It’s approaching 11:00 in Moscow and we’re an hour away from hearing Russian President Vladimir Putin address the nation in his annual end-of-the-year speech. The Kremlin leader is expected to also take questions from Russians – some of whom have already been sending in their queries from the 11 time zones that span the country.

In his annual phone-in, President Putin declared that Russian forces were making significant daily territorial gains across the Ukrainian front. He highlighted the difficult fighting but affirmed progress towards primary objectives.