Putin says he needs to check the figures that the firefighter provides because he has already ordered that they get more than 20,000. "We need to look into every specific case," he says. Adds that additional funds have already been allocated to raise salaries for firefighters to around 30,000.
Activists in Arkhangelsk region, who for months have protested construction of a huge landfill site in Shiyes to store Moscow's waste, have reportedly been banned from addressing Putin today. Just as they've been banned from any publicity in state media
Moderator says there were many questions about low incomes. They play a video from a firefighter in Kaliningrad Oblast who says he is getting 12,000 rubles a month, which he says is not a living wage. Many firefighters, he says, have to take second and third jobs. Says this is one of the reasons why there are so many fires in Russia.
Putin explains that the goal of the projects is to lift up the economy and, on that foundation, improve the lives of ordinary Russians. Putin explains that they had to raise the VAT in order to improve infrastructure. Talks about methods to raise money in order to fund the projects.
Putin begins by explaining that although he already knows what is bothering Russians, getting ready for the Direct Line helps him understand better. The moderator begins by asking Putin to explain what the so-called National Projects are.
The broadcast this year kicks off with a long explanation by a moderator on how to submit a question, along with assurances that no question will be ignored.
- By Carl Schreck
Putin's call-in show comes a day after Dutch prosecutors named three Russian nationals and one Ukrainian who will be tried for downing MH17 over eastern Ukraine nearly five years ago. It will be interesting to see if Putin addresses the issue. If he does, we can obviously expect the blanket denial of Russian involvement. In the meantime, there's this:
President Vladimir Putin has entered the studio just eight minutes late for his 17th Direct Line call-in show.
- By Carl Schreck
Flagged by our Moscow correspondent Matthew Luxmoore: the Yaroslavl man convicted and fined for spray-painting a homophobic slur about Putin on a local police building tells Znak.com that he submitted a question for Putin via SMS reading: "Vova, what's the matter, were you offended?"