The President’s message answered questions about the goals and objectives of the ongoing special operation

The President’s 18th Address to the Federal Assembly aroused increased interest not only because of a pause – Vladimir Putin has not spoken in this format since 2021 – but also because of the symbolism of the date. The president decided to tell “about the main directions of the domestic and foreign policy of the state” exactly one year after Russia recognized the independence of the DPR and LPR. Taking into account the daily reports on the supply of weapons from Western countries to Kyiv, as well as the situation at the front, observers and experts expected the message to focus on the topic of a special military operation. Their expectations justified themselves literally from the doorway: the lobbies of Gostiny Dvor, where they were waiting for Putin’s speech, were decorated with a photo exhibition with footage of rallies in support of Donbass and Russian military equipment.

The message itself was a record number of guests – about 1,500 people. In addition to deputies and senators, other statesmen, businessmen and artists, volunteers and disabled participants in the special operation were invited to the hall. Singers Oleg Gazmanov and Nikolai Rastorguev, who became faces of patriotic culture, sat in the forefront. The leader of the United Russia Duma faction, Vladimir Vasilyev, also came to listen to the message – three days ago, RIA Novosti reported that his traditional meeting with the president had been disrupted due to an allegedly positive test for coronavirus. His fellow Communist Party and Just Russia leaders Gennady Zyuganov and Sergei Mironov were sitting right there, armed with notepads to take shorthand of Putin’s speech – in this they differed from many who listened but did not write it down.