Like the Christ Child, President Vladimir Putin gives a year-end speech each year. Only in 2005 and between 2009 and 2011 did he not hold a press conference; Putin was not yet president of Russia at the time.
The event, which represents a propaganda festival for the Kremlin, was canceled last week. There is no official justification and that is why it caused quite a stir. Why is Putin canceling this event?
Experts suspect that Putin does not want to face journalists’ questions about the war in Ukraine – and certainly does not want to be associated with the “special operation” that went badly, as the “Moscow Times” reports.
Does Putin realize he has no support?
Russia has suffered a series of military humiliations in Ukraine in recent months: the withdrawal of Russian troops from occupied Kherson, the explosion of the Crimean bridge, problems related to the mobilization campaign and Ukrainian attacks on Russian territory.
Perhaps the Kremlin chief has realized that he has no answers to the questions that would inevitably come from journalists who, week after week, see the bodies of Russian soldiers come home and speak to the families of the mobilized men who lack proper training. or equipment have been sent to the front. Even the best choreographed performance would have to deal with the rising costs and bleak prospects of war.
Another major concern of the Kremlin during Putin’s appearances, such as the press conference and State of the Union address, is that too close a relationship between Putin and the war could negatively affect his popularity. “Note that Putin has been silent about Kherson’s surrender for more than a month,” a Kremlin official told the Moscow Times. “Any statement about the withdrawal immediately diminishes his popularity.”
Not attending the conference is a sign of weakness
The decision to skip the press conference is a rare sign of how events on the battlefield directly influence political decision-making in Moscow. The Kremlin in particular was concerned that Kiev would launch a major attack later this year. “No one can guarantee 100 percent that such an attack will not happen,” another Kremlin official told the Russian newspaper.
The year-end conference is not the only major political event postponed by the war. Some important press conferences and television appearances have been postponed or are being postponed. Instead, Putin shows up at politically simple events: the opening of a turkey farm, the birthday of Rosatom and Rostec, and the inauguration of a newly renovated highway.
While the Kremlin boss wants to divert attention from any association with the war, his withdrawal from the public may also show weakness, according to the British newspaper Telegraph. Because that could also fuel the rumors about his poor health. Abbas Galliamov, 50, a Russian speechwriter, also told the Moscow Times: “Canceling the press conference and postponing the State of the Nation speech was prudent from a tactical point of view, but this decision shows the strategic impasse in which the Kremlin is located.”