Putin Sets New Q&A Session Record

MOSCOW, April 25 (RIA Novosti) - Russian President Vladimir Putin set a new record on Thursday for the duration of his annual televised question and answer session, replying to 85 questions in four hours and 47 minutes.

This was Putin’s 12th Q&A session, but the first since being re-elected president in 2012.

Putin’s very first Q&A session, held on December 24, 2001, lasted two and a half hours, one hour longer than the hour and a half planned. Each of the subsequent sessions has been longer still.

The 2009 session lasted for more than four hours. In 2010, he answered questions for four hours and 26 minutes, and in 2011 he set a new record again of four and a half hours.