Kathrine Frich
Russia’s president tightly controls how he is questioned in public.
Journalists are screened, topics are shaped, and surprise is rare.
That is why one exchange during Vladimir Putin’s latest appearance stood out.
The law comes first
Before addressing war or diplomacy, Vladimir Putin used his annual televised forum to defend one of the Kremlin’s most controversial domestic tools: Russia’s Foreign Agents Act.
“We didn’t invent this,” he said, arguing that similar legislation exists in Western countries, including the United States, and claiming those laws are “much stricter.”
International courts disagree. In 2022, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Russia’s version violates fundamental freedoms of association and assembly.
A tool of pressure
Under the law, organisations and individuals receiving foreign funding and engaging in loosely defined “political activity” must register as “foreign agents.”
The designation carries heavy stigma. All publications must be labelled, reporting requirements are extensive, and penalties are severe. Many independent groups have shut down rather than comply.
The law has become a central pillar of Russia’s effort to neutralise dissent and independent media.
A rare interruption
It was against this backdrop that Steve Rosenberg, the BBC’s Russia editor, was briefly given the floor.
“My question concerns the future of Russia,” Rosenberg said, asking whether dissent would continue to be punished by law and whether the country faced further “special military operations.”
Such direct questions from Western journalists have become increasingly rare in Russia.
The war reframed
Putin responded by shifting responsibility outward. Asked about future military campaigns, he said there would be none “if you treat us with respect and honour our interests.”
He again blamed NATO’s eastward expansion for the war in Ukraine and dismissed Western warnings about Russian aggression toward Europe as “nonsense.”
Rosenberg’s microphone was confiscated shortly after he finished speaking, though Putin continued answering.
