President Vladimir Putin greeted Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine during a rally in Moscow, calling on the crowd to chant “Russia, Russia” and express their support for those who, he said, are defending the Motherland.

Tens of thousands of people gathered at the stadium in Luzhniki. Moscow with a capacity of 81,000 seats, with a temperature of minus 15 degrees Celsius, waved Russian flags and listened to patriotic songs before arriving at the stadium of the President of Russia.

Today, state employees and students with Russian flags gathered at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow in exchange for 500 rubles or a day off, for a patriotic concert that ended with a performance #Putin. Ma non si poteva organize a qualche pullman dall’Italia? pic.twitter.com/Jm7sUnfaGl

— Marco Fattorini (@MarcoFattorini) February 22, 2023

“They fight heroically, courageously, courageously. We are proud of them,” Putin said at the Glory to the Defenders of the Fatherland event, which took place on the eve of the February 23 holiday for military personnel.

“Today they are supported by the whole country,” said Mr. Putin for Russian troops in Ukraine, adding that he had just been briefed by the military command about the situation at the front. “When we are together, we have no equal. For the unity of the Russian people!”

The Kremlin presents the war as “special military operation“to protect Russia’s own security in what it considers Existential confrontation with the West.

Source: APE-MPE-Reuters-AFP.