Cornered in Ukraine, Putin ditches annual news conference
Russian president Vladimir Putin (Mikhail Metzel, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool/AP)
President Vladimir Putin has ditched his annual marathon news conference following a series of battlefield setbacks in Ukraine – a tacit acknowledgment that the Russian leader’s war has gone badly wrong.
Putin typically uses the year-end ritual to polish his image, answering a wide range of questions on domestic and foreign policy to demonstrate his grip on details and give the semblance of openness even though the event is tightly stage-managed.
