Putin says time will come when he names his possible successor

Russian President Vladimir Putin told Russians on Wednesday that a time will come when he will name his possible successor in the Kremlin, but said the choice would ultimately lie with the voters.

He made the remarks at the president's 18th annual QA session on Wednesday, talking to citizens across the country.

Putin, 68, has been in power as president or prime minister since the turn of the century. His current six-year term in the Kremlin is due to end in 2024. His comments are being closely parsed for clues as to whether he plans to extend his rule.

Last year, Russia changed its constitution allowing him to run for two more six-year terms in the Kremlin, potentially remaining president until 2036.

Putin says he'd received Russia's Sputnik V vaccine, opposes mandatory vaccination

Putin also told Russians that he had received the domestically-made Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine, as officials try to encourage people to get vaccinated amid a new wave of cases.

"I thought that I needed to be protected for as long as possible. So I chose to be vaccinated with Sputnik V. The military is getting vaccinated with Sputnik V, and after all I'm the commander-in-chief," he said. Moscow has not approved any foreign vaccines.

Russian President Vladimir Putin wearing protective gear walks at a hospital for COVID-19 patients, Moscow, Russia, March 24, 2020. /Reuters

"I don't support mandatory vaccination, and I continue to hold this point of view," he said.

Russia earlier Wednesday reported 669 coronavirus deaths over the past 24 hours, a pandemic high of fatalities for the second day in a row, according to a government tally. According to Russian authorities, the country's infections spike by the highly transmissible Delta variant, first identified in India, and worsened by a sluggish inoculation drive.

"It is necessary to listen, not to people who understand little about this and spread rumors, but to specialists," he said in the televised session, the majority of whom polls show oppose receiving coronavirus jabs.

Putin says UK warship near Crimea wanted to test Russia's military response

A British warship that Russia says illegally entered its territorial waters near Crimea earlier this month did so to observe in detail how Russian forces would react, President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday.

Russia summoned the British ambassador in Moscow

for a formal diplomatic scolding after the warship, HMS Defender, breached what the Kremlin says are its territorial waters, but which Britain and most of the world say belong to Ukraine.

London has said the destroyer followed an internationally recognized corridor on its way from Ukraine to Georgia and denied that a stand-off with Russian forces took place - even as Moscow said it would bomb trespassing vessels next time.

"This was a provocation, of course," Putin said during the live session.

"It was obvious that the destroyer entered (the waters near Crimea) pursuing, first of all, military goals, trying to use a reconnaissance aircraft to discover how our forces would stop such provocations, to see what happens on our side, how things work and where everything is located."

Putin said Russia - which said its forces made warning shots at the British destroyer and dropped bombs in its path - responded in such a way that would only give the other side the information that Moscow wanted them to have.

Putin: Ukraine is controlled by Western leaders

"What's the use of meeting with Zelensky when he has given full control of his country to outside management? Key decisions are being made in Washington, and Berlin and Paris to some extent," Putin also said at the live session, questioning the point of meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky.

"I'm not refusing to meet with Zelensky. It's just necessary to understand what there is to talk about," he added.

Ukraine has been battling pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine since 2014. After a lull in fighting last year, the conflict escalated again at the start of 2021. In April, as Russia amassed more than 100,000 troops near the Ukrainian border and in Crimea, Zelensky invited Putin to meet in eastern Ukraine.

Putin shot down that offer, saying instead the Ukrainian leader was welcome in Moscow "any time."

(With input from agencies)