Vladimir Putin waves the flag in a polarised country where views are hard to shift
by Andrew Roth & Pjotr Sauer from on (#5X9TN)
The west hopes support for the invasion of Ukraine is wavering. But as Friday's rally showed, protesters remain in a minority
As Vladimir Putin stood before a sea of tricolour flags and tens of thousands of applauding Russians in the Luzhniki stadium on Friday, it was clear that he wanted to portray his invasion of Ukraine as a people's war.
Never mind the independent media reports that state employees and university students had been bussed in for the rally, as the government employed the same crude tactics to pack the stadium in order to simulate patriotic enthusiasm as it has done for years.
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