Unlike his remarks in 2022, his speech Tuesday did not mention Ukraine, omitting even his usual euphemism for the war as a “special military operation.”

President Vladimir Putin told Russians in a New Year address that the country would move forward with confidence in 2025, though he offered no specific promises on the economy or the war in Ukraine. At a time when many ordinary people are worried about rising prices and the central bank's 21% interest rate is squeezing businesses and homebuyers,

Twenty five years ago today, a somewhat undemonstrative technocrat became the acting president of Russia. In a surprise announcement, Boris Yeltsin handed over to Vladimir Putin, a former KGB officer whom he had chosen a few months earlier to be his prime minister.