Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared to vanish mid-sentence whilst delivering a speech at a rally marking the anniversary of the annexation of Crimea.
Putin was extolling the reasons for Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine, which he called a “special operation”, when suddenly the feed, being carried live on Russian state TV, cut out.
He had been praising his troops, who he said continue to "heroically fight" in Ukraine.
The footage shows Putin with his own giant stage so no-one could get near him - with the president thought to be very worried about catching Covid-19.
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The signs behind him said: “For a world without Nazism / For Russia”, the Mirror UK reports.
Celebrating the eight-year anniversary of the annexation of Crimea he said: "We are united by the same destiny.
"This is how the people thought and that's what they were guided by when they had the referendum in Sevastopol.
"They want to share their historical destiny with their motherland Russia - let us congratulate them on this occasion, it is their occasion. Congratulations."
The crowd waved flags and celebrated by chanting "Russia, Russia" as he made his speech.
Putin promised the thousands at the rally all the Kremlin's aims would be achieved.
The leader spoke for around five minutes on Friday as the Russian military continued to shell Ukranian cities.
"We know what we need to do, how to do it and at what cost. And we will absolutely accomplish all of our plans," he said.
Those fighting in the "special military operation" he said had brought unity to the country.
"Shoulder to shoulder, they help each other, support each other and when needed they shield each other from bullets with their bodies like brothers. Such unity we have not had for a long time," he said.
The stadium stage carried slogans "for a world without Nazism" and "for our president", using the "Z" - markings which have become a horribly familiar sight on armoured vehicles in Ukraine.
It was an occasion that appeared to be very patriotic, with pro-Russian feedback about the anniversary.
But, as he appeared to be still talking, the broadcast suddenly cut to other images.
The Kremlin claimed a technical glitch was behind the interrupted transmission of the speech.
The country's state television suddenly cut away from Putin hailing what Russia calls its special operation in Ukraine and the bravery of its soldiers, to instead show patriotic songs being played at the event.
It later aired the full speech, which ended a few seconds after the cutaway, with Putin leaving the stage as thousands of spectators waved Russian flags at the 80,000-capacity Luzhniki stadium.
Cited by RIA news agency, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said a server glitch had caused the interruption.
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