Putin to hold yearly presser in third winter of Ukraine offensive

Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold his annual end-of-year press conference Thursday, almost three years into his Ukraine offensive and two days after a Kyiv-orchestrated killing of a general on the streets of Moscow.

Putin's traditional annual question and answer sessions, often lasting hours, are largely a televised show while also being a rare setting in which he is put on the spot and answers some uncomfortable questions.

He will address Russians as the conflict in Ukraine escalates in recent weeks and with both sides seeking to gain an advantage before Donald Trump -- who has called for negotiations to begin -- enters the White House in January.

He will also speak as Russia's economy, on a war footing since early 2022, is facing mounting uncertainties.

The event takes place two days after a Russian army general was killed by a bomb planted in a scooter in Moscow, in the boldest assassination claimed by Kyiv since the start of the conflict.

Igor Kirillov was the most senior military figure killed by Ukraine in Russia and Putin has not yet publicly commented on the hit.

The Russian leader, in power since 2000, struck a confident tone earlier this week, saying his troops had the upper hand in Ukraine.

"Russian troops are firmly holding the strategic initiative along the entire line of contact," Putin said Monday, boasting Russia had seized almost 200 Ukrainian villages this year.

Moscow's army has advanced at its fastest pace in November in east Ukraine since the first month of its 2022 attack.

- Fall of ally Assad -

But while Russia was focused on its advance in east Ukraine, the fall of its ally Bashar al-Assad in Syria dealt a major blow to the Kremlin's image of power.

Assad fled to Moscow after his Russia-supported military failed to resist a rebel offensive.

The future of Russian bases in Syria is now in doubt and the scale of repression under Assad's leadership during the country's 13-year civil war is being laid bare.

At home, Russian households are also paying a mounting price for the military campaign in Ukraine.

Putin has touted Western sanctions as a "failure" but analysts have warned of negative predictions for 2025 with even Russian state media -- which normally stays away on topics of social discontent -- giving more attention to struggling families.

The price of butter in Russia is up a third since the start of the year.

And a growing labour shortage -- with thousands of men at the front or in exile -- has gradually affected all areas of life in the country.
 
Putin, 72, last month acknowledged the problem, without giving a cause.

"The lack of an adequate number of workers is today one of the main obstacles to our economic growth," he said.

Putin -- whose political opponents are either in prison, exile or dead -- has presided over the biggest crackdown on dissent in Russia since the Soviet era.

The press conference takes place two months before the third anniversary of Putin's decision to send troops to Ukraine and the first anniversary of Kremlin opponent Alexei Navalny's death in an Arctic prison.