Putin attends Moscow celebrations amid Ukraine setbacks
Fireworks lit up Moscow's famous Red Square on Saturday as Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed a gala concert to mark the Russian capital's 875th anniversary.
He told crowds Moscow was "one of the most beautiful and comfortable megacities in the world".
Putin also said a "great job" was being done to "revive" the capitals of the breakaway self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics in eastern Ukraine, which are recognised as independent states by only a tiny number of countries including Russia.
"They are repairing damaged residential buildings, roads, schools, doing everything to prepare Donetsk and Luhansk for winter," Putin said.
As part of the festivities, the Russian president also visited a new International Sambo Centre and opened Europe's largest Ferris wheel.
Putin was taking part in the celebrations amid setbacks in Ukraine where Russian troops were being pulled out of the eastern Ukrainian towns of Balakliia and Izium, located at crucial points on supply routes for its campaign in the Donbas region.
The Russian defence ministry said on Saturday it had decided to regroup the Russian troops "in order to achieve the stated goals of the special military operation to liberate the Donbas (a region in eastern Ukraine)."
