President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday extolled patriotism as tens of thousands marched through Moscow in the Kremlin-choreographed show of unity amid tensions with the West. Russia marked National Unity Day at a time of growing social and economic problems in the country as well as simmering tensions with the West.
Some 85,000 people marched through central Moscow, police said, while more modest gatherings of hard-line nationalists also took place in the Russian capital. Unity Day was introduced under Putin to mark the 1612 expulsion of Polish occupiers and has grown in importance, alongside a rise in both state-sponsored nationalism and its less controlled far-right version.
Accompanied by Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, the rabbi and the chief mufti of Russia, Putin laid flowers at the Red Square monument to Kuzma Minin and Dmitry Pozharsky, who helped rid Moscow of the Poles four centuries ago. Later in the day he extolled patriotism at the unveiling of an exhibition which is dedicated to the country's history between 1914 and 1945 and was put together by the government and the Church. "Love for the homeland was the strongest and invincible feeling, it inspired, helped and saved," the Russian strongman said at the ceremony.
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