Putin to skip marathon annual news conference amid Ukraine war setbacks

Russian President Vladimir Putin will not hold his annual televised news conference this year amid mounting setbacks for the Russian army in Ukraine.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Putin instead will hold the marathon news conference sometime after the new year, according to Russian news service Tass.

“But we expect that the president will still find an opportunity to talk to [the media] as he does regularly, including during his foreign visits,” Peskov said.

Tass reported there was no clear indication of what the next date might be for the news conference.

The televised end-of-year conference is a big platform for the Russian president, who uses it as an opportunity to tout accomplishments and reveal priorities for the coming year.

During the event, Putin typically sits in an auditorium and answers a round of questions from reporters.

Putin hasn’t skipped the news conference in 10 years, according to The Moscow Times.

The scrub comes as Russian troops have endured several setbacks in the war with Ukraine, which is now approaching the 10-month mark.

Putin ordered a full-scale invasion in late February, indicating he may have been expecting to seize Kyiv in a matter of days.

Russia was pushed out of the western region over the spring and has now lost several key territories in the eastern and southern parts of Ukraine, where fighting continues.

In a forum last week, Putin acknowledged the war “could be a lengthy process” even as he said the Russian army had gained a significant amount of territory and would carry the war through to the end.