In the gilded St. George’s Hall of the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin signed treaties that the people of eastern Ukraine, he said, have longed for for years, even decades: with the stroke of a pen he issued a decree to join the occupied territories of Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhia and Cherson to the Russian Federation. Regardless of the obviously fake referendums in these regions, regardless of the lack of control over these regions, regardless of the higher Russian legislation itself. Because this provides for the possibility of annexing foreign lands only with the consent of the state authority to which these lands belong subject. In the case of Ukrainian territory, the government in Kyiv would have to agree to the annexation.
After an hour-long performance in the Kremlin, during which Putin gave assembled deputies and senators a distinct history lesson, the show began outside its gates. On Red Square, the state power gathered a crowd of spectators: employees of state institutions, students of state universities, who paid extra money, waved Russian flags for 600-900 rubles, sang songs of praise for the annexation.
They were taken to the center of the Russian city in their own buses. Students were even brought to Moscow from other cities. For their participation in Putin Zev, they received promises of recognition of challenging courses, additional credits or lecture-free days. The video shows a crowd of buses on the streets of central Moscow, which were closed due to the event.
The appearance of Vladimir Putin
It was a “wonderful concert”, which then excited Russian state television. Highlights of the production: Late in the evening, Vladimir Putin introduced himself to the audience. “Russia does not open the doors of its homeland only to our brothers and sisters. Russia opens its heart. Welcome home,” the Kremlin head said after reciting a short version of what he said earlier in the newspaper “Gorgesal”. After a short, awkward pause, the onlookers who were ordered chanted “Russia” in unison.
Besides Putin on the podium, the four representatives of the Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhia and Cherson regions, who had previously signed the annexation treaties, stood motionless. A fatal mistake made by the Kremlin show directors was corrected. The largest representative of the Ukrainian regions is no longer placed next to Putin. Pay attention to the fact that its small size does not catch the eye.
