HA! Putin's Desperate Rally Plagued by Television Glitches
Russian President Vladimir Putin has gotten himself into quite the conundrum with Ukraine, and it doesn’t appear as those around him have any real hope of digging him out of it.
Putin’s either severely underestimated the Ukrainian people, or he severely overestimated his own military…likely both, if we’re being honest. And now that his army is said to be within just days of “buckling”, the flailing leader is turning desperate for some affirmations.
Russian President Vladimir Putin held a rally on Friday to boost public morale, as the invasion of Ukraine he launched last month continued to meet with determined resistance, supported by the United States and Europe.
Advertisement - story continues belowThe event was held at Luzhniki Stadium in the center of Moscow. Attendees wore the Russian colors of red, white and blue. “We don’t abandon our own,” one slogan adorning the stadium said, in a seeming echo of the message that an embittered Putin delivered on Wednesday, when he castigated Russians who either have fled to or are siding with the West in protest of the war in Ukraine.
But Russia couldn’t even seem to get state-run television right.
At one point, the video feed of the Moscow rally — which included musical performances and a reading of patriotic poetry — was interrupted, with the live feed replaced by recorded footage. According to a social media post from RIA Novosti, the state-owned wire service, the disruption was caused by a server malfunction.
The continued failures of the Kremlin have many wondering if our impression of Russia as a competent and terrifying global opponent was all just 80’s Hollywood conjecture.