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
تازہ ترين خبريں
دستبرداری: XM Group کے ادارے ہماری آن لائن تجارت کی سہولت تک صرف عملدرآمد کی خدمت اور رسائی مہیا کرتے ہیں، کسی شخص کو ویب سائٹ پر یا اس کے ذریعے دستیاب کانٹینٹ کو دیکھنے اور/یا استعمال کرنے کی اجازت دیتا ہے، اس پر تبدیل یا توسیع کا ارادہ نہیں ہے ، اور نہ ہی یہ تبدیل ہوتا ہے یا اس پر وسعت کریں۔ اس طرح کی رسائی اور استعمال ہمیشہ مشروط ہوتا ہے: (i) شرائط و ضوابط؛ (ii) خطرہ انتباہات؛ اور (iii) مکمل دستبرداری۔ لہذا اس طرح کے مواد کو عام معلومات سے زیادہ کے طور پر فراہم کیا جاتا ہے۔ خاص طور پر، براہ کرم آگاہ رہیں کہ ہماری آن لائن تجارت کی سہولت کے مندرجات نہ تو کوئی درخواست ہے، اور نہ ہی فنانشل مارکیٹ میں کوئی لین دین داخل کرنے کی پیش کش ہے۔ کسی بھی فنانشل مارکیٹ میں تجارت میں آپ کے سرمائے کے لئے ایک خاص سطح کا خطرہ ہوتا ہے۔
ہماری آن لائن تجارتی سہولت پر شائع ہونے والے تمام مٹیریل کا مقصد صرف تعلیمی/معلوماتی مقاصد کے لئے ہے، اور اس میں شامل نہیں ہے — اور نہ ہی اسے فنانشل، سرمایہ کاری ٹیکس یا تجارتی مشورے اور سفارشات؛ یا ہماری تجارتی قیمتوں کا ریکارڈ؛ یا کسی بھی فنانشل انسٹرومنٹ میں لین دین کی پیشکش؛ یا اسکے لئے مانگ؛ یا غیر متنازعہ مالی تشہیرات پر مشتمل سمجھا جانا چاہئے۔
کوئی تھرڈ پارٹی کانٹینٹ، نیز XM کے ذریعہ تیار کردہ کانٹینٹ، جیسے: راۓ، خبریں، تحقیق، تجزیہ، قیمتیں اور دیگر معلومات یا اس ویب سائٹ پر مشتمل تھرڈ پارٹی کے سائٹس کے لنکس کو "جیسے ہے" کی بنیاد پر فراہم کیا جاتا ہے، عام مارکیٹ کی تفسیر کے طور پر، اور سرمایہ کاری کے مشورے کو تشکیل نہ دیں۔ اس حد تک کہ کسی بھی کانٹینٹ کو سرمایہ کاری کی تحقیقات کے طور پر سمجھا جاتا ہے، آپ کو نوٹ کرنا اور قبول کرنا ہوگا کہ یہ کانٹینٹ سرمایہ کاری کی تحقیق کی آزادی کو فروغ دینے کے لئے ڈیزائن کردہ قانونی تقاضوں کے مطابق نہیں ہے اور تیار نہیں کیا گیا ہے، اسی طرح، اس پر غور کیا جائے گا بطور متعلقہ قوانین اور ضوابط کے تحت مارکیٹنگ مواصلات۔ براہ کرم یقینی بنائیں کہ آپ غیر آزاد سرمایہ کاری سے متعلق ہماری اطلاع کو پڑھ اور سمجھ چکے ہیں۔ مذکورہ بالا معلومات کے بارے میں تحقیق اور رسک وارننگ ، جس تک رسائی یہاں حاصل کی جا سکتی ہے۔
