Russian President Vladimir Putin has delivered his State of the Nation address to Russia's houses of parliament, the Federal Assembly, on Thursday.
The speech, made in front of around 1,000 lawmakers and officials, faith leaders, diplomats and journalists, covered a wide range of topics, from Russian foreign policy goals and the war in Ukraine to demographic issues, such as Russia's low birth rate, and economic development.
As was the case last year, participants in Russia's "special military operation" (code for war) in Ukraine were invited to the event — Putin's 19th address of its kind — and were singled out for particular praise.
Read more here: ‘We shall overcome everything together’: Putin tells his people that the West is trying to defeat Russia
Putin's speech comes less than a month before the presidential election on March 15-17 that he is expected to win given the lack of non-systemic opposition figures in Russia.
There was speculation that Putin could use his address to make an announcement about Transnistria, potentially even bolstering Russia's small military presence in the separatist region of Moldova, after it asked Russia to "protect" it from Moldova's authorities. Putin did not mention the region, however.