Putin says he doesn’t “give a damn” if blocked on social media

When speaking at Russia’s annual economic conference on Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that he doesn’t “give a damn” whether he was blocked on social media. Putin’s comments came as former American president Donald Trump was banned from Facebook for two years after encouraging the violent mob that attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. The Russian leader said what he cared about most was the support of the Russian people for his current position as president of the country. Putin also commented on the country’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout, saying Europe was slow to approve Russia’s vaccine due to a “struggle for money“ and that commercial interests were being put ahead of the welfare of European citizens. Also, when asked by conference anchor Stanislav Natanzon if the Russian Special Service took part in diverting a recent Ryanair flight, Putin said they did not take part in the diversion and that he had never heard of Belarusian journalist Roman Protasevich, who was detained after the plane was