At the Ismailovsky Souvenir Market in Moscow you can buy mugs and t-shirts alluding to the deployment of Russian forces in Ukraine… from 2014, when the Crimean Peninsula was annexed. There is nothing that alludes to the “special military operation” that began six months ago.
There are few visible signs in the capital that Russia is in the throes of Europe’s worst conflict since World War II. The letter “Z”, Originally a symbol of the operation as it appears on Russian military vehicles, it is now conspicuous by its absence.
There are hardly any loose posters at bus stops with the face of a soldier or with the expression “Glory to the heroes of Russia”. The posters give no clue as to what the soldiers are doing, or where.
People’s reluctance, or the state of denialregarding the “operation” underway in Ukraine is striking in a country where military exploits are part of the social fabric. The annexation of Crimea generated instant memes and images of President Vladimir Putin, in which he was presented as ”the most gentle person,” an allusion to a widespread description of Russian soldiers as gentiles.
A boy plays in front of the Cathedral in Moscow. AFP Photo
Victory Day over Nazi Germany is a special holiday for Russians.
The premises where a Lamborghini dealership worked on Kutuzovsky Prospekt, one of the main arteries of Moscow, still has a Victory Day banner unfurled even though the room is dark. Lamborghini left Russia, along with hundreds of foreign companies that departed or suspended operations after the Ukraine raid.
Empty businesses, in the dark, in the malls, where fast food restaurants like McDonald’s and Starbucks worked, are the most visible signs of the conflict. The departure of these firms was a psychological blow to Muscovites, who had become accustomed to the benefits of a consumer culture.
“In the beginning, we were very disappointed,” admitted Yegor Driganov. “But other businesses sprung up instead.”.
The premises where McDonald’s and Starbucks worked were acquired by Russian businessmen who in a short time opened almost exact copies.
“Everything remains the same”, said Driganov’s partner, Polina Polishchuk, commenting on the mood of the people.
Officials say Russia can replace the businesses that have left, but many Russians privately express doubts.
War games in Russia, far from the invasion of Ukraine. Photo EFE
A study by the Levada Center, Russia’s only independent pollster, indicated that 81% of Russians believe that the country will be able to replace business of foreign food with domestic alternatives, while only 41% estimate that local factories will be able to substitute foreign electronics and just a third believe that domestic car production can compensate for the suspension of imports.
Sanctions prevent the arrival of auto parts. Government statistics say that vehicle production in May fell 97% compared to the same month in 2021. Putin recently admitted that shipyards also feel the lack of parts.
The panic felt in Russia at the announcement of Western sanctions and after the departure of foreign firms receded somewhat. The ruble, which lost half its value against the dollar after the sanctions, not only did he recover but he is stronger today than in a long time.
While that is good for national pride, it is a heavy burden for export-dependent sectors whose products are now more expensive.
And Russia’s economic prospects are not too clear amid cross statistics. There is little unemployment, contrary to what many predicted. But GDP fell 4% in the second quarter of the year and is forecast to fall 8% for the year. Inflation is also estimated to be 15%.
“It is obvious that things will not be like before,” Russian central bank chief Elvira Nabiullina told an International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg. “External conditions have changed for a long time, if not forever.”.
As much as they glimpse economic upheavals, people show no anxiety.
Mikhail Sukhorukov, a souvenir seller in Izmailovsky, downplays the doomsday forecasts, even though he can no longer count on foreign tourists, who were the mainstay of his business. “They are cycles, like waves,” he said. He said he’d rather be optimistic than “go to the graveyard.”
“In Moscow, you lead a normal life because people try to maintain a sense of normalcy and relative psychological calm,” said Nikolai Petrov of the Russia and Eurasia Program at Chatham House. no way out and people prefer not to think about it and live their lives”.
Petrov also noted that Muscovites are under “the effects of the (boreal) summer, that make people not look at what is happening in the world and create your own reality, focused on your family, vacations and all that.”
Deprived of visiting sites abroad, russians explore exotic domestic destinationssuch as Sakhalin Island, 6,300 kilometers (3,900 miles) from Moscow, where tourism is up 25%, it was reported. There is also a lot of interest in the beaches of Kaliningrad, on the Baltic Sea.
Despite the fact that very little is said on the street about what is happening in Ukraine, news abounds on the radio and television. The main state television news programme, Vesti Nedeli, devoted nearly an hour recently to the military operation, with reports in which the Russian forces are presented as very effectivewith the most modern weapons.
About 60% of Russians depend on state television for information. Many, however, consider it unreliable. A study of Levada this month indicated that the 65% of Russians do not believe anything or part of what they see in the state media about Ukraine.
“There are many alternative sources” to state television, Driganov said, resting by the river.
To access many of those sources, however, you have to have VPNs, or virtual private networks. The government banned or blocked many foreign news outlets, harasses nationals, often forcing them to close, and banned the use of Facebook and Twitter.
AP Agency
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