On Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed the nation at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, on the occasion of the anniversary of Russia's annexation of Crimea.

In a sea of ​​Russian flags and pro-Russian slogans, Putin praised the Russian troops currently fighting in Ukraine.

- Side by side, they help and protect each other as brothers.

We have not had such an agreement for a long time, Putin said in his speech.

Patriotic forces

More than 200,000 people have taken to the Luzhniki football stadium in Moscow, according to Russian police.

SVT's Russia correspondent Bert Sundström believes that the event is a mobilization of patriotic forces.

- Of course it is a symbolic day, but it is probably also something Putin feels is needed because things are not going so well in the war itself, says Bert Sundström.

A majority of Russians were in favor of the annexation of the Crimean peninsula.

According to Bert Sundström, Putin alluded to this when he spoke about the war in Ukraine.

- He does not say clearly that "now we will conquer Ukraine" but he says that this is a kind of continuation where we must fight for the Russian people against a malicious world, says Bert Sundström.

"Living on his own land"

Putin began the speech by quoting the Russian constitution and its significance for the Russian people.

He went on to talk about how the Russian annexation of the Crimean peninsula has improved the lives of its inhabitants.

- They lived and now live on their own land.

They now share the fate they wanted, with their historic homeland, Russia, Putin said.

Interrupted transmission

In the middle of the president's speech, Russian state television interrupted his broadcast and returned to show previously shown material on a choir that sang patriotic songs.

According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, the outage was due to a "technical error on the server".

The news agency AFP believes that the broadcast was interrupted when Putin is said to have said:

"It so happened that the operation coincided with the birthday of one of our outstanding military ...".

It is unclear whether this was a technical error or a deliberate move by the tightly controlled state television.