Semi-free press starting to pose different problems for Putin

The Russian president may not be taking the challenge he faces seriously enough as media shifts away from anti-Western propaganda to highlight people’s frustrations, writes Nina L Khrushcheva.

In his widely broadcast annual press conference last month, Russian president Vladimir Putin was confident and condescending, animated only when criticising Ukraine for skirmishes in the Black Sea or railing against the West’s “unfair” complaints about Russia’s behaviour.