We should remind you that the press conference was moved from the 22nd of December to Friday, due to funeral of the Russian ambassador Andrey Karlov assassinated in Ankara this Monday. It was the first time ever that the President’s annual press conference was postponed.
According to President’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, security measures at the event are “at the highest possible level.” As Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper reports from the ground, security services check journalists twice at the entrance to a conference hall – searching them and screening.
Traditionally, Vladimir Putin sums up the outgoing year’s results at this event. Annual press conferences of the Russian President last for several hours and that of 2008 set the record of almost 5 hours.