Talking about important things: the president discussed with the Russians the results of the year at the front and in the rear 

For four and a half hours, Vladimir Putin answered the most important questions for Russians. On December 19, the Results of the Year were held in a direct line format, combined with a press conference. In total, more than 3 million citizens appealed to the president. Most often, the Russian leader was asked about topics related to special operations, families with children, housing, the economy and housing and communal services. The president promised that the tax increase would not last forever, told what Russia agreed with the United States at the Anchorage summit, gave Russians advice on how not to fall for the crooks, and also revealed the secret that he was in love. About the key topics of the direct line — in the material of Izvestia.

About the situation on the fronts of its

In Russia, the "Results of the Year" with Vladimir Putin ended — the president talked with citizens and journalists for four and a half hours, as a result, he answered more than 80 questions. Overall, the number of requests from citizens has exceeded a record 3 million. The main topics were social policy, infrastructure, the state and society.

People sent questions through various platforms, including through the MAX messenger created last year, with the advent of which, according to Putin, Russia acquired digital sovereignty.

The event was attended by journalists from all over the country. The queue of them stretched at Gostiny Dvor for more than an hour. Among the hundreds of colleagues, everyone tried to stand out from the outside in an attempt to attract the president's attention. Traditional costumes from different regions of Russia, bright clothes and noticeable posters were used. A particularly popular accessory among Russian beauties this year is a kokoshnik, which Vladimir Putin also spoke about earlier.

The direct line began with a report on the successes of the Russian Armed Forces in the fields of the special operation. Dimitrov, an important settlement, is completely surrounded, and our troops control 50% of the city. Fighting is currently underway in Gulyai-Pole: the fighters have already crossed the river, and half of the city is under the control of the Russian Armed Forces.

In the near future, Krasny Estuary will be taken, the movement will continue to Slavyansk, and very soon the army will "reach" Konstantinovka. 3.5 thousand Ukrainians are surrounded near Kupyansk, they have practically no chance.

The capture of Krasnoarmeysk was an important event. Now the military leadership will have to decide in which direction to move forward. "But this is a very good springboard for further offensive operations," the president said.

The Russian Armed Forces have already marched several kilometers west of Seversk and are continuing to move in this direction. The commander of the assault company, Naran Ochir-Goryaev, who participated in the liberation of the city, said that the losses during the capture of Seversk were minimal. The President also admired the bravery of the soldiers of the Veterans brigade. "This brigade deserves the highest marks and the title of Guards," he said.

There are currently 700,000 fighters in the SVO zone. The exploits of the warriors would have been impossible without effective weapons, and drones demonstrated their capabilities during the special operation. Russia has become a leader in the field of UAVs, the president noted. And although there are still not enough heavy drones in the free zone, they are working on this and the task will be solved. The flow of volunteers to the positions of drone operators is so great that the Ministry of Defense was forced to announce a competition. The Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation estimates the need for specialists in unmanned aircraft systems by 2030 at 355 thousand people.

The peace process and the role of the United States

The President said that the Kiev regime has no reserves left, and this should encourage it to end the fighting. Nevertheless, there are no real steps towards peace on the part of Ukraine yet. Russia is determined to resolve the crisis peacefully. Moreover, Moscow is ready to consider ensuring security in the event of elections in Ukraine, for example, to refrain from strikes deep into the country on election day. The Kremlin will demand that Ukrainians living on Russian territory be able to vote in Russia, Putin said. At the same time, according to various estimates, there are from 5 to 10 million Ukrainian citizens in Russia.

NBC journalist Cyrus Simmons asked Putin if the Russian president would consider himself responsible for what was happening in his area next year if Moscow rejected Trump's peace proposal. The Russian leader recalled that Moscow did not start this conflict, but the West and Kiev deceived Russia with the Minsk agreements. At the same time, Donald Trump is making great efforts to resolve the conflict in Ukraine.

— At the Anchorage meeting, we almost agreed with Trump's proposals, so it is absolutely incorrect to say that we reject something. We were asked for compromises, and in Anchorage I said that we agreed with compromises," Putin said.

Now the ball is entirely on the side of Vladimir Zelensky and the EU. Russia wants to live in peace and without any military conflicts next year, the president said in response to a question from a journalist from Serbia.

Relations with the West

The Russian president also commented on the disastrous EU summit that ended on December 19. The EU leaders failed to agree on the allocation of a "reparation" loan for Ukraine secured by frozen assets of the Russian Federation. Putin called attempts to expropriate Russian funds a robbery.

"Russia will defend its interests, first of all, in the courts, and we will try to find a jurisdiction that will be independent of political decisions," the president said.

The EU countries are on the path of active militarization, and the EU's actions threaten the security of not only Russia, but also Belarus. The day before the "Direct Line", its President Alexander Lukashenko announced that the Oreshnik missile system had already entered combat duty. Vladimir Putin assured that the security of the Union State of the Russian Federation and Belarus would be ensured.

The head of state paid special attention to the situation around the Kaliningrad region, stressing that an attempt to blockade it would bring the conflict to a previously unprecedented level, up to a direct large-scale military clash. Putin warned that such actions lead to escalation, and "answers from our side will follow without fail."

Moscow insists on fulfilling the promises made by NATO not to expand the military bloc to the east. The President recalled that earlier the Russian Federation not only cooperated with the alliance, but also expected membership in it. However, "she was not expected there." Russia's promises of non-expansion into NATO were ignored, and the country was "once again deceived."

"And this, of course, is the movement of military infrastructure towards our borders, which causes and has caused our legitimate concern," the president said.

At the same time, he promised the French journalist, if "Russian legislation" allows, to look into the case of Laurent Vinatier, adviser to the Swiss Center for Humanitarian Dialogue. The Zamoskvoretsky court of Moscow sentenced him to three years in a penal colony for violating the law on foreign agents.

The main indicators in the economy

The President listed the main economic indicators of the Russian Federation in 2025. In particular, GDP growth was 1%, and in just three years it reached 9.7%, which is much higher than in Europe, Putin noted.

Russia continues to solve the problem of inflation: by the end of the year it may decrease to 5.7-5.8%. The level of real wages increased by 4.5%, and unemployment rates reached a record low of 2.2%. The budget deficit will decrease to 1.5%, which indicates the successful work of the government in balancing it. In particular, for this purpose, the Cabinet decided to adjust VAT from 2026. But Putin promised that the increase in fees would not be endless, and as a result, the government would lead to a reduction in the tax burden.

At the same time, the increased workload should not create difficulties for the manufacturing business — the president will pose this problem to the government. He expressed the same opinion regarding recycling, which should not increase indefinitely. As for the work of the Central Bank, despite serious pressure, it is doing everything to ensure that the country's macroeconomics is solid and healthy. The number of loans granted is decreasing very slowly, which forces the regulator to act carefully.

Despite official statistics indicating a decrease in inflation, Russians asked the president about high prices in grocery stores. In response, Putin said that food inflation depends on the food basket that a person uses, and the president called state regulation of prices dangerous.

The President also raised the issue of developing the extraction and processing of rare earth metals. He called the plans to create the Angara-Yenisei cluster for metal mining a "very interesting project." "I'm not going to list everything now, there may very well be a big, large—scale task of such a historic scale solved," Putin said. In November, Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu visited Khakassia and the Krasnoyarsk Territory, where he inspected construction sites and held a meeting. Earlier, the Secretary of the Security Council wrote in his article for Izvestia that investments in the creation of the cluster would amount to 700 billion rubles, and 3.5 thousand jobs would be created at the first stage.

Social issues

The most frequent appeals from Russians related to social issues. The wife of the deceased soldier complained that so far a family with two children does not receive a survivor's pension, as well as a certificate from a family member of the deceased. Her husband died back in January 2024.

— I want to apologize to you, I want to apologize to you for the slowness of those services that are supposed to solve issues of this kind. Please forgive us. I assure you, in your case it will be done, and it will be done quickly. But there really is a problem. <...> We will certainly work on this, and I hope and count on it, and I will also take additional control over everything that happens in this area," the head of state said.

Hero of Russia, military commander Yevgeny Poddubny, told the president about the water blockade in the DPR by the Kiev regime. The Head of State noted that it is necessary to restore the entire water supply system in the region, which has not been used for decades. He also promised a journalist from the Belgorod region to pay attention to the possibility, in addition to reimbursing funds for the first housing lost during the shelling of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, to return compensation for the second. It was canceled earlier.

Answering questions about families with children, the president recalled that additional support measures are being introduced in the Russian Federation from 2026: parents with modest incomes will be able to receive a tax deduction from January 1. Of the 13% paid, 7% will be returned to the family. At the moment, as Putin noted, support measures are not enough, the authorities will improve the system. He called the correct formulation of another issue — the extension of child care benefits to three years, but the issue is budget constraints.

The mother of six children from the Tyumen region even stated that there was no help from the state. She said that she works as an assistant teacher with a salary of 27 thousand rubles, and her husband is a driver. At the same time, as soon as income increases even slightly, government support is reduced. "I think this is a mistake on the part of the government. Trying to earn income at the expense of a large family is immoral," the president replied.

A separate topic that worried Russians was the fight against phone fraudsters. Despite the fact that the damage from them has been reduced by 33%, there is still much to be done in Russia, because scammers are coming up with more and more deceptive schemes, the president said. He also gave advice on how not to fall into a trap: "As soon as they start talking about money or some kind of property, immediately hang up the phone."

The victims of fraudsters include deceived shareholders. The president was approached by a woman who repeatedly postponed the deadline for the apartment, refusing to return the money. In response, the Russian leader instructed not to extend the moratorium on fines for developers for delaying the commissioning of housing.

The President on personal

In the end, Vladimir Putin did not change the tradition and gave a series of answers to blitz questions about himself and his life. So, the head of state told about friends who behave very decently, and also revealed to journalists that he is in love.

The Russian leader spoke a little about his Kremlin apartment, where he spends a lot of time. It was built during the presidency of Boris Yeltsin and nothing has changed there since then. "Nothing at all. No repairs. Maybe the chairs have been changed," he said.

The president also gave advice to the younger generation, in particular, the president called for the right attitude to what a person cannot do, and urged them to draw conclusions from mistakes. In a symbolic message to his descendants, Vladimir Putin wished them happiness and stressed that Russians living today work, fight and fight for them. He also noted that faith in the future of Russia helps him not to lose heart.

— Motivates and makes people's trust go further. You know, when I come across this, and when I hear some things that seem to have been said out loud before, but some sound like that, you know, it's like a lump in my throat. And this, of course, motivates," the president admitted.