Putin aims for show of power and reassurance as war in Ukraine appears at stalemate

When Russian President Vladimir Putin answered questions for more than four hours during a marathon session broadcast live Thursday on all major television channels in the country, he was in the type of environment he relishes. 

He was front and centre during the year-end news conference and speaking at length in a carefully curated event designed to make him look powerful and in control. 

According to the event organizers, 2.5 million questions were submitted ahead of time, and while a few of those were posed to Putin, most of those he fielded during the news conference came from Russian journalists who were selected in the audience.

Putin, who announced on Friday that he plans to run again for president, will almost certainly win a fifth term next March, given that most of his opponents have been imprisoned or are living in exile. 

While elections in Russia aren't considered free or fair, experts say Putin is keen to manage any brewing discontent and used Thursday's question-and-answer broadcast to try to show he is best to steer the country and its war in Ukraine. 

"It's sort of an equivalent of a state of the union address," said Maxim Alyukov, a research associate at King's College London and a fellow with the school of Russian and European studies at the University of Manchester. "It's important to keep the semblance of normality ... to reassure some people that everything is going according to plan."

Last year, at a time of mounting military losses, the annual news conference was cancelled.

In the months prior to that cancellation, hundreds of thousands of Russian men were mobilized to support the country's military operation in Ukraine. 

In November 2022, Ukraine recaptured the city of Kherson, which Russia had claimed and celebrated as its own.

Ukraine launched its much-anticipated counteroffensive in June. But the sprawling front line, which spans more than 1,000 kilometres across the south and east of the country, has remained largely unchanged. Last month, Ukraine's top general, Valery Zaluzhny, said the war is at a stalemate.

This year, Putin's messaging seized upon the Ukrainian counteroffensive, which has yielded very few gains, and the country's biggest financial backer, the United States, where politicians are waffling on whether to commit tens of billions of dollars more in military aid. 

U.S. President Joe Biden warned on Tuesday that it would be a "Christmas gift" to Putin if Congress doesn't approve a $61.4-billion package, which hasn't been passed because of a lack of Republican support. 

Republican lawmakers say that any more money for Ukraine must be passed alongside changes to domestic immigration policy — a contentious issue in the U.S. 

During Thursday's news conference, Putin highlighted how much Ukraine relies on the aid, and the fact that it is eroding.