Putin is defiant and buoyant during marathon call-in and news conference

Putin blamed the United States for last year's explosions that blew up the Nord Stream pipelines carrying Russian gas into Europe.

“We didn’t blow up Nord Stream 1 and partly Nord Stream 2,” he said. “It was most likely the Americans who did it, or someone did it at their instigation.”

The explosions in the Baltic Sea caused major leaks and prompted accusations of sabotage, although there has been little clarity from ongoing investigations into what happened.

The blasts strained Russia's already fraught relations with the European Union, which condemned the invasion of Ukraine.

It was a subtle jab which Putin either missed or chose not to acknowledge.

On a large TV screen behind the audience, some of the more than 2 million questions appeared during the mammoth question-and-answer session, including one which mentioned the length of his leadership.

“In 2004 you said — ‘If you remain president for 7 years, you can go crazy.’” it said. “You have been in power for 23 years. How is your health?”

Putin announced his candidacy in next year's presidential election earlier this month, a move that could prolong his repressive and unyielding grip on Russia for at least another six years.

MOSCOW — For once, Putin looked uncomfortable when asked about the shelling of Russian regions on the border with Ukraine and whether the government was doing enough to support people there.

“Shelling has become their daily routine,” a reporter at the state broadcaster RIA Novosti asked.

But Putin deftly avoided the question and instead focused on a follow-up video question from an entrepreneur in the border region of Belgorod to say that he will consider ramping up economic assistance for people there.

Belgorod and the neighboring region of Kursk have borne the brunt of the shelling which Russia blames on Ukraine. A number of people have been killed and injured in the strikes, for which Kyiv has never claimed responsibility.

MOSCOW — Boris Nadezhdin has promised to take on Putin in the presidential election to be held in March. It’s a risky act in a country where many critics have ended up jailed, exiled or dead.

“It is a very strange election because there is no real choice,” the veteran politician and commentator said. He understands the risks but he still wants to run, he told NBC News, to call out the president for undermining Russian democratic institutions, and air criticism of the war in Ukraine and Putin’s efforts at steering the country to greater authoritarianism.

“I am ready for everything,” he added. 

Nadezhdin is one of only two people who have so far expressed willingness to square up against a leader expected to win by a wide margin. Russian elections are often mired in irregularities and claims of fraud. It is extremely difficult for challengers to get their names onto a ballot at any level. Critics say Russia’s elections are mostly just for show.

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At one point, Putin was asked by a student from St. Petersburg about his concerns over artificial intelligence and if he had any body doubles.

The questioner appeared to have an AI version of the president ask the question.

Russia and China are enjoying an "unprecedented" level of cooperation, with trade reaching more than $200 billion this year, according to Putin.

Despite disapproval from the West, the relationship between China and Russia is one of the “guarantees of stability in the world,” he said.

Russia and China are not formal allies, but Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping, who refer to each other as “dear friends,” declared a “no limits” partnership at a meeting in Beijing weeks before Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

China has refused to condemn Russia’s actions in Ukraine or even describe them as an invasion, and has repeated Russian talking points defending the war. But it has also expressed concern about the humanitarian situation and called for peace talks, presenting its own 12-point plan earlier this year and sending a representative to Ukraine and Russia last month in an effort to mediate.

Russia is looking to negotiate with the U.S. about detained Wall Street Journal correspondent Evan Gershkovich, Putin said today, adding that contacts had been made to discuss securing his freedom.

His comments came shortly after Gershkovich’s pretrial detention on espionage charges was extended until Jan. 30 by a Russian court, according to the state news agency Tass.

Gershkovich has been in Russian custody since March. Both he and the Journal deny all charges against him. The U.S. considers Gershkovich wrongfully detained.

Putin said Russia had “contacts" with American partners about the case. “There is a dialogue going on about this. It’s not simple. I am not going to go into details. But I think we are generally speaking a language we can understand,” he added.

Members of the Ural Women’s Guard movement watch a televised broadcast of Putin’s annual question and answer session in the Russian region of Yekaterinburg today.

MOSCOW — This is a choreographed question and answer session in which only participants allowed by the Kremlin are included, among them a small number of journalists from major Western news organizations, including NBC News.

But it is nonetheless offering up some insight into Putin's thinking.

In a video message, a doctor from a hospital in the Russian-occupied Ukrainian city of Melitopol says there are “double” the patients than there should be for the number of medics.

Another shows a group of children in Russian-occupied Crimea standing in a sports hall with fungus on the walls and a leaking roof. “We have to train outside,” they say.

MOSCOW — More than 600,000 Russian troops are fighting in Ukraine, Putin told the news conference.

In a rare assessment of the number of forces engaged in the war, he said 617,000 service members were currently involved in what he calls the special military operation in Ukraine.

Putin and Kremlin officials have always referred to the war in Ukraine as a special military operation.

Neither Russia nor Ukraine release casualty numbers.

Russian athletes should go to the Paris Olympics next year after the International Olympic Committee said they could compete under "neutral status" last week. Neutral status allows athletes to compete in the games without their national identity or flag.

Russia has opposed any restrictions on its athletes saying they are discriminatory. But Ukraine and its Western allies have urged the IOC to completely ban all Russian and Belarusian athletes from next year's games in the French capital.

Russia has positioned troops and military hardware in Belarus, which sits to the north of Ukraine, and used the territory for its invasion.

Putin said today the IOC conditions on neutral status should be scrutinized more closely to ensure they do not stifle Russian medal hopefuls. Everyone will know that the neutral athletes are from Russia, even if they compete without a Russian flag or anthem, he added.

The destruction in Gaza is a "catastrophe," Putin said, as he compared it to the war in Ukraine.

“Look at the special military operation and what is happening in Gaza and feel the difference. There is nothing like this in Ukraine,” he said. Putin and Kremlin officials have always referred to the war in Ukraine as a special military operation, rather than a war.

Putin also criticized the number of civilian casualties in Gaza and called for an increase in humanitarian aid into the enclave.

By contrast, the Russian leader has not commented on the thousands of civilian deaths in Ukraine. Throughout the war, the Kremlin has insisted it does not target civilian infrastructure while launching near daily missile and drone attacks on Ukrainian cities.

MOSCOW — Putin appeared to have a newfound confidence as he addresses the crowd at the Gostinyy Dvor center in Moscow.

Appearing buoyant and defiant, he showed no sign of backing down on his long-stated goals, like the demilitarization of Ukraine.

While Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov is moderating the questions, Putin is quickly taking over from his longtime colleague and deciding whom he will take questions from.

Russian troops are improving their positions along the entire front line in Ukraine, Putin said.

Asked about Ukrainian attempts to secure a foothold on the left bank of the Dnipro River in the southern Kherson region, he said this was Kyiv's "last attempt" to bring its counteroffensive back to life.

Russia has occupied that side of the waterway since the start of the war and a much-vaunted Ukrainian counteroffensive has little to show for it despite months of planning and billions in allied military support.

"I think this is silly and irresponsible from the leadership of the country. But it’s their business," Putin said.

Russia is ready to build relations with the U.S., Putin said when asked about the possibility of normalization of contact with the West almost two years after the invasion of Ukraine.

Putin called the U.S. an “important and necessary country” in the world, but said its “imperialism politics” gets in the way of relations with Moscow.

Asked if there will be another wave of mobilization in Russia, Putin said it was not necessary because around 486,000 contractors have been hired to fight on the front lines this year.

“The flow of those who want to defend their homeland with weapons in their hands does not stop," he said, adding that 1,500 people are recruited a day.

"So why do we need mobilization? As of today, there is no need for that," Putin added.

Russia launched a partial mobilization last year, an unpopular move that prompted an outcry across the country and a mass exodus of military-age men from Russia, something Putin called a “sensitive question.”

As he spoke at his year-end press conference, the audience listened intently to the Russian leader.

Peace in Ukraine will come when Russia reaches its objectives, including de-Nazification and demilitarization of Ukraine, Putin said today.

Kyiv is currently "getting everything for free," he said, referring to military aid supplied by Ukraine's Western allies. He added that the conflict could end "and it looks like it’s ending."

Putin and his government have regularly peddled accusations of Nazi elements within Ukraine to justify the attack on his western neighbor, a move that experts have disputed.

His comments came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been pleading with the U.S. and other allies to give his country more aid and military hardware.

Putin launched straight into the numbers relating to Russia's economy, which he said was not only recovering, but also making leaps forward after it was hit hard by Western sanctions in the wake of the Ukraine invasion.

Calling it a "good indicator," he said the gross domestic product, GDP, was expected to grow by 3.5% by year's end.

Russia's economy was heavily sanctioned by Western countries after the invasion of Ukraine in an attempt to isolate Moscow and block financing for the war.

But Putin said it "recovered from the fall," after it rebuilt economic systems that skirted Western sanctions.

Around 600 people are in the audience at the conference at the Gostinyy Dvor event in central Moscow, state TV channel Russia 24 reported as Putin entered.

Reporters from "nonfriendly" countries are also present, the channel said, referring to foreign media outlets from nations that oppose Russia's invasion of Ukraine, including the U.S.

Ahead of the event, media representatives were invited to take their temperature and pass through "a special disinfecting frame with silver ions," the Russian state news agency Tass said, adding that this was to minimize any viral infection spread.

Holding a yellow folder, Putin strode confidently into the event on time and apparently raring to go.

Moderators said they were ready with thousands of questions, including some on what Russia calls its special military operation in Ukraine.

State TV channel Russia 24, which is broadcasting the press conference live, is calling it the “most important event of the year.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin is holding his end-of-year news conference today for the first time since he ordered his country's forces to invade Ukraine.

This year, ordinary citizens will also have a chance to call in with their questions. Journalists — some of whom lined up for hours in freezing temperatures to get into the Moscow event — will also get to put their queries to the Russian leader.

Putin has heavily limited his interaction with the foreign media since fighting began in Ukraine in February 2022, but international journalists were invited this year.

Last year, he did not hold his usual call-in show with ordinary Russians or his traditional session with reporters as the fighting in Ukraine raged. His annual state-of-the-nation address was also delayed by a year until February.