Putin's New Year's Address 2026: what time does it start, where to watch the live broadcast

In the last minutes of December, Russian President Vladimir Putin will deliver a traditional New Year's address. The Head of state will congratulate the citizens against the backdrop of the Moscow Kremlin. Where and at what time to watch the speech of the Russian leader, read the Izvestia article.

What time is Putin's New Year's address – 2026

The President's New Year's address will be broadcast in all regions at 23:55 local time. Residents of the Far East will be the first to hear congratulations from Putin, where the festive speech of the head of state will be delivered at 14:55 Moscow time. Kaliningrad residents will be the last to hold the year 2025 — the president will speak for them at 00:55 Moscow time.

What time is the President's address for the New Year 2026

• Chukotka Autonomous Region, Kamchatka Territory — 14:55 Moscow time;
• Magadan region, Republic of Sakha (east) — 15:55 Moscow time;
• Khabarovsk, Primorsky Krai, Republic of Sakha (north) — 16:55 Moscow time;
• Republic of Sakha (central and western parts), Amur Region, Trans-Baikal Territory — 17:55 Moscow time;
• Irkutsk region, Republic of Buryatia — 18:55 Moscow time;
• Krasnoyarsk Territory, Republics of Tyva, Khakassia, Altai, Tomsk, Novosibirsk, Kemerovo regions — 19:55 Moscow time;
• Omsk region — 20:55 Moscow time;
• Perm Krai, Republic of Bashkortostan, Yamalo-Nenets and Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrugs, Orenburg, Chelyabinsk, Kurgan, Tyumen regions — 21:55 Moscow time;
• Udmurt Republic, Samara, Ulyanovsk, Saratov, Astrakhan regions — 22:55 Moscow time;
• Moscow, Leningrad, Vladimir, Ivanovo, Tula, Kaluga, Rostov, Arkhangelsk regions, Komi Republic, etc. — at 23:55 Moscow time;
• Kaliningrad — 00:55 Moscow time.

Where to watch Putin's New Year's greetings in 2026

The New Year's address by the head of state will be shown by all federal channels: Channel One, Rossiya 1, NTV, CTC and others. For those who will not be able to approach the TV, a radio broadcast is provided — it will also begin at 23:55 local time.

You can also view the president's congratulations on the Izvestia website.

The history of the President's New Year's address to the citizens

Leonid Brezhnev, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU, was the first to make a televised address to citizens on New Year's Eve in 1970. It went on the air 10 minutes before the New Year. However, subsequently, due to the state of health of the head of state, annual performances had to be abandoned. Until 1985, congratulations on behalf of Brezhnev were read out by announcer Igor Kirillov.

Mikhail Gorbachev revived the tradition. He wished Soviet television viewers a Happy New Year until 1990. In 1991, after the collapse of the USSR, instead of the head of state, humorist Mikhail Zadornov addressed Russians and residents of the former republics. He failed to meet the allotted 10 minutes, which is why the chimes sounded a minute later.

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Then, until 1999, Yeltsin congratulated Russian citizens on the New Year. His latest appeal is associated with one of the most striking cases of the Mandela effect in our country — the so-called phenomenon when a large number of people form false memories of an event. To this day, many Russians are convinced that on December 31, 1999, Yeltsin, announcing his resignation, said, "I'm tired, I'm leaving." However, he actually said the following: "I'm leaving, I did everything I could." According to one version, the spread of the "wrong" version was facilitated by KVN — allegedly it was there that it was uttered for the first time.

From 2000 to 2007, Vladimir Putin addressed New Year's greetings to Russians. In 2008-2011, he was replaced by Dmitry Medvedev. In 2012, Putin became head of state again, and since then he has annually congratulated Russian citizens on the New Year. The president's speech is traditionally recorded against the background of the Kremlin.