The first such conference was held on July 18, 2001, in the run up to the Genoa G8 summit. Nearly 400 journalists took part in the event, during which Putin answered 22 questions.
The journalists were interested in the president's position on Russia's economic and political development, the course of reforms in the country, prospects for Russia's continued integration in the international community and his opinion on key international issues.
Putin's second large news conference was held on June 24, 2002, and ran for over two hours, during which Putin answered 37 questions from Russian and foreign journalists. He announced a number of initiatives, including the introduction of a single tax in agriculture, and spoke on the situation in the domestic and foreign policy domains. The conference was attended by about 700 Russian and foreign journalists.
The third large news conference took place on June 20, 2003, and lasted two hours and 45 minutes. It was attended by over 700 federal, regional and foreign journalists. The president took questions from 48 reporters, answering 53 questions.
Most questions concerned domestic matters, including poverty reduction, military reform, tax reforms, the upcoming presidential elections, the party system and changes in the government. The president also answered two personal questions about his vacation plans and the achievements of his daughters as students.
The fourth large news conference was held on December 23, 2004.
The event lasted just over three hours, during which the president answered 51 questions. As in previous years, a majority of the questions, 27, came from regional journalists.
Federal media outlets asked 13 questions, while foreign journalists asked 11. The questions addressed Russia's domestic and foreign policies. There were also three personal questions. About 690 Russian and foreign journalists were accredited for the event.
In 2005, the news conference was not held. Instead, the president took questions from the public live.
The fifth large news conference, which was traditionally held in the Kremlin, took place on January 31, 2006. The event lasted just under three-and-a-half hours, during which Putin answered about 140 questions from 65 journalists, including 51 Russian reporters and 14 foreign and CIS journalists.
Over 1,000 media representatives were accredited for the news conference. Some thorny questions concerned the gas conflicts in the CIS, the Hamas victory in the Palestinian elections, the situation in the Russian Armed Forces, the status of nongovernmental organizations, the spy scandal and Putin's possible successor. Journalists were also interested in the president's personal life.
On February 1, 2007, Putin held his sixth large news conference for Russian and foreign journalists, which lasted for over 3.5 hours.
The president took questions from 50 Russian and 16 foreign journalists, including six reporters from the CIS countries. Over 1,100 media representatives were accredited for the event.
Most questions covered Russia's domestic issues. Journalists also tried in different ways to ask the president about his possible "successor" and his plans after 2008.
The seventh large news conference was held in the Kremlin on February 14, 2008, and lasted a record four hours and 40 minutes with 1,364 journalists accredited for the event. Putin answered 106 questions from 80 reporters, of them, 25 journalists represented federal media outlets – 36 regional and 19 foreign.
Thorny issues concerned immigration policy in the Stavropol Region, elections in Chechnya and Ingushetia, the reduced quality of secondary education, higher rates of inflation and the possibility that the president would run for a second term.
Dmitry Medvedev held his first large news conference as president on May 18, 2011. Unlike Putin, who introduced this practice, Medvedev preferred holding interviews with media representatives. He held annual live interviews with the heads of the three leading television channels – Channel One, Rossiya and NTV, during which he spoke on issues facing the country.
The news conference, held in the Skolkovo business center, lasted for over two hours. The president took 42 questions from 33 reporters, of whom 10 represented federal media outlets, 17 regional, and seven – foreign media outlets. Overall, 815 journalists, including 300 foreign reporters, were accredited for the event,.
Unlike Putin, Medvedev himself ran the news conference. He first took questions from the audience and then addressed four questions he received over the Internet.
Given the upcoming presidential elections in 2012, most questions concerned Medvedev's political future and the issues related to the government structure and political system in Russia, elections of governors and the work of government institutions at various levels.
Many questions concerned legal and judicial matters, including the high-profile cases against Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Sergei Magnitsky. Fewer questions were asked about social and economic issues.
On December 20, 2012, Putin held a large news conference after returning for a second term as president. The event took place at the World Trade Center on the Krasnopresnenskaya Naberezhnaya.
The news conference lasted for about 4.5 hours with about 1,226 journalists accredited. Putin took 81 questions, with some journalists asking two or three questions at once. Representatives of federal, regional, and foreign media outlets addressed their questions to the president, including reporters from Georgia, Ukraine, China, the United States and Poland.
Questions mostly concerned political, economic and social issues. The law banning the adoption of Russian children by Americans was a particularly popular topic. Seven reporters raised this subject in one way or another in their questions. The president was also asked some unconventional questions about the timing of the end of the world and whether French actor Gerard Depardieu would be given Russian citizenship.
The ninth annual news conference was held on December 19, 2013 at the World Trade Center on Krasnopresnenskaya Naberezhnaya. With over 1,300 Russian and foreign journalists accredited, the event lasted just over four hours.
The president took 52 questions from 42 Russian and 10 foreign journalists, representing five magazines, 15 television channels, nine news agencies, 18 newspapers, one radio station and five online publications.
Ukraine and the continued pro-European rallies in Kiev were the main theme of the questions on world politics. The president also addressed questions regarding Russia's deployment of Iskander missile systems on the border and spoke about plans by the United States to impose new sanctions against Iran. Putin also promised to consider canceling visas for Georgians and denied allegations that Russia planned to send troops to Crimea.
The major sensation happened after the news conference. Putin told journalists that former Yukos CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky had submitted a clemency petition, which he was going to approve with a presidential decree.
