And it's over, after four hours and 18 minutes. Not a record (that's four hours and 40 minutes), but still a marathon press conference by anyone's definition.
- By Mike Eckel
One of the last questions Putin took was a good one:
A correspondent from the BBC's Russian Service asked Putin about his family, and specifically his daughters. There've been reports for years that a woman named Katerina Tikhonova is his daughter,
Putin NEVER talks about his family publicly, and the Kremlin has NEVER confirmed the reports, which were first documented by Reuters a couple years ago.
Tikhonova has been seen in Russian news reports more recently, as director of billion dollar high-tech development project. She's also a dancer in the circuit of competitive rock-n-roll dancer.
In answering the question, Putin speaks for some length about the development of high-tech projects in Russia.
And he totally dodges the question about whether Tikhonova is his daughter.
More than 4 hours in and still no question about the crackdown on protesters during the summer.
A woman from Yekaterinburg with a banner that reads “I Love Putin” asked him to help build a subway in the city. Putin promised to work with regional authorities.
- By Mike Eckel
Brexit and BoJo.
One of the BBC's Moscow correspondents got in a question about Britain's ongoing Brexit process, and the recent election that gave Prime Minister Boris Johnson a commanding majority in parliament, paving the way for London to leave the European Union.
Putin answered the question by congratulating Johnson on the recent electoral victory.
"He sensed the mood in British society better than the opposition," he says.
Johnson has also had unflattering words for Putin -- Johnson has called him a "ruthless and manipulative tyrant." There has also been persistent speculation, unconfirmed and uncorroborated, about whether Moscow sought to interfere in the original Brexit vote.
Putin answers:
"I know what my country's interests are. No matter what anyone anywhere says about me and my country, the fundamental interests of my country come first."
"People in the West, foreign governments, always comment on developments in Russia. I wonder if that can be defined as meddling into Russia's internal affairs... We also comment on developments in those countries. And that is the only thing that may be interpreted as Russia's meddling."
On terrorist attacks on Russian soil -- the Beslan school siege of 2004 that killed more than 330 people, and the Dubrovka Theater hostage crisis in which at least 170 died.
"Putin: The most difficult events [during the leadership of the country] are, of course, major terrorist attacks. Beslan, I will never forget. The attack on Dubrovka!"
- By Mike Eckel
A reporter from Minsk threw out an intriguing query for Putin: Essentially, what do you think about Gorbachev and the breakup of the Soviet Union?
"As for the legal assessment of Gorbachev’s steps or someone else’s, I cannot understand what this will bring about from the point of view of territorial integrity. We have solved all issues and all the documents have been signed. What can a legal assessment of their activities accomplish? I do not understand," Putin says.
(Background for this question is the pending issue of whether Belarus and Russia will in fact, finally, sign an agreement creating a long-discussed Union State. For the moment, it appears it won't happen, thanks to the long-standing hesitations of Belarus' president, Alyaksandr Lukashenka.)
A view from outside:
"In the train car someone is listening to Putin's press conference on his telephone. You won't believe it, but passengers forced him to turn on the headphones. 'But can't you listen to it through the headphones!?!'"