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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
World
Elly Blake

Vladimir Putin cut off mid-sentence during huge rally in Moscow

Russian President Vladimir Putin was cut off mid-sentence during a rally in Moscow on Friday afternoon.

Confusion was sparked among audiences after the Russian leader was interrupted during a state broadcast and cut to patriotic songs.

He was giving an address in front of 100,000 supporters at the Luzhniki Stadium when the feed unexpectedly cut out and replaced his speech with a concert by singer and composer Oleg Gazmanov.

It is not clear why this happened.

Mr Putin was holding the rally to mark the eighth anniversary of the annexation of Crimea.

The stadium, which hosted the World Cup final in 2018, was packed with thousands of people waving flags emblazoned with the symbol ‘Z’.

Now the symbol is synonymous with Russian aggression and the ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

(POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Others could be heard shouting: “Russia! Russia! Russia!”

The Russian leader gave a speech from a stage at the venue.

He told the cheering crowd: “We will implement all our plans.”

(via REUTERS)

Putin insisted the “main purpose” of the invasion of Ukraine is to “save people from suffering and genocide”.

He said Russian soldiers are fighting “shoulder to shoulder” in Ukraine. He added: “We haven’t had such unity in such a long time.”

During the rally, he hailed the country’s widely condemned “special operation” in Ukraine as a “success”.

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