Putin will reportedly not address Federal Assembly in 2022, shirking constitutional requirement

Vladimir Putin will not address Russia’s Federal Assembly in 2022, TASS reported on Wednesday, citing a source from the federal parliament.

“The address is supposed to be held once a year, and the countdown begins with the previous address. So the [next] address might be held next year. [...] I believe there won’t be one this year,” said the source.

Citing another Duma source, RIA Novosti previously reported that Putin’s Federal Assembly address might be held on December 27, something the Kremlin has denied.

• The last time Vladimir Putin addressed the Federal Assembly was in April of 2021. The Russian Constitution requires the president to address the country’s legislature every year.
• The Kremlin has yet to name an official date for Putin’s next Federal Assembly address. In mid-November, however, Russian Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov said that the address was being planned.
• On December 12, Dmitry Peskov announced that Putin will not hold his annual December press conference this year. According to the UK Defense Ministry, “Kremlin officials are almost certainly extremely sensitive about the possibility that any event attended by Putin could be hijacked by unsanctioned discussion about the ‘special military operation.’”