The Vladimir Putin show: Strongman holds a huge rally in front of tens of thousands of ‘Z’ flag-waving Russians in World Cup stadium and hails success of Ukraine ‘special operation’ while calling for ‘a world without Nazism’.

Vladimir Putin today held a huge rally in front of thousands of ‘Z’ flag-waving Russians crammed into Moscow’s Luzhniki World Cup stadium.

The pro-war event was to mark the anniversary of Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014, and saw the Russian strongman talk about the success of his ‘special operation’ in Ukraine.

The white ‘Z’ has become a symbol of pro-Russian nationalism since Putin launched his brutal invasion of his neighbour on February 24, as it is painted on many of Moscow’s military vehicles.

As his bombs continued to fall just hundreds of miles away in Ukraine, Putin hailed Russia and Crimea’s ‘shared destiny’, and praised the peninsula’s people for voting in a referendum to be part of Russia – which was held while it was still occupied by Russian troops.

This is a breaking news story. More to follow…

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