Putin hails Russia's fighters in Ukraine at rally in Moscow
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Mr Vladimir Putin attends a concert dedicated to the upcoming Defender of the Fatherland Day at Moscow's Luzhniki stadium on Feb 22.
PHOTO: AFP
MOSCOW - President Vladimir Putin hailed Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine during a rally in Moscow on Wednesday, calling on the crowds to chant “Russia, Russia” to show their support for those he said were defending the fatherland.
Tens of thousands of people packed into Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium, which has a capacity of 81,000, waving white, blue and red Russian flags and listening to patriotic songs before Mr Putin arrived.
“They fight heroically, courageously, bravely. We are proud of them,” he said at the “Glory to Defenders of the Fatherland” event held on the eve of Russia’s Feb 23 holiday, which celebrates those who serve in the armed forces.
“Today, they are supported by the whole country,” Mr Putin said of Russian forces in Ukraine, adding that he had just been updated by military chiefs on the situation at the front. “When we are together, we have no equal. To the unity of the Russian people.”
The Kremlin casts the war as a “special military operation” to protect Russia’s own security in what it sees as an existential confrontation with the West.
The conflict in Ukraine started in 2014 after a pro-Russian president was toppled in Ukraine’s Maidan Revolution protests and Russia annexed Crimea. Fighting also erupted in eastern Ukraine between Russian-backed separatists and Ukrainian forces.
Mr Putin ordered tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine on Feb 24, 2022, a decision that Western powers and Ukraine have branded an imperial-style land grab. Ukraine has said it will not rest until every last Russian soldier is ejected from Ukrainian territory, including Crimea. REUTERS
