Why Putin's Next War Will Be at Home

Vladimir Putin appeared this week in his annual marathon television broadcast to answer questions posed by viewers from across Russia. Of course, the four-hour show, Direct Line With Vladimir Putin, was carefully choreographed to avoid anything that could embarrass the Russian leader. But that doesn’t mean the broadcast shied away from criticism and thorny issues. Putin used this year's broadcast to deliver a rebuke to his former finance minister, ruminate on the murder of opposition politician Boris Nemtsov, and opine on the war in Ukraine.

The show has become a yearly fixture dating back to 2001. Why has Putin embraced the call-in format? “It is the most powerful opinion poll,” he explained during Thursday's show. “Millions of questions have been submitted via different channels, which allows us to get a realistic idea of what makes people worried.”