Thousands of Russians pack a football stadium for Putin's rally (but were they given time off and paid to attend?)



His experience as a KGB spy would come in handy for this piece of deception.

Hundreds of residents appear to be giving their whole-hearted support to Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin by turning up at a rally in Moscow today.

But the leader has been accused of giving workers time off to gather at his political speeches - and even paying them to attend.

Such trickery has come to be expected from a leader who regularly uses staged photographs as publicity stunts to drum up support.

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Russian super-czar: Vladimir Putin addresses the crowds gathered at the Luzhniki stadium on the Defender of the Fatherland Day in Moscow ahead of the presidential elections

Staged: Vladimir Putin walks out to applause and flag waving during a rally in Moscow today to support his bid to be Russian president. Many of the workers are said to have been paid to attend

And with his popularity at an all-time, Putin needs all the shows of strength that he can get. He has been hit by a string of accusations from Russian bloggers that he has been involved in wide-spread corruption and election fraud.

The presidential elections take place on March 4 and after dozens of protests in recent months against the leader the outcome is still not certain.

Putin's campaign team, which portrays him as a strong leader and guarantor of stability, has failed to quell reports that many of the people at pro-Putin rallies are paid or coerced into attending by employers and trade unions.



Putin gives an impassioned speech to crowds at the Luzhniki stadium. The leader is fully aware that his popularity is low after accusations of corruption and election fraud Finger-pointing: Putin tells the crowd that he is the man to become the next president of Russia, despite months of protests against him Putin delivers his aggressive speech in which he said that Russia should resist the influence of outside forces and stresses the power of Russia's oil-based economy

Defying the elements: Putin raises his hands to the crowd at the rally as rain and snow begins to fall around him in Moscow

'I came here with friends. They said they would pay each of us 2,000 roubles ($67),' said a 21-year-old man who gave his name only as Alexander after he and his friends were brought into Moscow by bus from just outside the city.

'If I had a choice I would vote for (nationalist Vladimir) Zhirinovsky, but our voices don't count.'

Putin says that even if some are obliged to attend, there are many more who want him to return to the post he held for eight years until 2008, a period in which Russians enjoyed an economic boom on the back of a surge in the price of oil, Russia's main export commodity.

The rally saw thousands of people march in Moscow under Russian flags, balloons and banners on to back Putin's bid to return to the presidency and counter opposition protests that have challenged his authority.

Publicity stunt? Thousands of Russians given the day off work march through Moscow for a rally in support of Putin. Many were paid to turn up State workers who have been given two days off work and apparently paid to attend the Putin rally march along the Frunzenskaya quay

Supporters arrive in the stadium today holding a placard showing. He is vying to become president in elections on March 4 but faces opposition nationalists and communists

Political support: Tens of thousands of people fill the Luzhniki stadium on the Defender of the Fatherland Day in Moscow today for a speech by Putin

Most of the participants appear to have be workers paid by or dependent on the state, including teachers, municipal workers and employees of state companies.

Some say they were promised two days off in return for attending. Many are reluctant to explain why they came, though some offer genuine praise for Mr Putin.

Putin addressed the rally inside the Luzhniki stadium, where about 100,000 people crowded the stands and pitch.

Putin looks on emotionally at a Russian flag. Right, an elderly Russian woman, pensioner Valentina Surokova, 65, holds a Russian flags and poster reading as 'Putinism forever!'

Putin and current Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, centre right, stand together during a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Moscow today

Seeing red: Anti-Putin supporters of the Russian Communist Party carry red flags and banners as they attend an alternative rally in Moscow today

People wrapped themselves in warm hats, scarves and coats on a chilly national holiday and started marching along the banks of the Moscow River behind a long blue banner declaring: 'Our vote for Putin.'

PUTIN PRAISES COLD WAR SPIES WHO STOLE U.S. NUCLEAR SECRETS

Vladimir Putin earlier praised Cold War-era scientists for stealing U.S. nuclear secrets to prevent them from being the world's sole atomic power.

Putin said that spies with suitcases full of data stolen from the U.S. helped the Soviet Union build its own atomic bomb.

They were apparently given the sensitive data by scientists being employed by the U.S. to work on nuclear missiles.

The daring thefts came at the height of the Cold War when the U.S. appeared to be winning the nuclear arms race with the East. But according to Putin, it was Russia's duty for the 'good of mankind' to act as a counterweight to to U.S. power.

'You know, when the States already had nuclear weapons and the Soviet Union was only building them, we got a significant amount of information through Soviet foreign intelligence channels,' Putin told military commanders, according to state-run Itar-Tass.

'The were carrying the information away not on microfilm but literally in suitcases. Suitcases!'

Putin's remarks referred to the dawn of the Cold War more than half a century ago, but they echoed a message he has made loud and clear more recently: that the United States needs to be restrained, and Russia is the country to do it.

It has been known for decades that there were spies among the scientists who worked on the Manhattan Project, the U.S. atomic bomb design operation. Putin suggested those who helped Moscow build its bomb acted out of concern for humanity.

'It was the cream the scientific world that was gathered in America, and I personally have gotten the impression that they consciously gave us information on the atom bomb,' Putin was quoted as saying.

'They did this consciously because the atom bomb had been used on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and scientists from mankind's intellectual elite at the time understood what unilateral possession of such a weapon might lead to.'

The former KGB officer is on course to win the election on March 4, extending his 12-year rule for another six years, although tens of thousands have shown their concern over his return to the Kremlin by protesting in the past two months.

The atmosphere was festive on Defender of the Fatherland Day, a holiday which honours the armed forces.

'I support Putin. He's an FSB (security service) guy and my father is too so I like him,' said Rostislav Galeyev, 20.

Police were out in force because the opposition communists and nationalists planned rallies in other parts of the capital.

The communists and nationalists also staged small rallies in several other cities across the vast country of more than 140 million people but there were no immediate reports of clashes.

The pro-Putin rally was a response to the opposition protests, which have been embraced by Russia's middle class and young urban professionals.

The latest opinion poll this week showed he would win more than 50 per cent of the votes on March 4, enough to avoid a second-round runoff. His rivals include Zhirinovsky, communist Gennady Zyuganov and businessman Mikhail Prokhorov.

After initially insulting the protesters who have taken part in opposition rallies sparked by allegations of fraud in a parliamentary election won by Putin's party on Dec. 4, the 59-year-old leader has allowed their main rallies to go ahead.

But he has accused foreign governments of backing the opposition protesters and has met none of their main demands, including a rerun of December's election, the release of people the opposition call political prisoners and far-reaching political reforms.

He has announced token electoral reforms but opposition leaders who met President Dmitry Medvedev this week say they do not go far enough and will not be implemented quickly. The next opposition protest in Moscow is planned for Sunday.

Putin was president from 2000 until 2008, when he was barred by the constitution from running for a third successive term, but has remained dominant as prime minister.

If he wins two more terms, he could stay in power until 2024. The opposition protesters say a growing number of Russians feel they have no say in the way Russia is run and that it is bad for any country to be led by one person for so long.

