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New Year’s Eve in Moscow

Politics, culture and social change on the third year of war

Anton Krutikov
Policy Panorama

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Moscow on New Year’s Eve. Photo by the author.

This New Year feels unusual for me, as I will be celebrating it in Moscow. This is the third year in which I have been observing the war-induced social changes in Russia and sharing my impressions and findings with you here on Medium. My journey from London to Moscow was long and unsafe: we were flying over Dagestan, where another passenger plane had reportedly been shot down by an anti-aircraft missile a few days earlier. But here I am at last.

Medium is blocked in Russia and this article will be published using VPN.

Moscow, Tverskaya Street. Photo by the author.

New Year’s Eve

Moscow looks foggy and cold in the last days of 2024. The city lacks the atmosphere of the upcoming holidays, and it is noticeable that this year the authorities have invested less than usual in New Year’s decorations. Nevertheless, New Year celebrations are historically and culturally more popular in Russia than Christmas. (The tradition of Christmas was deliberately and almost completely destroyed during the seven decades of Soviet atheist rule). Unlike in the Western world, Christmas in Russia is celebrated after New…

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