It started at the Luzhniki stadium in Moscow, which in 2018 hosted the final of the Soccer World Cup, the concert organized for the eighth anniversary of the annexation of Crimea to Russia, but in fact it became a great demonstration of support for Vladimir Putin and what the Kremlin calls the “special operation” in Ukraine.
The event, broadcast live on TV, is entitled, not coincidentally, ‘Za mir bez nazisma! Za Rossiyu! Za Prezidenta! ‘:’ For a world without Nazism! For Russia! For the president! ‘. In Russian the Latin letter Z is used which does not exist in Cyrillic, but which has become the symbol of support for the war in the name of “denazification”.
The hosts of the live have pinned the Z on the chest with the colors of the traditional St. George’s ribbon (orange and black), which in 2014 was in turn a symbol of support for what Russia calls “the return” of Crimea.
The Luzhniki Stadium is filled, inside and out, with people and national flags. However, testimonies of public employees who were forced to participate began to circulate, literally loaded on buses bound for the stadium. It is likely that the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, will intervene at the event – in person or via video link – but so far the Kremlin has not made any announcements about it.
Meanwhile, on the day of the anniversary of the annexation of the peninsula on the Black Sea, the official research institute on public opinion VTsIOM released the results of its latest poll (conducted from 7 to 13 March) according to which Putin enjoys the confidence of 79.6% of Russians who approve his work at 77.2%.