Putin’s Red Square Celebration: A Message of Annexation

President Vladimir Putin, who oversaw an event commemorating the acquisition of the Crimean Peninsula ten years ago, indicated that while he would continue to extend his power over Russia, he would be concentrating on strengthening his hold on Ukrainian land.

TFD – Dive into Putin’s recent celebration in Red Square, shedding light on his message and intentions regarding annexation and Ukrainian land.

Moscow — Vladimir Putin appeared to be sending a more significant message to the thousands of people waving flags in Red Square on Monday during the election celebration: He would be strengthening his hold on Ukrainian land after expanding his authority over Russia.

Shortly after declaring victory in a stage-managed election with no opposition, he sung “Together, hand in hand— we will move on” before joining in on the national song.

He presided over this joyous celebration to commemorate the annexation of the Crimean Peninsula ten years ago, surrounded by his favorite musical groups, pro-war celebrities, and the three officially sanctioned candidates presented on the ballot alongside him. The ballots, which were held for the first time in four recently acquired territories, were denounced as unlawful coercion by Ukrainian officials, who told NBC News that the party was nothing more than propaganda.

After three days of voting, Russia’s electoral commission said Putin had received 87% of the ballots, the biggest win of his political career, in what the Kremlin painted as an unequivocal public stamp of approval for his invasion of Ukraine, even though critics of the war were barred from running.

Just hours later, the Russian leader was in Red Square, where his face was beamed onto huge screens so that it could be seen from Lenin’s mausoleum and beyond.

The music, which was coming from a stage beneath St. Basil’s Cathedral’s colorful domes, was sometimes as loud as thunder, and the lights from the stage flickered against the Kremlin’s red brick walls. The audience, which consisted primarily of students and some of whom claimed to have received complimentary tickets, applauded and joined in when Russian celebrities sang patriotic ballads.

Many of them, mostly younger than twenty, had Russian flag-colored face paint on them. The only leader they have ever known is Putin, who has ruled for the past 24 years. They might wait until they are far into adulthood to date again.

Speaking in English, 18-year-old Maksim Druzhinin declared, “He has made Russia a lot better than it was.” When asked if he thought Putin would step down before he turned 30, the adolescent, who attends the elite Higher School of Economics in the capital, responded, “There is a question: Who else?”

Programming student Alexandra Volkova stated, “He has been keeping the country together for many years,” speaking in Russian. The 18-year-old declared, “He is without a doubt the most trustworthy candidate available.”

Naturally, it is challenging to determine public opinion in Russia due to the Kremlin’s assault on dissent. And this was a particularly pro-Putin audience, not made up of people who silently accepted life under Putin or who showed up on Sunday at noon in a silent act of defiance as demanded by the opposition.

“Russian is not Crimea.”

Putin took use of the event to pledge to build a railroad network that would reach seized Crimea in place of the bridge that connects the peninsula to the Russian mainland and is frequently attacked by Ukrainian forces.

The Crimean people, according to the Russian leader, have demonstrated a strong commitment to Moscow.

“We are proud of them,” Putin declared. “They never cut their ties to Russia. And it is because of this that Crimea is now able to rejoin our family.

The majority of the international community views that “return,” which increased Putin’s popularity and paved the way for Russia’s expansionism in the ensuing ten years, as an unlawful land grab rather than a momentous homecoming.

Russia’s naval might depends on Crimea, which has served as a major hub and launchpad for the country’s war against Ukraine. Ukraine has promised to regain all of the territory it has captured and has been progressively hitting Russian military targets on the peninsula.

Tamila Tasheva, Kyiv’s permanent envoy in Crimea, told NBC News that the region is not Russian. The region is officially part of Ukraine. She remarked of the gathering on Red Square, “And this, by the way, is very clearly understood subconsciously in Russia itself, and that is why such ‘celebrations’ are held in order to convince themselves of the nonexistent.”

In 2022, eight years after taking over Crimea, Russia acquired four more areas of Ukraine: Donetsk and Luhansk in the east, and Kherson and Zaporizhzhia in the south. Even though Russian soldiers only have partial authority over certain of those areas, the Kremlin still managed to organize a vote in which armed personnel showed up at certain voting places.

Putin received more than 90% of the vote in four of the five annexated territories, including Crimea, according to the Russian election commission.

These results are “fictitious” and are devoid of any legitimacy while Ukrainians there who oppose the Kremlin continue to suffer at the hands of the Russians, said Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Tasheva disregarded the stated outcomes, calling them “primitive propaganda.”

However, the three-day election and its Monday night celebration sent a clear message to the Kremlin. With Putin’s sights firmly fixed on the battlegrounds that will define his legacy rather than the stage of Red Square, Ukraine will have to struggle to cling onto its borders.

Yuliya Talmazan reported from London, Keir Simmons and Natasha Lebedeva from Moscow.