INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
The cancellation of Russian President Vladimir Putin's annual press conference earlier this week was a last minute decision taken due to
its retreat from Kherson, the only Ukrainian regional capital occupied by Russian forces in the 10-month invasion, and apparent Ukrainian
explosion.RosavtodorBut it is not the only major set piece political event that the Kremlin has sidelined amid the fighting in
Russian and foreign journalists and can last as long as four hours, were well advanced when Putin opted to pull the plug, according to six
Kremlin and government officials and a government relations adviser at a major Russian company who all requested anonymity to speak
the event: the withdrawal of the Russian Armed Forces from occupied Kherson, the explosion on the Crimean Bridge, problems associated with
the mobilization campaign and Ukrainian attacks on Russian territory.The last straw for the president was the security services being unable
to guarantee that a major Ukrainian attack would not take place in the immediate run-up to the press conference, according to the Kremlin
laws make assessing the attitude of ordinary Russians toward the Ukraine war extremely difficult, recently leaked government surveys suggest
55% of Russians favor peace negotiations with Ukraine, while independent journalists Farida Rustamova and Maxim Tovkaylo reported last week
have been impossible to avoid the Ukraine war from becoming its main topic, according to all six officials who spoke to The Moscow
from The Moscow Times about the reasons for the cancellation of the press conference.But he told journalists Monday that it would not happen
major companies in the energy, transport and communications sectors confirmed to The Moscow Times this week that they had received enquiries
large series of public events: from the the opening of a turkey farm to birthday celebrations for nuclear energy agency Rosatom and defense
address were wise moves from a tactical perspective, according to political analyst Abbas Gallyamov, a former speechwriter for Putin.But it
creates long term problems for the Russian leadership that cannot publicly ignore the topic of the war forever, he told The Moscow
