And then the transmission ended.
(Photo: via REUTERS)
Moscow Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin praised the actions of Russian troops in Ukraine at a large rally. “Shoulder to shoulder, they help and support each other,” Putin said in his five-minute speech at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow on Friday, referring to the Russian soldiers in Ukraine.
“We haven’t had a unit like this for a long time,” he added to the cheers of the crowd.
But then the transmission of the propaganda show suddenly stopped. In the middle of the speech, the camera suddenly switched to another shot, showing patriotic songs being played at the same event. A little later, Putin’s speech was shown again and broadcast in full.
The President then left the stage to the cheers of thousands of people waving Russian flags. The Luzhniki Stadium has a capacity of 80,000 spectators.
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Russia then blamed a technical glitch for the TV broadcast interruption. The news agency RIA quoted the spokesman for the Moscow Presidential Office, Dmitry Peskov, as saying on Friday.
What is staging, what really happened?
(Photo: via REUTERS)
Before Putin took the stage, previous speakers hailed him as a combatant of “Nazism” in Ukraine — a claim repeatedly made by the Russian leadership that leaders around the world have firmly denied. Pop singer Oleg Gazmanov also performed in the arena, performing the song “Made in the USSR” with the opening line “Ukraine and Crimea, Belarus and Moldova, it’s all my country”.
The occasion was the eighth anniversary of the attack on Crimea
A number of visitors, but also moderators of the event, wore T-shirts and jackets with a painted “Z”. The symbol can be seen on Russian tanks and military vehicles in Ukraine and is used by supporters of the war.
Read more about the Ukraine war:
More than 200,000 people were in and around the stadium, according to Moscow police. However, social media users also shared images of thousands of people who appeared to be leaving the event earlier than planned. An independent verification of the events on site is hardly possible.
The occasion of the event was the eighth anniversary of the Russian annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea.
Eager to make the war just and to praise Russian troops, Putin paraphrased the Bible, declaring, “There is no greater love than laying down your soul for your friends.” He insisted his actions were necessary to ” genocide” – a claim disputed by world leaders.
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