The Vladimir Putin show: Strongman holds huge rally in front of thousands of ‘Z’ flag-waving Russians in World Cup stadium as he hails success of Ukraine ‘special operation’ and calls for ‘a world without Nazism’
Vladimir Putin today addressed a huge rally in Moscow to prop up support for his stalled invasion of Ukraine, on the anniversary of Russia ‘annexing’ Crimea in an initial attack on the country back in 2014.
The Russian president – dressed in a £10,000 Loro Piana jacket despite his country’s economy crumbling under the weight of Western sanctions – addressed a crowd of tens of thousands in Moscow’s Luzhniki World Cup stadium, most waving national flags but some waving ‘Z’ flags that have become a symbol of the Ukraine invasion.
Speaking in front of banners that read ‘For the world without Nazism’ and ‘For Russia’ – with the letter ‘Z’ in each picked out in bold – Putin spoke of sharing a ‘common destiny’ with Crimeans, of ‘de-Nazifying’ the region in 2014, and of the ‘bravery’ of soldiers currently fighting in Ukraine. He was met with chants of ‘Russia, Russia, Russia.’
A white letter ‘Z’, which has been painted on many of Russia’s military vehicles heading into Ukraine to identify them from enemy units, has become a potent symbol of Putin’s invasion and – more broadly – his militaristic aims to ‘reunite’ former Soviet states with Russia.
