Russian flags waved and the anthem of the motherland chanted at the top of their lungs.
Vladimir Putin, who has just been re-elected for a new six-year term, welcomed this Monday in front of the crowd on Red Square the “return to the homeland” of the Ukrainian territories whose annexation Moscow has claimed.
After having invaded and annexed Crimea in 2014, Moscow formalized in September 2022 the attachment to Russia of the separatist republics of Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhia and Kherson, partially occupied by Russian troops since the start of the war in Ukraine.
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“The return to the homeland turned out to be more difficult, more tragic, but we succeeded and this is a great event in the history of our state,” declared Vladimir Putin, on the occasion of the anniversary ten years since the annexation of Crimea.
The master of the Kremlin spoke to a crowd gathered on Red Square in the Russian capital after his large victory in the presidential election.
He was greeted with cries of “Russia!, Russia!”
», noted AFP journalists.
National anthem and delirious crowd
The 71-year-old leader, who first attended a concert celebrating 10 years since the annexation of Crimea, was accompanied by his three presidential opponents, all singing the Russian national anthem in unison with the crowd, at the foot of the Kremlin walls.
The Russian president was re-elected for a fifth presidential term on Sunday with 87% of the votes counted in Russia, or 10 points more than in 2018. Western chancelleries denounced a sham of democracy after his election then that some leaders, such as Korean dictator Kim Jong Un and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, congratulated him on his victory.