Vladimir Putin waves the flag in a polarised country where views are hard to shift

Supporters of Vladimir Putin hold flags and cheer during an event at Moscow’s Luzhniki stadium on Friday marking the eighth anniversary of the annexation of Crimea. Photograph: Contributor/Getty Images

As Vladimir Putin stood before a sea of tricolour flags and tens of thousands of applauding Russians in the Luzhniki stadium on Friday, it was clear that he wanted to portray his invasion of Ukraine as a people’s war.

Never mind the independent media reports that state employees and university students had been bussed in for the rally, as the government employed the same crude tactics to pack the stadium in order to simulate patriotic enthusiasm as it has done for years.