MOSCOW – On a recent evening in Red Square, an elite squad of camouflaged paratroopers performed a dance that resembles a battle with fireworks. An Egyptian performer dressed as a pharaoh rides back and forth on a chariot holding an ankh, an ancient Egyptian symbol of life, as a band plays “Katyusha,” a Union-era patriotic war song. Shove.
Nataliya Nikonova, 44, was among thousands of spectators cheering from the stands at the festival celebrating Russian troops and friendly nations including Belarus, India and Venezuela.
“I was so emotional that I was about to lose my voice!” she speaks.
The Russian military is currently waging a slow war that has killed tens of thousands of people, contributed to global inflation and increased energy prices.
But Ms. Nikonova said she hasn’t experienced a lot of upheaval in her life in the past six months.
“Nothing has really changed,” she said. “Sure, prices have gone up, but we can tolerate that.” She hurried to listen to an encore of “Katyusha” from the Egyptian Army Symphony Orchestra.
Day-to-day life seems to have changed little in Moscow, where people have the financial resources to withstand the dramatic price increases, unlike much of the rest of the country. GUM, the posh shopping mall next to Red Square, is packed with shoppers – although many Western stores like Prada, Gucci and Christian Dior have closed – and restaurants and theaters thrive. The streets of Moscow are still packed with luxury cars like Lamborghinis and Porsches.
“A few stores are closed because of the sanctions, which is frustrating but not too bad,” said 18-year-old Yuliya, a recent high school graduate who wanders on a bench in Gorky Park, where Muscovites sunbathe, dance, and rollerblade. She and her friends said they don’t really think about the fighting in Ukraine that often.
That detachment is exactly what President Vladimir V. Putin is believing in as he executes his domestic strategy of shielding Russians from the hardships of war – no military supplies, no mass funerals, no feelings loss or conflict. Much of Russia’s effort on the battlefield hasn’t gone according to Mr. Putin’s plans, but at home he has mostly succeeded in making Russian life as normal as possible.
Most museums and theaters are open, as long as their leadership is not critical of the Kremlin, and on summer evenings, boats partying with revelers freely roam the Moskva River nearby and people picnic on the lawn. The fall of opera and ballet has just begun – although some planned premieres and ongoing productions have been canceled after directors and their stars spoke out against the war. or flee the country.
Grigory Yudin, professor of political philosophy at the Moscow School of Economic and Social Sciences, describes a Soviet-era countermeasures mechanism adopted during Putin’s tenure: “What the Russians usually do is protect protect their daily lives.
“This is something they have always prioritized and they excel at, and they are doing it with a remarkable degree of success, I would say,” he said of Russian leadership.
But while many Muscovites pursue pleasure and deliberate ignorance, many of the capital’s intellectuals, whose work and life are tied to the West or Ukraine, are struggling to reconcile the feeling. normal with the enormity of participating in Europe’s largest land war since World War II. Second War.
That was made clear Saturday in sympathy and appreciation for former Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev, expressed by the thousands of Russians who attended his funeral, who represented him. for a silent protest against Mr. Putin and his policies.
Soon after Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine, Anya said, she began reading books about the rise of totalitarianism in Nazi Germany and grappling with the concept of collective sin.
“It was the end of the world for a lot of people,” said Anya, 34. Like several others interviewed for this article, she did not want to give her last name for fear of retribution.
“In your name, someone is killing civilians,” she said. “And your country is turning into something like North Korea.”
She said she went to protest and signed an anti-war petition, and a few days later she was invited to resign at a public institution.
For years, Mr. Putin has cracked down on dissidents and opponents, but today it is virtually impossible to express displeasure with the system, and those who express their views do so. so knowing that a new law punishes criticism of the war. According to OVD-Info, a Russian human rights organization, nearly 16,500 people have been arrested for protesting aggression in Ukraine since February 24.
Russians who opposed the fighting felt despised and threatened by their government, rejected by the West – which they believe blamed them for not protesting the invasion – and powerless to influence them. affect any changes.
“We all have this feeling of helplessness,” says Anya. “It doesn’t matter that you exist and have your opinion. There are 5, 10, 20 million of us. And it doesn’t make any difference.”
Muslims like Anya spent the first months after the conflict beginning to feel anxious and uncertain. Tens of thousands of them escape. But over the summer, the capital has largely returned to normal, boosted by a soaring ruble, silent protest and a media outlet almost entirely under the control of the Kremlin.
However, society is changing slowly: While Putin has sought to instill a sense of normalcy, he is also working to develop militarization of Russian society.
Along Moscow’s arterial roads are billboards listing soldiers’ ranks and titles, with QR codes to scan for more information. And there is no shortage of events celebrating Russia’s military might.
Thousands of spectators gathered at the Alabino military training ground southwest of Moscow for more than two weeks to watch the Army International Games, a festival that included Tank Biathlon, in which international teams compete to drive the tank over natural obstacles and shoot accurately at the targets. (Since 2013, when the competition started, Russia has always been in first place.)
“I’ve seen tanks on TV all this time; I want to see them in real life,” said Ilya, 34, who drove from Moscow to the event with her children, aged 11 and 4.
“I think all wars are bad; I’m not saying I support ‘Special Military Operation’, or not,” he said, using Mr. Putin’s term for hostile actions in Ukraine. “But I do believe in the leadership of the land. my country, and if they say it’s necessary, then it is.”
Others said that seeing the weapons on display at the military festival – including the Kinzhal missile being used in Ukraine – made them feel as if they came from a powerful country.
Andrei Yevgenyevich, 55, a tank driver in Soviet-controlled Germany during the last days of the Cold War, said the weapons show brought him back to the days when the Soviet Union was a powerful global power. and scary.
“When you see this, you trust that everything is fine in your country, that everything is as it is,” he said.
“We were raised in the Soviet tradition, and we love our homeland. This brings pride to our country.”
As for sanctions, he said: “I don’t feel there is any difference. I think the US and the West are suffering more.”
This is a popular chorus on Russian television. State media provide daily segments of uncertain countries like Germany facing soaring gas prices and inflation in Europe and the United States.
At military training grounds, children scrambled for tanks, including one that read “Smash the Fascists,” and people of all ages fired automatic rifles. But booths inviting visitors to sign up to join the military remained empty, save for recruiters, suggesting that even as nationalism is on the rise, people are not ready to fight Putin’s war.
“Not many people come in right now,” said one military recruiter, declining to give his name, as the sound of shots could be heard from a nearby shooting range.
For those who aren’t interested in army games and are used to spending their summers traveling around Europe, there are plenty of homegrown distractions. A recent festival in the Nikola-Lenivets art park, a travel enthusiasts’ paradise a few hours from the capital, drew about 16,000 people to party in the woods over four days.
One night, everyone dressed in glittery facials, faux fur coats and even jellyfish costumes danced to the music of an upbeat reggae performer who promised he wouldn’t leave Russia as many other artists have done. The crowd went wild.
“At first, I thought to myself, wow, there is a 400 km war Ivan, a 25-year-old man who has just returned to his native Russia after several years abroad, said.
He finally relaxed.
“Life goes on, especially when there’s nothing we can do to get the situation under control,” he said. Back at the Red Square festival, a woman named Ekaterina, 26, an eyebrow technician at a beauty salon, said she and her boyfriend, who serve in the military, feel good Their god is lifted by the band. But she said she was “worried for the men on both sides of the front lines.”
“Here, everyone acts as if nothing happened. This is one world, and there,” she said, referring to the field of combat, “is a whole different world.”
