On a lighter note than the previous developments, sarcastic and critical messages briefly appeared on a large screen during Russian President Vladimir Putin's annual end-of-year press conference and televised "direct line" phone-in on Friday. Previous developments:
Putin backs Trump lawsuit against BBC over edited speech.
Putin offers no compromise on Ukraine, says EU "robbery" failed.
The comments, shown among incoming text messages from the public, included one that read: "Not a direct line, but a circus," while another joked: "Vladimir Vladimirovich, it's Friday already, can we break out the booze?"
Other messages questioned Russia's economic situation and the legitimacy of elections, with one asking why ordinary Russians were worse off than people in Papua New Guinea and another suggesting voting in Russia might be "a fiction."
The remarks appeared only momentarily before the camera moved away. The Kremlin did not comment on the incident, and Putin made no reference to the messages during the tightly choreographed event, which is watched by millions across Russia.