Putin addresses wide range of topics at news conference

MOSCOW -- President Vladimir Putin deftly fielded questions Monday ranging from Russia's all-out campaign to join the World Trade Organization to ways to end vote-buying in far-flung regions. But unlike previous Kremlin news conferences, Putin was not asked about his sports regimen or pet dogs.

Support for the former KGB operative runs high across this vast country, but public curiosity about him, more than two years into his presidency, has greatly diminished. Reporters, thus, spent less time probing Putin's personal life and left him groping for openings to personalize the question-and-answer session.

"My great advantage is that up to now, I can feel how the rank-and-file citizen lives," Putin said Monday, when asked whether he gets any feedback from the Russian people. "I have lived in the presidential residence for two years but for almost 30 years ... I lived in a communal apartment in St. Petersburg."

Communal arrangements are a single apartment in which several families share one kitchen and one bath.

Putin's image has been transformed from that of a mysterious former KGB agent to the ubiquitous head of state. His portraits adorn ambitious bureaucrats' walls, teen-agers' T-shirts and even painted Easter eggs.

Putin has become as familiar as the guy next door, even though very little still is known about his private life, other than that he is abstemious -- shunning cigarettes and hard liquor -- and has a love of martial arts and swimming.

If anything, Putin may be overexposed to the point of developing a cult of personality. There are Putin busts, Putin board games, a Putin cafe featuring VVP cookies -- stamped with his initials.