Bad mood and freezing cold – 6 points for Putin’s mega show at the stadium Trump cheats Biden with burgers

Defender of the Fatherland Day is celebrated in Russia on February 23, commemorating the beginning of the Red Army on February 23, 1918. This holiday honors all who serve or have served in the Russian Armed Forces.

This is exactly what Russian President Vladimir Putin used as an opportunity to put on a huge show yesterday. Of course, he also took the opportunity to once again point out how heroically Russia is fighting for the homeland in Ukraine.

The photos of the full Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, where the show took place, are impressive at first. However, upon closer inspection, it soon becomes clear that the party atmosphere at the show should have been kept to a minimum.

Forced and purchased listings

Putin lost nothing in the run-up to the show. To avoid any embarrassment – such as a half-empty stadium or barely sold tickets – these were not even sold. Not only that: the show is not even on the Luzhniki Stadium website.

And yet the stadium seemed to be completely full yesterday. According to Russian media, 200,000 people took part in the event. as the?

The recruitment of extras and viewers should have started last week. Transmitters were used for this, which are usually used to search viewers for TV formats. For their participation, interested parties were promised 500 rubles, as well as freebies.

Students are also said to have been invited and asked to bring friends. Among other things, they were lured with free passes for exams, the New York Times reports. Others had no choice at all: Political philosophy professor Grigory B. Yudin reports that students were picked up by buses and forced to participate. Corresponding reports from various universities are available to him. The same fate befell many state officials. They were simply put on buses and driven to the stadium.

Flags waving under supervision

Videos from the still empty stadium before the show show how all the seats were decorated with small Russian flags in preparation.

To ensure that these are also properly panned, extra people were called up. A video by a French journalist shows a disgruntled director urging a spectator to better wave his flag. The journalist reports that anyone who did not do his job well enough had his flag taken away and given to someone else.

Warning to the West

The spectators, freezing in the stadium at -12 degrees Celsius, were treated to a show that romanticized the military, celebrated the war in Ukraine and demonized the West.

A group in different costumes, supposed to represent the Russian soldiers through different times, started. A text was read that drew parallels between the past and the present and contained a not-so-subtle warning to the West:

Supposed heroes of the front in Ukraine followed, reciting emotionless patriotic texts. The musicians who appeared then showed passion, but with a few exceptions received only scant applause. Not even the war scenes from Ukraine played on the screens during the performances could change that.

The red flag over Berlin

After about 50 minutes, a Russian soldier performed a rap composed for the war in Ukraine. In a nod to the Soviet Union’s victory flag, he rapped about the red flag waving over Berlin:

The rescued children of Mariupol

A little later, children and young people took the stage. They have all been rescued from Mariupol, the moderator reports proudly. A girl tearfully thanked Uncle Yura – the soldier standing next to her – for saving her and thousands of other children from Mariupol.

Russia is even accused of forcibly deporting thousands of Ukrainian children to Russian territory and giving them up for adoption. If true, it would amount to a war crime.

Putin’s mini performance

Then finally, after almost 1.5 hours since the show started, Putin took the stage. For the first time louder applause could be heard and his name was also called in isolated choirs.

After shaking hands with some of the soldiers who would have been deployed, he started his speech. He tried to arouse patriotic feelings in the audience and spoke about protecting family and homeland. In doing so, he switched to the Ukraine and emphasized, as in the past, so often that they fought for legal territory there:

Then the 70-year-old shouted to the crowd waving the Russian flag: “In your honor: a triple “Hooray”!” The audience called back only once, to Putin’s apparent confusion. He then encouraged the audience to shout the word “Russia” instead.

This seemed to suit him better. Under the chants, which died away after a few seconds, he left the stage after less than 8 minutes. (Sat)