“Can you hear me?” Staged Putin exchange turns into awkward silence

“Friends, sailors, can you hear me?” Vladimir Putin asked from the control cabin of the fishing trawler Kapitan Junak. He then waited for an answer that could not come.

The Russian president tried several times to get a response during the staged exchange, while the sailors remained silent. Video of the episode was discussed on social media, and the carefully arranged demonstration turned into an awkward scene.

The reason was even more unusual: the communication system worked in only one direction. The crew could hear Putin clearly, but the equipment did not support a two-way conversation. Putin apparently had not been told that detail in advance, leaving him waiting for people who could not physically hear him.

Putin was visiting Vladivostok and was scheduled to address the Eastern Economic Forum on Russia’s economic situation in the fifth year of its war with Ukraine. He was also expected to join a discussion and answer questions. The Kremlin said he would meet Indonesia’s president, Mongolia’s prime minister and delegations from several countries, including China.

The visit came as Russia’s economy faced pressure from heavy state spending on the war and foreign sanctions. The article said Putin remained prepared to accept that pressure in pursuit of Russia’s objectives in Ukraine.

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Friends, sailors, can you hear me?