- Extras were recruited, paid $7 and given free merch to attend a rally in Moscow on Wednesday.
- Around 200,000 people attended the event, Sky News reported.
Extras were recruited, paid $7, and given free merch to attend an outdoor rally in Moscow on Wednesday, where a variety of performances and a three-and-a-half-minute speech from Russian President Vladimir Putin celebrated Defender of the Fatherland Day and the one-year anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
According to a Telegram post and reporting from Meduza, the advertisements for extras began appearing on social network channels last week, offering extras just $7 to attend the event.
The event, which was held during freezing weather at the Luzhniki Stadium, was attended by about 200,000 people, Sky News reported.
It featured patriotic rap remixes and performances from rock and pop music acts, including a group of accordion players, as well as multiple propaganda montage videos of Russia's military in Ukraine.
One montage appeared to show Russian children writing letters and drawing pictures to send to soldiers on the front lines.
After almost two hours, Putin appeared for a speech, telling the crowd he's "proud of those who are fighting in Ukraine to defend the fatherland," according to a translation from Sky News.
"And when we are protecting our interests, our people, when we're protecting our language, culture, our territory," Putin said, "everyone, all of our people, are defenders of the motherland."
Putin's speech lasted around three-and-a-half minutes.
The rally comes a day after Putin's state of the nation speech Tuesday, during which he announced that Russia will suspend its participation in the New START Treaty, the last major nuclear arms control pact between the US and Russia.