Putin says he has stabilized the macroeconomic indicators and now it is possible to move forward with modernization and reform.
Putin says Russia's greatness is its people and the "creativity of each individual."
He says we must not allow "stability" to become "complacency."
Putin says he maintained the unity of the country and its democratic path through major economic and social changes.
Putin says the "significance of our every choice, every step" is extremely great.
Vladimir Ryzhkov, a prominent opposition figure: “Here is my prediction. Putin will promise to sign and implement new good decrees. Instead of the old and obsolete decrees. The ones that haven’t been implemented.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin is entering the hall for his annual address to the Federal Assembly.
First Debate Turns Into Circus
The first presidential election debate was aired on February 28, the morning after it was taped, featuring all seven of President Putin's challengers. (Putin has said he won't participate.)
Outspoken nationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky lived up to his reputation as a disruptor, calling journalist and fellow candidate Ksenia Sobchak a "prostitute" and endlessly shouting through the presentations of other candidates.
Sobchak threw a glassful of water at him (video was shared here).
The incident was a weird echo of a 1995 televised debate between a much younger Zhirinovsky and liberal politician and then-Nizhny Novgorod Governor Boris Nemtsov, in which Zhirinovsky threw juice in Nemtsov's face and the two men nearly ended up brawling.
Nemtsov was shot dead outside the Kremlin on February 27, 2015, and Russians marked the third anniversary of the killing with memorials on February 25.