A traditional rally-concert with the participation of Vladimir Putin took place in Luzhniki. In the morning, in front of the stadium, they noticed the Pantsir-S1 anti-aircraft missile and gun system.
The day before, people involved in the extras of the event were sent messages with instructions on how to behave if they were approached with questions:
“If they come up, ask, then you are for the idea, fucking love Russia. Better yet, don't answer at all. <…> Don't tell anyone about grandmas, ANYONE, FUCK. Even among themselves on this x * yne. <…> Rats are dead. They may come up to you, shoot and ask kindly. If they find out, I will be fired immediately.”
Before the appearance of Putin, musicians performed on stage, including the Lyube group, Shaman and Oleg Gazmanov. The latter, as the media noticed, came out in a Prada down jacket with a taped logo (and also showed how he does push-ups on stage):
Rapper Akim Apachev (the author of the unofficial anthem of PMC Wagner) performed rap in Ukrainian from the stage. Earlier, he admitted that he was inspired to write the composition by the battles near Mariupol. Explaining why the text of the song was written not in Russian, but in Ukrainian, Apachev said: “Ukrainian is our trophy, we take this language for ourselves.”
After Shaman's song "Let's Get Up", Vladimir Putin appeared on the stage:
“Dear friends, good afternoon! We are meeting with you on the eve of Defender of the Fatherland Day. There is something powerful, huge, I would say, mystical and sacred in these words. It is not for nothing that one of the most famous prayers begins with the words “Our Father”. There is something close to every person in this – after all, we also say “Motherland”. We are talking about the family – about something huge, powerful and at the same time close to the heart of every person. By and large, the Motherland and the family in our hearts are one and the same.
There are people – they are standing next to me on the left, on the right – there are people who decide for themselves to defend the most sacred and dearest thing we have: family and Motherland. And today, as part of a “special military operation” – we have gathered here for a festive event, but I know that I was just listening to the top military leadership – right now there is a battle going on on our historical frontiers, for our people. It is led by the same courageous fighters who are standing here next to us. They fight courageously, heroically, bravely. We are proud of them and three times “Hurrah!” in their honor. They should hear our greeting.
Today they are supported by the whole country, which means that everyone who does this is, to a certain extent, also a defender of the Fatherland. These are medical workers who help our fighters get back on their feet; doctors, and nurses and nannies, of course, these are employees of the defense sector of the transport sector, and all of you together who came today to support our fighters. These are even children who write their letters in support of our fighters. It is very important. In this sense, while protecting our interests, people, culture, language of the territory, all our people are the defenders of the Fatherland.
Low bow to all. Congratulations on the upcoming holiday – Defender of the Fatherland Day!
After that, Grigory Leps took the stage with the song "I'll be with you."