The Russian president Vladimir Putin will hold his annual marathon press conference in Moscow this morning, which kicked off at 9am London time.

It’s thought Putin will take questions on the economy, next year’s presidential election and perhaps questions on the prominent director under house arrest, Kirill Serebrennikov, and the former Economy Minister Alexei Ulyukayev — who is set to be handed a sentence in court tomorrow.

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He is also expected to highlight Russia’s military campaign in Syria, where he intervened on the side of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in 2015.

This week Putin made his first visit to the country and declared that he would draw down Russian forces following their intervention in the conflict, which brought Assad back from the brink of defeat and helped suppress Islamic militants in the region.

Today’s press conference will be Putin’s thirteenth; the comprehensive press conferences, attended by both Russian and foreign journalists, have been held since 2001.

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Last week Putin announced he would run for re-election in March next year and is expected to cruise to victory. A win will keep him in office until 2024, making his leadership run almost as long as Joseph Stalin’s.

Ksenia Sobchak a former socialite turned liberal TV presenter is planning to run against Putin, though many suspect Sobchak is running on behalf of the Kremlin to split the opposition and boost interest in the polls.

Putin has held the press conference every year from 2001-2008, except 2005; after his reelection for a third term, he’s held the event annually since 2012.

On average these press conferences last over three hours, with last year’s featuring 50 questions in an event that lasted three hours and 53 minutes. His longest appearance was four hours and 39 minutes in 2008.

This year, the number of journalists accredited for the event broke last year’s record, with 1,640 journalists expected to attend. Alongside Russian journalists are reporters from the US, Germany, Japan, France, and China.