The rally marked Russian President Vladimir Putin's first public appearance since the start of the invasion of Ukraine.[2] In his speech, which he opened by quoting the Constitution of Russia, Putin congratulated the "people of Crimea and Sevastopol" and wished them a "happy anniversary" of the annexation of Crimea. He went on to discuss those areas' finances and infrastructure, claiming that instead of Ukraine's "leftover financing" provided, Russia "needed to drag Crimea out of that humiliating position". Putin further alleged a "genocide" by Ukraine against the people of Donbas, before quoting the Bible's "no greater love" passage from John 15. Finally, Putin noted that Fyodor Ushakov's birthday was 24 February, the same date that the invasion of Ukraine was launched in 2022.[22] Part of his televised speech on Russia-24 was interrupted by a technical problem.[23][24]
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in a video message released on 19 March, mentioned the rally:[25]
Many words were heard in Moscow today in connection with the anniversary of the seizure of Crimea. A big rally took place. And I want to pay attention to one detail. It is reported that a total of about 200,000 people were involved in the rally in the Russian capital. 100,000 on the streets, about 95,000 at the stadium. Approximately the same number of Russian troops were involved in the invasion of Ukraine. Just imagine 14,000 corpses and tens of thousands of wounded and maimed people at that stadium in Moscow. There are already so many Russian losses as a result of this invasion. This is the price of war. In a little more than three weeks. The war must end.[25]
Putin's remarks made references to Bible passages and Russian military history, which was seen as reflecting a broader pattern of the leader using religion and history to help form a Russian nationalist identity.[26] Conservative U.S. political commentator Sean Hannity, a supporter of former U.S. president Donald Trump, said that the rally appeared to be used by Putin for "channeling his inner Donald Trump," while the liberal HuffPost described the rally as "terrifying" and "ominous" and said that Putin was "in full dictator mode."[27][28] Putin also received criticism for wearing what appeared to be a US$13,000 Loro Pianaparka.[3]
The athletes were criticized in media outside of Russia for their participation in the rally.[20][29][30][31]The Times described the athletes as "being paraded ... at the Luzhniki Stadium as the Russian president's warm-up act" at a "pro-war propaganda rally."[32] Photographs posted to social media by some athletes blurred the "Z" symbols they had worn, which was interpreted as recognition of the war's lack of popularity amongst younger Russians.[29] While some analysts believed athletes who wore the symbol could have been forced to participate, Washington Post sports columnist Sally Jenkins contended that for the figure skaters in particular, "there's no extricating individual Russian skaters from [their participation], no matter how blameless some of them may be or how subject to coercion or censorship."[33][34]
Rylov's appearance resulted in a FINA investigation on the grounds of "bringing aquatic sports into disrepute" and the loss of his sponsorship contract with Speedo, which said it would donate the remainder of his funding to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.[35][32] The investigation resulted in Rylov receiving a personal nine-month ban from all FINA competitions and activities effective 20 April 2022, making his ban 20 days longer than the general ban on Russian and Belarusian swimmers through the end of 2022.[33][36] Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, Russian Olympic Committee president Stanislav Pozdnyakov, and Russian sports minister Oleg Matytsin each denounced the ban, calling it discriminatory, politicized, and "contrary to the ideas of sport."[37]
Ukrainian athletes directly criticized Russian athletes for their participation. Ukrainian gymnast and Olympic medallist Oleg Verniaiev criticized Kuliak for attending and for wearing an Olympic medal he had not earned himself.[21] Ukrainian world-record swimmer Andriy Govorov described seeing his friend Rylov attending the rally and wearing a "Z" symbol as "heartbreaking."[30] Ukrainian ice dancers Oleksandra Nazarova and Maksym Nikitin criticized the figure skaters for their participation, saying that "Not so long ago we supported them in this difficult Olympic season, now they support the war against us and our country."[31][34]
The Latvian government banned performers who participated in the rally from entering the country.[38]
^The opening of the song reads: "The Ukraine and the Crimea, Belarus and Moldova, this is my country!... Kazakhstan and the Caucasus, and the Baltics too."[11]
^Напрасный труд — нет, их не вразумишь,— Чем либеральней, тем они пошлее, Цивилизация — для них фетиш, Но недоступна им ее идея.
Как перед ней ни гнитесь, господа, Вам не снискать признанья от Европы: В ее глазах вы будете всегда Не слуги просвещенья, а холопы.[14]
It's no use — you will not understand them —
The more liberal the more base and cruel.
Civilization for them is a fetish,
But inaccessible to them is its ideal.
Though you may bow before it, citizens,
You will never win Europe's recognition:
In its eyes you will always be not servants
Of Enlightenment but slaves without rights.[15]
^Pomerantsev, Peter (19 December 2013). "Born in the USSR". London Review of Books. Archived from the original on 20 March 2022. Retrieved 20 March 2022.