect, but we will give the Arctic the floor. Let's listen to our superiors.

Dmitry Shuchalina: Mr President, good afternoon! Daria Shuchalina, Republic of Komi, Respublika newspaper.

First of all, thank you so much for bringing our fellow countryman Rostislav Goldstein back to the region. He is now the acting head and, let's just say, immediately started working, because he knows the region well. Thank you for your personnel selection.

Vladimir Putin: He is a good leader, a sensitive person, very stable and systematic. I hope that he will succeed.

Dmitry Shuchalina: Thank you for it.

And to the suggestions. In our country, in the Arctic territories, in the Far East, in the Far North and in the Komi Republic, there are many settlements of up to 2 thousand inhabitants, and, unfortunately, such settlements do not fall under the very good state program for the arrangement of cinema halls.

We understand that in our North, people are devoted to their small homeland, they do not go to megacities, they serve the country in their towns and villages. And, let's face it, there is not much leisure in the North. Moreover, we are now actively developing the patriotic component of our national cinema, and it would be great if this criterion in the program could be adjusted by law so that northern settlements with up to two thousand inhabitants could be covered, so that people in comfortable, modern conditions could watch movies.

As for the theme of my poster. You were part of our student team when you were young, and you know better than anyone how effective this Soviet practice was. Today, unfortunately, the topic is not clearly spelled out by law.

Is it possible to amend the 44th law so that when it comes to state and municipal contracts, when it comes to construction projects at the expense of the budget, so that at least 10-15 percent of the total construction work can be laid on student teams, since for young people this is a good new work experience and earnings, for enterprises it is a personnel support, For the regions, this means accelerating the construction of much-needed social facilities.

Vladimir Putin: Once again, where does this 10 percent come from?

D. Shuchalina: From general construction works, so that municipalities or regions can lay their foundations.

Vladimir Putin: Yes. Should the funds allocated for the construction industry be partially used for construction?

Dmitry Shuchalina: Yes.

Vladimir Putin: I'll talk to Khusnullin. It's probably possible. We are now engaged in revival, it is being revived. I think that it has actually been revived--construction teams, these movements of construction teams.

Such a financing mechanism is probably possible, and I think it is being used, by the way. But I'll check it out and I'll definitely talk to Marat Shakirzyanovich, okay?

Dmitry Shuchalina: And about cinema halls.

Vladimir Putin: Yes. Gyms or cinemas?

D. Shuchalina: Cinema halls.

Vladimir Putin: You know, it's completely unexpected for me.

As for the Arctic zone. First of all, we have kept a preferential mortgage at 2 percent there, just like the Far East and the Arctic, mortgages are kept at 2 percent, which, in my opinion, is very important: people use this privilege. Another 2 percent is also reserved for new territories. This is the first one.

Second. In this zone, we are developing a whole program for individual localities (these are 25 cities, in my opinion, agglomerations) and we will expand this across the country to 200 cities.

We are talking about small localities. They may not be included in these plans for the development of an agglomeration and individual cities numbered 25. Of course, we will see what can be done in addition for small settlements in the Arctic zone. Of course, this is very important, because they are mostly small in terms of population.

But, apparently, they proceeded from the fact that there is a need to develop fast Internet and so on, that this is enough. But I agree with you: when this happens in the cinema hall, the atmosphere is different, the mood is different. I will definitely look at it, I marked it.

Dmitry Shuchalina: Especially since we really have a very high-quality Russian patriotic cinema right now.

Vladimir Putin: Yes, I agree. This is a separate topic. Many producers are leaving us, God grant them good health, and this pushes our own production, including film production. It's true.

Given the rise of society that unites people, of course, the historical one is also very important. Our fairy tales, epics and so on are being revived. I myself sometimes watch with pleasure with my close kids.

You're right. I've marked it, and we'll try to respond to it.

Dmitry Peskov: Let's have another one from the audience and continue.

Dear friends, with all due respect, by asking two questions in a row, you deprive one of your colleagues of the opportunity to ask their question.

Vladimir Putin: Don't listen to Peskov, ask questions.

Dmitry Peskov: Let's go this way, then.

Krasnoyarsk.

Dmitry Novikov: Hello!

Dmitry Novikov, Yenisei TV channel, Krasnoyarsk.

Vladimir Vladimirovich, you have called Krasnoyarsk the center of Russia. Now the city is preparing to celebrate its 400th anniversary.

Vladimir Putin: I'm sorry to interrupt, but for God's sake, don't be angry. But I didn't mention it, this is the geographical center of Russia, so it is.

Dmitry Novikov: Yes, of course. The city is preparing to celebrate its 400th anniversary, and we will celebrate it in 2028. And of course, we would like to take this opportunity to invite you to Krasnoyarsk for the anniversary.

My question is as follows. Now the head office of RusHydro is moving to Krasnoyarsk, it was your initiative. It seems that it would be logical to continue this work in relation to a number of other companies, not only state-owned, but also business structures. For the region, these are additional taxes and, of course, new opportunities for development. Are you considering this possibility?

Thank you.

Vladimir Putin: Yes.

First of all, I think that this is very correct, and some, perhaps, even federal bodies should be transferred to various centers of the country. This still encourages development.

We are trying to concentrate all the judicial power in St. Petersburg. In some countries, all this is happening. This detaches a separate branch of government, the judiciary, from the presidential office, from the Government, makes it even more geographically independent and gives the functions of the capital city in this case to St. Petersburg.

But other centers, such as Krasnoyarsk, of course, need to make the tax component work brighter there, so that taxes are paid at the place of production. This is just a boost to the development of the region.

We will do it. The process is complicated.

You mentioned RusHydro. Yes, indeed. When I appointed to this position, or rather, "blessed" the future head of RusHydro, Viktor Viktorovich Mariin, I immediately said: will you be ready to move to Krasnoyarsk? He says yes. I say: and the wife? In response: she will agree.

But it takes time, you know? It is necessary that the shots are in place. So, it is very difficult to drag people away from Moscow. Not because they are lazy or don't want to go to Siberia. Children, schools, kindergartens, and institutes are a complex process. And personnel on the spot need to be prepared. Nevertheless, RusHydro is moving there.

We will definitely work to ensure that large companies and, I repeat, some other government bodies move to other regions of Russia. The territory is huge, the largest territory in the world. And of course, large production centers, companies, and management bodies need to be distributed across the country. But there is a limit to everything, because after all, let's say, the President, the Government, they must be close together somewhere, very close cooperation.

Nevertheless, we need to follow this path, and we will try to do so.

Thank you so much for the invitation.

Anna Suvorova: Some businessmen even suggested moving the capital to Krasnoyarsk.

Vladimir Putin: Yes, about Krasnoyarsk and Irkutsk. Peter I was going to do where at all? In the south. I chose between St. Petersburg and the southern city, Taganrog, in Taganrog I wanted to do. Initially, there was an idea in Taganrog to make the capital of the empire.

Dmitry Peskov: Mr Putin, I'm sorry, I just saw Andrey Rudenko, our respected military commander from Donetsk, here. I can't help but give him a word.

Vladimir Putin: Please, Andrey.

Alexander Rudenko: Mr President, I have been working in the Donbas as a war correspondent since 2014, and today I am the head of the Donetsk State TV and Radio Company.

I have such a question, it is quite serious. All over the Donbass, in the Kherson region, Zaporozhye are grandiose restoration work. But we do not stop the war, we go forward, the enemy destroys settlements. Will we have the strength and resources to fully restore our historical territories that we have reclaimed?

Vladimir Putin: That's enough, there should be no doubt about it. We have a huge program for the restoration and development of these territories, which runs until 2030. Work is already underway and will continue in a number of areas: this is the restoration of the road network, this is the restoration of housing, this is the restoration of housing and communal services, social and cultural services.

By road: Within three years, we plan to bring the entire road network of these regions to a standard, Russian state. You know from there that this work is already underway. There is a very good realizable start: We plan to build a ring road around the Sea of Azov, which has become the internal sea of the Russian Federation. It will be the same road as the "Tavrida" in the Crimea – four-lane traffic with all the advantages for such a route.

One part has already been completed, just the beginning, from the same Taganrog to Mariupol, this is a small section--40 kilometers, but the planning goes around the entire Sea of Azov. There is another road--between Mariupol and Donetsk. It is almost 100 kilometers, to be more precise, in my opinion, 97. And the entire road network will be restored.

I repeat: this is backed by money. Some social facilities have already been put into operation, such as a world–class perinatal center in Donetsk, a medical center in Mariupol, and a very large children's clinical hospital is planned in the south of Zaporizhia region. Local residents asked, and the governor insisted on it. Now, in my opinion, the layout is already underway, we will definitely build.

In general, we have a lot of work planned in all these areas until 2030. 21 thousand objects have already been restored, 11 thousand of them at the expense of the federal budget, and 10 thousand objects at the expense of regions--bosses from all over the Russian Federation.

By the way, I want to look directly at the camera and thank the leaders and residents of these regions for this huge help. This is a national task. This is what has been done, but over the next five to six years we need to restore and build another 20 thousand objects, and all this will be done.

Alexey Rudenko: Mr President, I would like to say about the Luhansk People's Republic: there have never been any roads there—I mean, during the administration of Ukraine. Currently, there are ideal roads throughout the Luhansk People's Republic. People are immensely grateful.

Vladimir Putin: This is the most necessary thing that we can and should do. We will do more.

As for specific regions, I would like to appeal to the residents of these regions and to the whole of Russia, so that people also throughout the country know that these regions have a very good development potential, their tax potential is very large. In my opinion, taxes collected in the Luhansk People's Republic have increased by 97 percent. In my opinion, there is already a 69 percent tax increase in the Donbas region. In Zaporizhia, in Kherson, the growth is generally measured in hundreds of percent. There, however, the corresponding figures are much smaller, the base is much smaller, but what is the growth?! Hundreds of percent, more than 200 percent both here and there. In other words, the tax base is good, the revival is proceeding quite quickly, and all these regions are entering the zone of self-sufficiency.

Yes, we need to support people, provide timely assistance, and lend a shoulder. The country is doing this and will continue to do so until these regions are fully incorporated into Russia—not just legally, but in terms of social and economic development.

Anna Suvorova: Just one clarifying question: Mr President, you are now talking about taxes—are we talking about tax collection in these regions?

Vladimir Putin: About tax collection in these regions.

I repeat once again: I may be wrong about something, but in Donetsk the growth was already about 79 percent, in Luhansk-more than 90 percent, and in Kherson and Zaporozhye, in these regions–-more than 200 percent growth. The absolute numbers are lower there, and the base was smaller, but it's just a trend, and it's steady.

Anna Suvorova: By the way, there are a lot of different issues coming from the new regions, including the calculation of pensions.

The fact is that often the length of service that was obtained earlier in Ukraine is now not taken into account. People just don't have documents.

Let's now listen to the video message of pensioner Leonid Shipilov.

Vladimir Putin: Please.

L. Shipilov: I am Leonid Shipilov, a pensioner from Krasny Liman. I have 45 years of experience. At the moment I live in the city of Donetsk with my daughter, as fighting is underway in the Red Estuary.

In May 2022, my house was shelled and burned down. My employment record book was burned down. In this regard, I cannot achieve a fair recalculation of the pension. The only document that can confirm my experience is the OK–5 certificate.

In July of this year, I submitted it to the Pension Fund of the Kalininsky district of Donetsk, but so far I have not received any response.

Please help me understand this situation.

Vladimir Putin: Leonid Nikolaevich, these are everyday problems, but they are important for people, I understand this perfectly well, you need to confirm your work experience. It was difficult to do this until recently, but recently a law was passed that all the experience gained by a person in previous years or decades is counted. In my opinion, the relevant federal law was adopted in November. Therefore, there are regulatory and legal grounds for resolving your issue.

All questions of this kind, even if there are no documents, are closed by witness statements and decisions of interdepartmental regional commissions. I strongly ask the republic's leadership to organize its work in such a way that issues of this kind are resolved without unnecessary bureaucracy.

I recently spoke with Pushilin, the head of the Donetsk People's Republic. He told me about how he received a delegation from Africa. We are very happy to welcome our friends and guests, and he is going to go to Africa himself. This is very good, and it is correct. It is necessary to maintain relationships. But I want to remind him that there is also Leonid Nikolaevich, who also needs to be paid attention to. And I hope that the work of interdepartmental regional commissions will be properly established. I repeat once again, especially since there is a legal basis: the relevant federal law has been adopted.

Anna Suvorova: Indeed, there are a lot of complaints about the loss of documents. And we are talking not only about pensions, but also about education and property rights. I want to quote a few more messages.

Vladimir Putin: I have already said that these issues are closed by decisions of interdepartmental commissions and so-called witness statements. We are not talking about some kind of lawsuit, but about getting reliable information from neighbors, colleagues, and so on.

A. Suvorova: Another big topic in this region is housing.

A lot of appeals and calls were received from Mariupol from those who expected to receive housing as compensation but have not yet been able to do so. Here are a few of them.

"Mariupol needs help in the construction of compensatory housing. How much longer do we need to change the removable one?" – I received a text message with this text. "The houses were built in the spring, but the settlement has not yet begun," Alexey Tsygankov writes about this, here is one of the appeals.

In fact, there is also a sufficient number of them, this is only what we have selected.

Vladimir Putin: We pay a lot of attention to Mariupol, and it is well deserved, it is a big city. Before the outbreak of hostilities, about 430 thousand people officially lived there. Local leaders say that this is actually not the case, that there were even more–-470 thousand. Maybe there are more than three thousand apartment buildings there. I was there, I know all this, and my colleagues from the Government report regularly. Approximately 1,700 houses have been restored, but not all of them have been put into operation yet. Documents for more than 500 houses are still being processed, but they are already in place. [Note that “houses” often refers to apartment houses, not single-family dwellings.]

What's going on there? There, houses are being restored and rebuilt. Where houses are not subject to restoration, local authorities are in this place, because they decided to demolish the houses and transfer these plots for development to developers, and commercial housing appears there, which can be obtained on a mortgage at two percent.

Because the mortgage at two percent remains in the new territories. By the way, such a construction boom is actually taking place there to a certain extent, and according to our estimates, at least 300 thousand people have already returned to Mariupol, and the population continues to grow at a rapid pace.

We are also involved in roads, schools, social services, medicine–-a large medical center has recently been established there, and educational institutions. And we will continue to do so. But as for housing, I repeat, there are houses that have been transferred to developers. But people, citizens, have the right to get housing at least near the place where they used to live. Better still, if the house is being restored, already provide housing to people there, or if a house built by so-called developers appears on this site, then everything should be done so that this person can get not somewhere out there, on the outskirts, outside the city already, but next to the place where they are located. where he previously lived. There are five thousand abandoned apartments in the city. Local authorities need to stop holding them back, and they also need to distribute them among people. Of course, everything must be legal–-someone else is coming back, we need to think through all this. But these issues need to be addressed.

I can say one thing for sure: everyone who is entitled to compensation will receive this compensation. If not, please contact the relevant local and federal authorities. In my opinion, these decision-making centers are located there, they have been created, they are available. If my memory serves me correctly, they are located on Marat Street. It was Marat Shakirzyanovich who reported this to me.

A. Suvorova: It's easy to remember.

Vladimir Putin: It's easy to remember. If the place is not mixed up, but, in my opinion, it is there.

Dmitry Kulko: Mr Putin, speaking of the southern regions, I would also like to mention the environmental situation that has developed since the crash of two tankers in the Kerch Strait during a storm.

Oil products washed ashore, on a beach near Anapa. And now, as we know, this pollution is spreading towards Gelendzhik.

The situation is getting worse. Now the MOE staff, volunteers, and ordinary residents have come out to clean up the coast. They shoot videos, post them on social networks, and send them to our program, among other things. I suggest we take a look now.

Vladimir Putin: Please.

(A video clip is shown.)

Dmitry Kulko: Mr President, such horrifying images from the resort beaches. I know that you have already given instructions to eliminate the consequences of the emergency as soon as possible. But is there any way to speed up this work and minimize this pollution?

Vladimir Putin: First of all, this is, of course, an environmental problem, this is quite obvious. Law enforcement agencies assess the actions of ship captains. I was informed that, in their opinion, the captains of the ships violated the relevant rules, did not go to the shelter in time. Some of the ships went to shelter, they were fine, but these did not go and anchored in the wrong place. Let the relevant services of the Ministry of Transport and law enforcement agencies deal with this. This is the first one.

Right now, at this point in time, I don't know what is happening, but yesterday the storm lasted 4-5 points, and it is quite difficult to work. By Saturday, in my opinion, the sea should calm down after all, and it will be possible to set up work.

Second. Why I say that this is a big disaster and a catastrophe, because almost 40 percent of the fuel has leaked out, it is quite obvious, it is already clear. Some are in a submerged state, some have sunk, some are in a semi-submerged state near the shore. And we need to work with it.

There are different services, services of different departments, including the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Ministry of Transport, and the Ministry of Emergency Situations. This work should be coordinated, and I asked the Prime Minister to organize a working group headed by Vitaly Savelyev, Deputy Prime Minister for Transport. And all services are working. I get regular updates on what's going on.

It is necessary to study, and it will be necessary to study, what condition the tankers are in. And of course, we need to think about what to do in the near future. This problem should be broken down by time at least into stages.

The first stage. Now we need to do everything to enclose this area with booms, not to allow this spot to spread. First.

Second. We must do everything possible to remove the fuel that appears on the shore. As Governor Kondratyev Veniamin Ivanovich reported to me yesterday or the day before yesterday, he says: I have concentrated a group of about 4 thousand people there. In principle, any other measures, he told me, at least, are not required now. But if it is necessary, we will certainly be ready to deploy an additional group of the Ministry of Emergency Situations there.

But still, this is what you need to do now. This is fuel, this is heating oil, it has its own properties at certain temperatures. It is a solid material, it is thrown ashore in this form, it is necessary to clean up, but part of this fuel oil has already laid on the bottom, and somewhere in May it can rise at other temperatures and also be thrown out, so you need to prepare now for the moment when the water temperature rises. We need to think now about what we should do with the ascent. One way or another, we need to somehow pull submerged tankers ashore. We need to strengthen them now, so that nothing flows out, and so bring the so-called towel there and then do the project; this is a separate big job to pull all the tankers with fuel to the shore.

It's a lot of work. The government is doing this. I really hope that the time will not be lost.

End of Part One. There’s such a category known as the Forces of Movement that contest political space with the Forces of Order. Putin admits he wants to move, and it’s clear by that classical analysis that Russia indeed is in the vanguard of the Forces of Movement, but it’s by no means alone. As anticipated, lots of on-the-spot problem solving and notes taken for additional action. Yes, most appear to be issues to be addressed to local and regional government; but, if you can connect with the Big Boss, then your problem has a better chance of being resolved quickly. Yes, as you read, Russia’s president has the power to remove and appoint regional governors. Marat Khairullen recently wrote about the Kursk replacement and its necessity. The replacement of Russian dry rot continues.

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