I don’t own a smartphone, admits Putin

MOST teenagers struggle to survive a school day without one – but Vladimir Putin has revealed that he rules a nation of 144million without using a smartphone.

The Russian President, a self-confessed technophobe, has already admitted that he never uses the internet, preferring to have aides look things up for him instead.

The Soviet strongman, 65, confirmed his antithapy to apps at a meeting with scientists and academics in Siberia when the head of the Kurchatov nuclear research institute remarked that ‘everyone has a smartphone in their pocket’.

Mr Putin interjected, to laughter: ‘You said that everyone has smartphones. But I don’t have a smartphone.’

In the past he has claimed the internet is a ‘special project of the CIA’ and ‘half pornography’. He has also said he has no interest in joining social media networks – unlike his US counterpart Donald Trump who deploys Twitter as his own personal political weapon.

Last year while meeting schoolchildren, Mr Putin was asked if he looked at Instagram or other social networks in his spare moments. He replied: ‘I personally practically don’t use this. My hard-working day finishes so late, I’m not up to Instagram.’

Mr Putin’s comments come amid reports of Russian hackers attempting to influence elections in Western democracies.