One Twitter user quipped as the show was about to begin: "Well, now Putin will tell us again about a beautiful country where the epidemic has been defeated, people's incomes are growing, pensions are rising, missions are being sent to the Moon and Mars, and he is a national leader in that country.
Russians will listen and regret that they will never have a chance to live in that country themselves."
- By Mike Eckel
One of the most confounding aspects of Russia's fight with COVID-19 is the fact that the Kremlin hailed the approval of the Sputnik V vaccine as the world's first vaccine.
Yet, Russia currently has one of the lowest rates of vaccination among major industrial nations.
For his part, Putin has said he was vaccinated sometime late last year -- but he did not do it publicly, like some officials have done, and the Kremlin has not released any details of what vaccine he received, whether he felt any side effects.
Asked about this, he said, for the first time, that he had received Sputnik V.
"I thought that I needed to be protected as long as possible. So I chose to be vaccinated with Sputnik V. The military is getting vaccinated with Sputnik V, and after all I'm the commander-in-chief," he said.
He also said he hadn't gone public previously with the type of vaccine because he didn't want to give the vaccine makers a competitive advantage.
He also revealed that he didn't have strong negative effects from his vaccination.
Putin says some people feel ill after the vaccine, including famous people and people close to him -- shrugs it off, saying these illnesses go away quickly. Reiterates that it's better to get vaccinated. So first several minutes now essentially about encouraging people to get vaccinated.
- By Mike Eckel
The first video question Putin receives concerns a man who says his spouse is a teacher who refused to receive a vaccination and was fired from her job at school.
Asked whether that's legal, Putin responds flatly: "No."
Putin earlier in the chat signaled that he was opposed to any sort of national compulsory vaccination program.
Putin asked about what questioner says is supposed to be free treatment for COVID victims -- questioner says he could not get free treatment, either was asked to pay of just denied. Putin suggests without specific evidence that it was this way in the Soviet era, and says money is now being allocated for such treatment and 'a system is being created.' Suggests that if there is specific evidence of someone being forced to pay the government will deal with it; similar to past promises to address specific allegations of wrongdoing or corruption. Results have been mixed.
A child, Sasha Maksimov, asks whether coming school year will be in-person or remote. Putin says that depends on the overall COVID situation and the region, but for younger pupils it will probably be in-person.
- By Mike Eckel
Another woman from Moscow asks about side-effects from vaccinations.
Putin puts on his doctor's coat to answer, saying more or less that some side effects are to be expected, but nothing to be concerned about.
"It is necessary to listen, not to people who understand little about this and spread rumors, but to listen to specialists," he said.
Worth noting that the bulk of the discussion up to now has concerned COVID-19, which is surging in Russia and potentially poses a major challenge for the Kremlin running into this fall's Duma elections.
This Twitter user says he's ready to watch Putin's "Direct Line." The Russian idiom "to hang noodles on one's ears" means to mislead or fool someone.