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Russian President Vladimir Putin holds his televised question-and-answer session in Moscow on June 15.
Russian President Vladimir Putin holds his televised question-and-answer session in Moscow on June 15.

Live Blog: Putin's Call-In Show

Russian President Vladimir Putin is taking questions from Russians across the country in his annual Direct Line show, a lavish and heavily stage-managed production broadcast live by all major Russian state television networks.

-- Vladimir Putin took questions from Russians across the country in the Direct Line program, which lasted four hours.

-- Putin said there was no cause for the new sanctions against Moscow that are under consideration in the U.S. Congress, and that the aim of Western sanctions is to hold Russia back.

-- Putin said the country had pulled out of a long recession and that "the economy has moved to a period of growth."

-- The Direct Line program is one of three high-profile annual events that Putin uses to burnish his image in Russia, send signals abroad, and offer hints about future plans.

-- This year's rendition comes at a time of social tension in Russia, just days after police detained more than 1,500 people at anticorruption protests in cities across the country on June 12. In addition, Moscow has seen numerous protests in recent weeks over a controversial government plan to raze and replace thousands of Soviet-era residential buildings.

*NOTE: Times are stated according to local time in Moscow (GMT/UTC +3)

10:28 15.6.2017

Q: Ukraine just got a visa-free regime [with the European Union]. Poroshenko quoted [19th-century Russian poet Mikhail] Lermontov. Would you like to answer him?

A: No. But at least Poroshenko is interested in Russian literature.

10:25 15.6.2017
10:25 15.6.2017

Putin talks about Ukrainian Viktor Medvedchuk. Here is RFE/RL’s profile of the man, who more than a decade ago became known as the "Gray Cardinal" of Ukraine.

10:22 15.6.2017

This Facebook user is collecting screenshots of some of the more embarrassing Internet questions:

10:21 15.6.2017

Q from Kyiv: Why did you abandon us?

A: We don't want to interfere. But I appreciate your call.

10:21 15.6.2017

Q: Running a business is difficult, banks are unfair.

A: It will get better soon. The economy is still dependent on oil. The ruble must be stable.

10:17 15.6.2017
10:15 15.6.2017

“So young, and already an FSB major.”

10:11 15.6.2017

Q: Do you have grandkids?

A: I do. But I want them to grow up like normal kids, so I’m not going to say anything. My second grandchild was born recently.

10:09 15.6.2017

Q: The demographics are terrible. Young families need help.

A: It is not too bad. World War II was damaging, the 1990's were damaging.

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