Vladimir Putin asserted, Friday, that Russia will win “victory” in its conflict with Ukraine, during a concert on Red Square in central Moscow to celebrate the annexation of four Ukrainian regions.
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Victory will be ours! The Russian president fired to the applause of a crowd of several thousand people. “Welcome home!” , he stated this to the residents of the annexed Ukrainian lands, believing that they had “returned to their historical homeland.”
France Press agency
“Russia does not open the doors of its home only to these people, it opens its heart,” he said from a specially erected podium in the emblematic square at the foot of the Kremlin wall.
Among the crowd, several Russian flags were waved, according to an AFP journalist. Some people also wore St. George’s ribbons with black and orange stripes, an ancient Tsarist military decoration that later became a symbol of the Red Army’s victory over Nazi Germany.
France Press agency
Several large screens and a powerful sound system were also installed to allow people to follow the speech of the Russian president and many Russian music stars who performed on the stage.
“We are getting stronger because we are together,” said Mr. Putin, microphone in hand.
The Russian president spoke of a “special and historic day for truth and justice”, where Russian soldiers said they “heroically defended the people’s choice” in Ukraine.
France Press agency
“We will do everything we can to support our brothers and sisters in Zaporizhia, Kherson, Lugansk and Donetsk, to improve their security and revive the economy and construction,” he said, a few hours after the signing of the annexation of these four Ukrainian regions no later than. Party in the Kremlin.
The annexation was widely denounced by Kyiv and its Western backers, with NATO calling it “illegal”. The G7 countries have indicated that they “will not recognize (these) alleged annexations”.
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