In Moscow, authorities stage a festival of summer as some fret about Ukraine war
MOSCOW, Aug 23 (Reuters) -A world away from eastern Ukraine's drone-filled battlefields, authorities in Moscow have tried to turn the Russian capital into a summer chill-out zone despite Europe's biggest land war since World War Two raging 1,000 km (621 miles) to the south.
Streets and squares are lined with giant pots containing trees and flowers, a programme of open-air pop-up events like theatrical performances has been organised, and the capital's leafy boulevard ring and parks are full of young people taking part in outdoors sports such as badminton and beach volleyball.
With the sound of breezy music performed by young buskers often heard on the street and cafe terraces busy with people enjoying the sunshine, there are few clues that Russian forces are locked in grinding battles in eastern Ukraine and that Moscow is trying to expel Ukrainian forces from Russia's Kursk region some 600 km (372 miles) away.
Yet interviews with more than half a dozen people showed some Muscovites are deeply worried by the fighting and find their own reality incongruous.
"Yes, we live in an awfully relaxed and disgustingly calm way," said a woman called Margarita who was out for a stroll and said she had recently moved back to Russia after relocating to Montengegro when Moscow launched its war with Ukraine in 2022, something it calls a special military operation.
"It (the lifestyle) gnaws at my conscience terribly but I can't do anything about it right now," she said with an embarrassed laugh.
A HOLIDAY EVERY DAY
Relaxing with a female friend on a sun lounger in a park overlooking the Moskva River, Anton, who did not give his last name either, appeared relaxed. But he said he thought what was going on around him had been stage-managed.
"I see that the authorities in Moscow are generally trying to hold various events, like the 'Moscow 2030' festival, to distract people from this (the war) as much as possible, to show that life goes on, that life is a holiday. In principle, this is part of the cognitive war," he said.
"As I understand it, they also want to show Ukraine that we have a holiday every day, that food festivals, various events and exhibitions are held, while you have people packed into buses and sent to the front line by force."
He was worried, he said, that Russia had got itself "too deep" in Ukraine and that it was getting harder to extract itself.
Across town at a ceremony on Thursday to honour Russia's national flag day, Yulia Maslova, a resident of Kursk, where Ukrainian forces punched through the border on Aug. 6, was anything but relaxed.
Visibly emotional, she said her relatives had been evacuated from Kursk for safety reasons.
"The situation is very difficult now (in the Kursk region), there is an evacuation going on from the border areas, to save children, to save elderly people," she said.
Olga, a pensioner walking through Moscow's Chisty Prudy park, said that though everything looked calm on the surface and cafes and restaurants were working as usual, Ukraine had attempted to attack Moscow with drones this week.
"They shot them down naturally. But the point is that they flew here," she said.
Asked if she felt calm, she said: "Of course not. I'm taking medication. I already had a heart attack because of this (the war), when it all started."
Out near the river, a woman called Yana said fear had been ever present in the background for the last few years, but that she and her husband - like many Russians - were just getting on with things.
"Our plans haven't changed much," she said. "Our plans are to raise a child, educate him and keep living."
Reporting by Reuters Moscow Buro; Writing by Andrew Osborn; Editing by Conor Humphries
En son haberler
Bildirim: XM Group şirketlerinin her biri yalnızca gerçekleştirme hizmeti ve online yatırım platformumuza erişim sağlar. Herhangi bir kişinin web sitesinde bulunan veya web sitesi üzerinden sağlanan içeriği görüntülemesine ve/veya kullanmasına izin vermek, bu hizmeti değiştirmek veya genişletmek amaçlı değildir ve bu hizmeti ne değiştirir ne de genişletir. Bu tür erişim ve kullanım her zaman şunlara tabidir: (i) Şartlar ve Koşullar; (ii) Risk Uyarıları ve (iii) Tam Bildirim. Bu nedenle bu tür içerikler yalnızca genel bilgi amacıyla sağlanır. Özellikle, online yatırım platformumuzun içeriklerinin finans piyasalarında herhangi bir işleme girmek için bir teşvik veya bir teklif olmadığını lütfen dikkate alın. Herhangi bir finans piyasasında yatırım yapmak sermayeniz için önemli düzeyde risk taşır.
Online yatırım platformumuzda yayınlanan tüm materyaller yalnızca eğitim/bilgilendirme amaçlıdır ve finansal tavsiye, yatırım vergisi veya yatırım tavsiyesi ve önerileri ya da yatırım fiyatlarımızın kaydı veya herhangi bir finansal enstrümanda işlem yapılması için bir teklif veya teşvik ya da talep edilmemiş finansal promosyonları içermez ve içerdiği şeklinde bir değerlendirme yapılmamalıdır.
Görüşler, haberler, araştırma, analizler, fiyatlar, diğer bilgiler veya bu web sitesinde bulunan üçüncü taraf sitelere verilen bağlantılar gibi her türlü üçüncü taraf içeriğin yanı sıra XM tarafından hazırlanan içerik de “olduğu gibi” esasına göre, genel piyasa yorumu olarak sağlanır ve bir yatırım tavsiyesi oluşturmaz. Herhangi bir içeriğin yatırım araştırması olarak yorumlanmasıyla ilgili olarak, içeriğin bağımsız yatırım araştırmasını desteklemek üzere tasarlanmış yasal gerekliliklere uygun hazırlanmadığını ve bu amacın güdülmediğini, aynı şekilde ilgili yasalar ve mevzuatlar kapsamında pazarlama iletişimi olarak değerlendirileceğini dikkate almalı ve kabul etmelisiniz. Buradan erişebileceğiniz Bağımsız Olmayan Yatırım Araştırması Bildirimimizi ve yukarıdaki bilgilerle ilgili Risk Uyarımızı okuduğunuzdan ve anladığınızdan emin olun.
