For people who want to see what Russia is really like, today, the press conference Putin gives at the end of every year is a good place to look. Reporters come prepared for a candid ‘Ask Putin Anything’ session that goes on for hours.
Whether the event is contrived and staged, or unscripted and unrehearsed, it reveals a Russia seldom seen in the US, with larger than life drama, subtext, back-story, history, and characters. It’s a good show, and informative, too, broadcast live, unedited and uninterrupted. The video dubbed in awkward English is found on the Kremlin website, here. The transcript is here.
There are always memorable moments when a reporter gets under Putin’s skin and he loses his temper. Last year, the session was held on December 18, 2014, and it coincided with the meltdown of the ruble and a sharp drop in the price of crude oil. Instead of the holiday spirit that usually prevails, there were worries about Ukraine and sanctions imposed by the US and the EU.
Kseniya Sobchak asked Putin about the climate of intolerance, hate, and political persecution that became more apparent in Russia with the renewed demonization of the opposition.
Kseniya is known in Russia, as the daughter of Anatoly Sobchak, the former mayor of St. Petersburg who gave Putin a start in politics by appointing him to a position in the municipal government. After Sobchak left office, his political opponents claimed that he stole a fortune in funds from the city. To this day, Kseniya and Putin agree that Anatoly Sobchak was the innocent victim of political persecution. But Kseniya is officially part of the opposition, and criticizes Putin for persecuting his opponents today, the same way she believes her father was unfairly accused.
Kseniya's question was a follow-up to a question asked earlier by another reporter.
NATALYA GALIMOVA
GAZETA.RU
Good afternoon, Mr. Putin. After the referendum in Crimea, you used the words, “a certain fifth column and national traitors,” when you addressed the Federal Assembly. You didn’t specify whom you meant, but thanks to you, the term “fifth column” has again become part of the political vocabulary.
Since then, your supporters have labeled those who oppose the authorities, the fifth column. To whom were you referring when you spoke about national traitors and the fifth column, and where, in your opinion, is the line that separates the opposition from the fifth column?
Do you feel personally responsible for the revival of this term, which increases hostilities and divisions in society?
VLADIMIR PUTIN
I do not feel any responsibility whatsoever in this respect. Everything I do is directed toward uniting Russian society, not dividing it. However, I should be more cautious in my public statements. I’ll think about that.
That said, we cannot mask the truth forever. Sometimes it is our duty to call the things by their name. It would be very challenging to come up with an academic definition of where the opposition ends and the fifth column begins.
We all remember Mikhail Lermontov, the genius of Russian poetry. Was he an opposition activist? Of course he was, but I think he was also a patriot. This is very fine line.
What’s the difference? Opposition activists may be very harsh in their criticism, but at the end of the day they are defending the interests of the motherland. The fifth column serves the interests of other countries.
Kseniya Sobchak asks her question at Putin's press conference
KSENIYA SOBCHAK
DOZHD TV CHANNEL
I would like to clarify, for myself, and our audience, this fine line between the fifth column and the opposition. Things are now clear with Lermontov, but it would be nice to clarify things in the present.
You publicly stated, once, that there was a bullying campaign against my father [Anatoly Sobchak] in the past. I think bullying has come back into our lives, today.
I’m talking about the harassment of Makarevich [the famous rock musician who was vilified after performing for displaced children in Ukraine].
And the allegations about “The 13 Friends of the Junta” [in Kyiv.] Many of them are true patriots.
And the anti-semitic epithets heard on federal television channels. I get the sense that the federal channels are deliberately fanning hatred in Russian society.
Take, for instance, the episode about a crucified boy from Slavyansk that was shown on Channel One, federally owned. This episode was proved to be false, but nobody apologized for it.
Aren’t you afraid of such hatred in our society, with some people pitted so strongly, against others? And what are you doing to alleviate this hatred?
Or do you divide people into two categories, your allies and followers of Bandera [neo-Nazis]?
Putin struggled to give her a coherent answer. He remembered a coordinated campaign of persecution against Anatoly Sobchak and insisted that nothing like it exists in his administration, today. He also declared that everyone has enemies and opponents and that people who believe they’re being demonized unfairly should complain about it less.
Kseniya Sobchak listens to Putin's reply.
Another reporter picked up the same theme again later, from a slightly different angle.
YEKATERINA VINOKUROVA
ZNAK.COM
Mr President, I would like to pick up on a topic that my colleagues started, the fifth column and enemies of Russia. I would like to ask you whether you consider certain categories of people to be Russia’s enemies, namely heads of state corporations who first ask to borrow trillions from the budget, then purchase iPhones for millions, who dump bonds on the country’s market but never fail to pay themselves bonuses in the millions.
The officials, even some in your inner circle, who live in palaces considering that our elderly women are counting kopecks to buy bread.
The heads of state-controlled TV channels who show videos about crucified children, who hurt our image in the West and your personal image, hinder negotiations, and sow discord.
The politicians who during these months of extreme tension for us all – and I believe, for you as well – openly called for Russia to launch a war of aggression, which would be a crime.
The law enforcement officials who are uninterested in any of this but who organized a group of investigators to look into an alleged painting theft by Alexei Navalny’s supporter, even though the artist claims there was no theft, which, again, only harms our image in the West.
And the last one: Mr President, what is Igor Sechin’s [CEO of Rosneft, Russia's state-owned oil company] annual salary?
VLADIMIR PUTIN
Well, I don’t know Mr Sechin’s salary. Frankly, I don’t even know my own salary – they just give it to me, and I put it away in my account. As for Mr Sechin – honestly, I cannot say. I know that people who work in our large companies make good money. But we have to compare what they make to the salaries earned by their colleagues in similar large companies all over the world, not to the average salary in our country (although this should be kept in mind as well).
Now with regard to officials from my inner circle. There are no officials in my inner circle, and I hope there will never be any. They are all colleagues, but I do not build close relationships with anybody nor do I intend to.