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Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers his annual address to the Federal Assembly in Moscow on April 21, 2021.
Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers his annual address to the Federal Assembly in Moscow on April 21, 2021.

Live Blog: Putin's Annual State-Of-The-Nation Address As It Happened

Follow as our team of Russia experts monitored the speech, highlighted the news, and offered personal takes on Putin's remarks.

  • Russian President Vladimir Putin used his 17th annual state-of-the-nation address to a joint session of the Russian parliament to issue threats against what he called foreign provocations, vowing amid several widening rifts with the West that Moscow would respond in a harsh and swift way.
  • Putin said that Moscow strived to have good relations with other countries, but warned no foreign state should cross Russia's "red lines" without elaborating. "Anyone who stages any provocations that threaten our safety will regret it in a way they've never regretted anything before," Putin said.
  • At the start of his address, Putin focused on the COVID-19 pandemic, which has hit Russia hard. Putin said that Russians should attain collective immunity from COVID-19 by this autumn and urged all citizens to get vaccinated against the coronavirus.
  • Read our news summary here.

*Time stamps on the blog refer to local time in Moscow.

09:33 21.4.2021

Says that support for families is integral to Russia's "renewed constitution," a reference to hundreds of amendments that were hastily adopted last year, including one that could allow Putin to remain president until 2036.

09:30 21.4.2021

Begins to talk about subsidies for families with children, single parents, pregnant women in dire financial straits.

09:29 21.4.2021

Consumer prices get a mention in Putin's speech.

This is a MAJOR issue that the Kremlin is grappling with, and is a MAJOR worry for government planners.

Putin tries to take a bit of a victory lap, asserting that despite the impact of COVID-19, the government managed to prevent a rise in poverty, and that economic problems didn't reach the sort of crisis levels seen in the years after the Soviet collapse.

But standard-of-living issues are very much on the forefront of average Russians' minds.

According to data from the state statistics agency, cited by the government newspaper Rossiiskaya Gazeta in March, prices for basic food items have jumped across the board: potatoes, tomatoes, apples, margarine, chicken, cheeses. Since January 2020, food prices have risen 8.2 percent; vegetables 17.5 percent; fruits 13.5 percent.

Here's more background reading on the problem.

09:26 21.4.2021

Putin now turns to problem of inflations and rising prices for basic consumer goods. Notes that even during the peak of the pandemic, Russia's situation was not nearly as bad as it was in the last days of the Soviet Union, when "shelves were empty." Says the government has mechanisms for controlling prices and will use them.

09:23 21.4.2021

Appeals to regional governors to pay attention to the needs of families, particularly health clinics, kindergartens, and similar facilities. Urges them to reduce bureaucracy and enable families to get all the assistance they qualify for "from one window."

09:21 21.4.2021

Talks about advances in telemedicine and other technological improvements to health care. Says these advancements must become the foundation of health care in Russia going forward.

09:20 21.4.2021

Turns to discussing the health of children. Offers a 50 percent rebate on stays at camps and health facilities. Says government is using a new tax on excess wealth to fund a program to assist children with serious illnesses. Says government will send 5,000 new ambulances to small settlements by 2023.

09:18 21.4.2021

09:17 21.4.2021

Says Health Ministry and others must turn their attention to dealing with the long-term health effects of COVID-19, especially heart and lung problems that could affect life expectancy. "This is a danger to the health of the nation."

09:15 21.4.2021

Demographics has long been a major issue for Russia, but it hasn't necessarily gotten the urgent attention that many experts say is needed.

Interestingly, Putin makes reference to the demographic crisis the country faces early in his speech, calling it "dire."

Here's more background reading on the problem.

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