RUSSIA ASK PUTIN

Muscovites in one of Moscow's shops watch Russian President Vladimir Putin speaking on TV Monday Dec. 24, 2001to answer more than 400,000 questions which had been registered over the Internet. The session, which was broadcasted live over the RTR and ORT state television stations was also to air on the Mayak and Radio Rossii state radio networks and be rebroadcast on Monday evening. The much-publicized interview, involving television linkups with 11 Russian cities and a stream of questions sent over the Internet beginning last week, was part of the Kremlin's compaign to bring the popular but still somewhat remote leader closer to the people. (AP Photo/ Misha Japaridze)