Why Putin didn’t mention the war in his New Year’s address

With ‘don’t mention the war!’ the order of the day, it felt as if Vladimir Putin’s message to his people this year was haunted by the ghost of Basil Fawlty.

The New Year’s message is a Soviet and then Russian tradition dating back to the 1970s. It is watched widely across the country, sometimes with reverence, often with irony, but nonetheless something of a ritual observed almost regardless of class, location or political orientation.

Aired just before midnight in each of the country’s 11 time zones, before the chimes of the Kremlin belltower and the national anthem, in the past it was an opportunity for Putin to try and present himself as the caring father of the household. It usually included a summary of the previous year’s successes – and occasionally, where absolutely necessary, a mention of tragedies – followed by an optimistic look forward and some unconvincing injunction for everyone to cherish and care for each other.