Russia’s president has stayed away from the public eye since the war in Ukraine began.
But during a celebration of the eighth anniversary of the annexation of Crimea, Putin suddenly appeared on stage in front of a packed audience at the football stadium in Moscow where the World Cup final in football was played in 2018.
Defended the war
Pictures from the place show an enthusiastic audience waving Russian flags as they shouted “Russia, Russia!”.
According to the news agency AP, more than 200,000 people were present inside and outside the stadium.
As Putin got ready to take the stage, he was hailed by the program leaders for fighting “Nazism” in Ukraine, writes AP.
In Putin’s speech, he once again defended Russia’s invasion of Ukraine by calling it a military operation. In his speech, he also praised the Russian troops who he believes are making a heroic effort in Ukraine.
But halfway through Putin’s speech, he was cut off on Russian television, and it was cut to other pictures, writes Sy News.
Appeared again
Russia correspondent in the Financial Times Max Seddon has shared a video of the incident on Twitter.
There, one can see that Putin is in the process of his speech, before it is suddenly cut to other pictures.
According to the Kremlin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov, the interruption was due to a technical error.
A few minutes later, Seddon writes that Putin reappeared on the screen, and the speech was rebroadcast.
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