Total TV failure during Putin's war speech fuels speculation: Russian head of state disappeared without a trace?

Berlin courier Total TV failure during Putin's war speech fuels speculation: Russian head of state disappeared without a trace? BK - 2 hrs ago It was supposed to be a rousing speech to the Russian people: Instead, Vladimir Putin's speech ended prematurely with a total TV blackout. The Kremlin chief spoke to tens of thousands of cheering supporters at a large station, and Russian state television broadcast the performance on Friday. But then everything turned out differently than planned. It is the second failure of state propaganda in a week. The Kremlin speaks of a "technical glitch", but there are increasing indications that something completely different was behind it: A dangerous situation? Health problems of the Russian head of state Vladimir Putin? In his thick winter jacket and turtleneck sweater, Vladimir Putin is just warming himself up when the big show is over. Russia's president is speaking in Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium at a big celebration to mark the eighth anniversary of the annexation of the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea on March 18, 2014. State television simply fades out, mid-sentence. There is no longer any sign of Putin. Instead, recorded images run. The head of the Kremlin had just spoken to tens of thousands of cheerers in the stadium about the start of the "special military operation" in Ukraine on February 24. An appointment that coincidentally coincided with the birthday of an outstanding military man - that of Admiral Fyodor Ushakov, who is venerated as a saint in Russia. Then suddenly it's over. excitement across the country. There is helplessness in front of the screens. Putin just disappeared. In the middle of a much-heralded speech on the anniversary of the "unification of Crimea" - just gone. Questions are immediately circulating on social networks: where is Putin? What happened? Just now he can be seen on stage under a banner "For a world without Nazism". Suddenly only recorded sequences from the Crimean party flicker across the screen. Many people write on social networks that they are deeply shocked. Some worry about the health of the 69-year-old. Others joke that the Kremlin boss - probably wearing a bulletproof vest under his thick down jacket - was probably hit by the repressive Russian language regulations: "The best joke: The broadcast was abruptly interrupted because Putin accidentally said the word "fight"!". This is how the spokeswoman for the imprisoned Kremlin opponent Alexei Navalny, Kira Jarmysch, writes on Twitter. It is officially forbidden in Russia to speak of "war", "invasion" or "invasion" in Ukraine. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov later justified the unprecedented broadcast interruption of Putin's appearance on state television with a technical glitch. There was a problem with the server. A little later, the TV channel Rossija 24 shows the speech in full - just as the tens of thousands who cheered in the stadium heard it. But not much is coming. By Putin's standards, the speech is unusually short. The war-hardened Admiral Ushakov (1745-1817) once said that storms only benefited the "glory of Russia". That's how it's always been, that's how it always will be, says Putin. "Spassibo!" - "Thank you!" Then he left the stadium without haste to thunderous applause and cheers. He turns around again and waves. Outside the stadium, however, there are also people who express shame because people are dying in Ukraine while the head of the Kremlin is cheering. Is the party over so quickly because there was a dangerous situation? It remains unclear. Telegram channels close to the Kremlin etch that heads are sure to roll on state television for this glitch. It is the second incident this week on the otherwise militarily organized state television. Only on Monday did the TV employee Marina Owsyannikova protest against Putin's war in Ukraine with a poster in the main news. She has since resigned. Four days after the incident, the Kremlin also wants to show with the stadium show that the country is united behind Putin. More than 80,000 people in the stadium, more than 100,000 in front. They wave flags, the Russian national flag. The letter Z can be seen again and again on flags and jackets, which stands as a symbol for the "military special operation" - for Putin's war. "Za Rossiju!" (For Russia) and "Za Pobedu!" (For Victory). Singers and speakers heat up the audience for hours until Putin arrives. He celebrates that a lot has been built and achieved in Crimea, which has been “humiliated” by Ukraine for years. And draws a direct parallel to the Donbass region in eastern Ukraine, where the Russian-speaking population must also be protected.