By Nika Khutsieva and Andrew Osborn
MOSCOW (Reuters) -Young people laugh as they play basketball on Moscow’s leafy boulevards, couples relax playing chess on outdoor tables opposite the Bolshoi Theatre, and in the evenings show-offs drive expensive cars around trendy areas full of busy cafes.
As Russia’s war in Ukraine grinds through its fourth summer, some 1,000 miles (1,609 km) to the south, some residents of the Russian capital are tuning out, pushing the fighting out of their minds, and – with a little help from the authorities who are keen to preserve a sense of normality on the home front – focusing on the moment.
“All these events have affected me. At some point, I felt anxious, but then I realised that I can only change the situation within my family, not the whole world,” said Ilya, a young man out for a stroll in central Moscow.
“So I focus on my own issues and try not to think about the rest. I just live my life. Everything is good because my parents and I are alive and safe,” he said, adding that he was from the Kursk region, parts of which the Ukrainian army captured last year before being pushed out.
As in previous years, authorities in Moscow have gone to considerable trouble and expense to turn the city into a giant chill-out and entertainment zone under the slogan “Summer in Moscow”.
Prominent pedestrian streets and boulevards have been decorated with walls of flowers. Giant pots containing trees, cafe tables and chairs and benches have been put out, and temporary sporting facilities such as mini basketball courts and climbing walls have been set up along with outdoor stages for programmed theatrical and musical performances.
With one of President Vladimir Putin’s aides keen to revive the Soviet tradition of outdoor chess, special areas packed with tables and chess boards have been set up too.
‘SELF-DEFENCE MODE’
Yulia, a young woman enjoying central Moscow with a friend, said she and others had tuned out from following the news all the time.
“We’ve been living in this information environment for three years already. Our mental health activates a kind of self-defence mode,” she said. “At some point, you stop taking all the news personally, because if you don’t, you could go crazy”.
Not that the war is entirely absent.
Evening TV news bulletins include daily battlefield updates, while talk shows dedicated to discussing geopolitics and the war dominate the evening schedules.
Moscow’s mayor, Sergei Sobyanin, updates residents when air defence forces down Ukrainian drones outside the city. At times the capital’s airports have been forced to close temporarily during such attacks, sometimes causing long delays.
Giant posters featuring the portraits of soldiers regarded as heroes of what Russia calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine are displayed on billboards along with adverts designed to get residents to sign up to fight there.
One of them, in northern Moscow, features a stylised image of three Russian paratroopers surveying the horizon after landing, and promises 5.2 million roubles ($64,797) in the first year of service to volunteers, more than double the annual average in the capital.
It’s a world away from visitors to Moscow’s trendy Patriarch’s Pond neighbourhood, which comes alive in the evening when its cafes overflow and its narrow historic streets fill up with Ferraris, Porsches, Mercedes G-wagons, and motor-bikes.
“In other districts far from the centre, you can witness sadness and dullness,” said Azamat, a student.
“But here, in the Patriarch Ponds area, you see beautiful, joyful people and luxury cars. Some come here to show off or to meet someone, but others come to relax – like us.”
Dmitry, the manager of a nearby bar called “HOP&ALE”, said business was good.
“There are lots of tourists and lots of visitors,” he said. “Life is in full swing and that’s great!”
($1 = 80.2500 roubles)
(Reporting by Moscow buro, Nika Khutsieva and Andrew OsbornWriting by Andrew Osborn Editing by Gareth Jones)
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