Shoulder to shoulder: Putin praises Russian troops in mega show of strength in Moscow
India Today
“Shoulder to shoulder, they help and support each other,” Vladimir Putin said of Russian troops at a massive flag-waving rally in Moscow as the war in Ukraine dragged on.
Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared at a huge flag-waving rally at a Moscow stadium and praised his country's troops in biblical terms Friday as they pressed their lethal attacks on Ukrainian cities with shelling and missiles.
“Shoulder to shoulder, they help and support each other,” Putin said of Moscow's forces in a rare public appearance since the invasion three weeks ago that made Russia an outcast among nations and triggered antiwar protests at home.
“We have not had unity like this for a long time,” he added to cheers from the crowd.
Moscow police said more than 200,000 people were in and around the Luzhniki stadium for the celebration marking the eighth anniversary of Russia's annexation of the Crimean peninsula, seized from Ukraine.
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The event included patriotic songs, including a performance of “Made in the USSR,” with the opening lines “Ukraine and Crimea, Belarus and Moldova, it's all my country.”
Seeking to portray the war as just, Putin paraphrased the Bible to say of Russia's troops: "There is no greater love than giving up one's soul for one's friends.”
