Putin appears at big rally as troops press attack in Ukraine

By CARA ANNA
Associated Press

Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared at a huge rally in Moscow, praising his country’s troops as they press their lethal attacks on Ukrainian cities with shelling and missiles. More than 200,000 people were in and around the Luzhniki stadium Friday to mark the eighth anniversary of Russia’s annexation of the Crimean peninsula, seized from Ukraine. Putin quoted a Bible verse and insisted his actions were necessary to prevent “genocide.” That claim is flatly denied by leaders across the globe. Meanwhile, Russian forces continue to pound the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, and launched a barrage of missiles on the outskirts of the western city of Lviv. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russian forces are blockading the largest cities to create a “humanitarian catastrophe.”