According to reports, Russians who were herded into Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium on Wednesday to attend a pro-war rally featuring President Vladimir Putin were prohibited from leaving the stadium for the duration of the “patriotic” event. According to the independent outlet Mozhem Obyasnit, which sent a correspondent to the event, protest organizers told attendees that once the rally begins, the exits will be blocked, and no one will be able to leave the stadium. The decision is presumably in response to the embarrassment of concertgoers leaving in masse before Putin took the stage last year. Wednesday, it appears that the threatened closures of exits did nothing to reverse this trend, much to the dismay of the Russian leader. Many spectators were observed leaving the stadium 25 minutes prior to the scheduled start time. Some informed the publication that they were required to come by their employers: “They forced us,” stated an unidentified rally-goer.