MOSCOW — It was probably the most public celebration of war and violence that Russia has mounted since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine a year ago. Tens of thousands of people gathered at Russia’s largest stadium for an event called “Glory to the Defenders of the Fatherland.”
Officially, the event was timed to coincide with a Russian holiday honoring veterans, but the rally came two days before the anniversary of the invasion and a day after President Vladimir V. Putin gave a 100-minute speech defending the war. Its primary function appeared to be to show that the Russian people support the war, the army, and perhaps most importantly, the president.
Aleksandr, 47, a lawyer from Moscow who declined to give his last name, was waving a flag high up in the stands while a performer rapped about the Ukrainian territories Russia has illegally annexed. “I love it!” he said. He added that he was fully behind the invasion. “I don’t understand how can I not support it.”
The highly choreographed event, which some Russians attended from cities an eight hour’s drive from Moscow, also seemed to be a clear acknowledgment that the war would be part of Russian society for a long time.
Even though Mr. Putin continues to refrain from using the term war, Wednesday’s spectacle romanticized militarism and put destruction at its fore. While performers sang, their faces and performances were not being shown on the screens throughout the stadium. Rather, spectators saw videos of soldiers fighting, firing heavy weapons and images of destroyed buildings.
The concert, held in an open-air stadium in bitter 7 degree weather, featured some new faces along with well-known pro-Kremlin musicians. Some performed songs that had been composed since the start of the invasion. First Lt. Nikolai Romanenko, who performed in uniform, did a rap “remix” of a popular World War II song “Katyusha. “
His contemporary lyrics included the lines: “I know that we will definitely win / And I’m not afraid to stain my hands in blood up to the elbow / This is a war, and we didn’t start it / But we will finish / When? I’m not sure yet.”
Other songs also focused on the current war, including a ballad about the “demons of Azovstal” — a reference to a steel plant in Mariupol where Ukrainians made a doomed stand last summer — and a rap about four Ukrainian territories that Mr. Putin announced he was annexing illegally last year — Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk and Luhansk.
Tickets were not available for purchase but were distributed mostly to state employees and students, who were given the day off from work or studies and provided with transportation to and from the event.
Hundreds of buses from across western Russia were parked in the parking lot. Some university students said that they traveled for more than eight hours each way to attend the concert. Several people from the Moscow region said they had been encouraged by their employers to attend.
“People were bused there, forced to attend, we have reports of that from multiple universities” said Grigory Yudin, a political philosophy professor at the Moscow School of Social and Economic Sciences.
“Putin coerces people, lures them into participating, and these students are promised free passes on exams,” he continued, saying that Mr. Putin’s strategy of trying to make Russians more enthusiastic about the war while also depriving them of agency was “schizophrenic.”
Mr. Putin, in very brief remarks, thanked those who were assembled and encouraged people to get involved in the war effort.
“Even children who write letters to our fighters at the front are very important,” he said. “All our people are defenders of the fatherland. I bow lowly before you.”
As soon as he finished his remarks, a truncated version of Russia’s national anthem played. The concert continued as people streamed out of their seats, eager to escape the cold.
