in Russia, the public will not have great memories of the party in honor of Putin

A subdued celebration Monday in Moscow, where the crowd was supposed to gather on Red Square to attend concerts and above all applaud Vladimir Putin, the day after his re-election with 87% of the vote.

The day after the presidential election in Russia, Vladimir Putin, re-elected with more than 87% of the vote, celebrated his triumph on Red Square in Moscow on Monday March 18. A meeting-concert was organized in the center of the Russian capital, officially to celebrate ten years since the annexation of Crimea. But those in power wanted to make it a show of force. However, the public, largely summoned, did not really put their weight behind it.

The government would have liked the concert, which was ultimately very short, to be filled with people like Oleg who came to celebrate the victory of his president: “We came here because ten years of the return of Crimea is magnificent. It is important for Russia this return of the unity of our state. We really want to hear from our remarkable Vladimir Vladimirovichdeclares Oleg, excited. Of course, we voted for him and we are happy that he is our president again.”

Civil servants enlisted to swell the public

There were the fans, the supporters. But in reality, Red Square rang hollow, even when the host tried to cheer the name of Crimea. Her colleague had to save her from disaster. And the reason for the apparent lack of enthusiasm for this celebration is that, in the public, there were many people who were forced to come, like a civil servant, asked to come and swell the ranks: “I want to go home as quickly as possible because it’s a horrible chore,” said this woman, full of anger.

Some came from far away, like another woman from northern Russia, who was specially flown to Moscow to attend the concert. She is also furious to be there: “We’re being dragged around, we’re lost, it’s a mess. We’re not from Moscow. We’ve been looking for an hour. What is this concert?” A concert that will leave no memories.

The speech of Vladimir Putin, who did the minimum service in front of the crowd, not really delirious, will not go down in the annals either. The head of the Kremlin took the stage with his three defeated opponents in the presidential election, who only recovered the crumbs of votes during the election. They ultimately seemed quite satisfied with their lot as they took the stage alongside the head of the Kremlin, who promised a new railway to soon go to Crimea, passing through the new territories conquered by Russia in Ukraine. Vladimir Putin, who once again insisted on the unity of the country, its patriotism. But on Monday in Moscow, the atmosphere was not there.