Vladimir Putin on Thursday morning gave his customary overview of the year on the course of the Russian economy, society and developments on the Ukrainian front, while setting goals for the coming year.

On the economy, Putin stressed that his country ranks first in Europe and fourth in the world in terms of economic size, but it is impossible to “remain complacent” with this indicator. Furthermore, he described the general economic situation in Russia as “stable” and that growth is steadily progressing, while wages are increasing.

Referring to the Ukrainian front, the Russian president acknowledged that “the situation is changing dramatically, the advance continues across the front line. Russian troops are recapturing territories in square kilometers, every day,” adding that the Russian army’s capabilities are constantly being strengthened, but declined to estimate how much longer the combat operations will last.

At the same time, he also spoke about the Kursk front, expressing confidence that the Russian army would fully repel the Ukrainian troops that have been invading since August, but again without giving a precise timetable. “Everything will be restored in Kursk,” he said, describing the region as a “graveyard of NATO armaments.”

Speaking about the Oreshnik missile system, Putin said that “there is no chance that it can be shot down easily by anybody”, added that it was created on the basis of developing the country’s defence capabilities and replied “I honestly don’t know” when asked why the missile was named so. Indeed, describing the capabilities of Oreshnik, the Russian president said, “let’s let the West and Ukraine define an area in Kiev, concentrate all their air defense systems there, we will strike there with the Oreshnik and they will try to intercept it… Then let’s see what happens. There is no chance that it will be shot down or destroyed easily.”