Putin packs 200,000 Russian ‘loyalists’ into stadium where England were booted out of World Cup for warped pro-war rally | The Sun

THOUSANDS of Putin "loyalists" have packed out a stadium where England were booted out of the World Cup for a pro-war rally.

Crowds have poured into Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium ahead of the warped mass rally to mark one year since Vladimir Putin's shambolic invasion of Ukraine.




The deluded Russian dictator, 70, is expected to give a speech at the event – but it's not yet clear if he will attend.

It comes a day after Putin accused the West of trying to start a "global" war and made a veiled nuclear threat as he rambled his way through a deranged state-of-the-nation speech.

Thousands have been bussed in to attend the concert to mark both one year of the disastrous war and Defender of the Fatherland Day – which falls tomorrow.

The leader's pro-war speech at the same stadium last year was mysteriously cut off as he was praising his troops amid rumours of planted stooges in the crowd.

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This year, the public have been bribed with a meagre £5.54 for their attendance, along with the promise of hot meals and free Russian flags to wave.

According to reports, volunteers have set up "camp kitchens" to let people sample military rations.

And attendees have been ordered not to wear yellow or blue – the colours of the Ukrainian flag.

One department forced 70 per cent of its workers to attend the concert, The Moscow Times reports.

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A state employee said: "To be honest, I think it’s absurd.

"We have to go and there’s nothing we can do with it.

"The authorities are using it as a propaganda tool to show off in the eyes of Z-patriots and those who watch TV. I wouldn’t go to the event voluntarily."

One woman said the Kremlin had mobilised 300,000 people for the rally.

Although the stadium, where England were knocked out of the World Cup by Croatia in 2018, only has capacity for 80,000.

"They say 200,000 should be here," she said.

Organisers have also desperately appealed to university students to attend by telling them they "will be freed up from classes for the whole day".

Another ad promised university credits and "free food and gifts" for students.

The huge pro-war rally comes a day after Putin's address to the nation mysteriously suffered a mass blackout as Russian state TV channels were reportedly hit with a huge hack attack.

But the web links of main state channels which are part of All-Russian State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company [VGTRK ] were taken down as he spoke.

Instead of Putin's speech, a notice on screen announced "Mistake 500" and that "technical works" were underway.

Jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s team claimed Putin said the websites of Russian TV channels were subjected to a DDoS attack during Putin's speech to the Federal Assembly.

Russian state TV is tightly controlled and such interruptions are highly unusual.

But at last year's rally, Russian state TV also suddenly cut away as Putin was praising his troops.

He was cut off mid-sentence as he was saying: "It so happened that the beginning of the operation coincided by chance with the birthday of one of our outstanding military…"

Around 10 minutes later, the Kremlin chief's speech was replayed from the start to finish before he walked off stage.

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The Kremlin claimed a technical glitch was behind the interrupted transmission of Putin's speech to to mark the eighth anniversary of Crimea's annexation.

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