President Putin’s highly choreographed Q&A session went largely as expected, giving him a chance to show he’s in control and listening to the people.
The questions were handpicked to avoid anything awkward – and ranged from talking tough on Ukraine to addressing concerns about egg prices, and even speaking to an AI version of himself.
However, a few text messages from viewers flashed up on screens that appeared a bit too close to the bone to put to Mr Putin.
Here are a few of them, caught by reporters in the studio:
‘Make peace, deaths are unacceptable’
‘Time to call it a day’
‘Real help for