As Russian troops rained lethal fire on Ukrainian cities, Vladimir Putin appeared at a huge flag-waving rally to lavish praise on his Russian forces, while Ukrainian’s president accused the Kremlin of deliberately creating “a humanitarian catastrophe.”

Russia’s president addressed the packed Moscow stadium Friday, saying the Kremlin’s troops had fought “shoulder to shoulder” and supported each other. “We have not had unity like this for a long time,” he told the cheering crowd.

The invasion has touched off a burst of antiwar protests inside Russia, and the rally was surrounded by suspicions it was a Kremlin-manufactured display of patriotism. The event happened as Russia has faced heavier-than-expected losses on the battlefield and increasingly authoritarian rule at home.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russian forces are blockading the largest cities with the goal of creating such miserable conditions that Ukrainians will cooperate. He said the Russians are preventing supplies from reaching surrounded cities in central and southeastern Ukraine.