It’s New Year (nearly) as usual in wartime Moscow

A cashier works at a Metro Cash and Carry hypermarket in Moscow, Russia Dec 22, 2023. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov

MOSCOW  – There will be no fireworks in Moscow again this year on Russia’s biggest family holiday, but in almost every other way, the capital is as bright and bustling as at any New Year before the war in Ukraine.

Last year, the fallout of what Russia calls its “special military operation”, which had begun 10 months earlier, and a military call-up dented Muscovites’ appetite for entertainment. This year, only soaring prices are dampening the celebrations.

“Last year we bought a two-meter fir tree (for New Year) and it cost 10,000 rubles ($110),” said Viktorina Petrova, visiting the Moscow Circus. “This year it costs 17,000 rubles. So we decided not to have a real fir tree at home this year.”

Bookings for corporate parties and events at the Riesling Boyz bar, which were almost absent last year, have picked up again, said co-owner Georgy Karpenko.

“People need to go somewhere, they need to have fun and enjoy themselves, they need to go on dates, meet friends and relatives. You can’t take that away from them,” he said.

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The bar’s signature white Riesling wines are harder to get hold of, as many Western firms are reluctant to trade with Russia and duties have risen.

“But at the same time new, wonderful Russian producers are appearing,” Karpenko said. “One wine has just replaced another.”

Reduced spending

In the aisles of a Metro supermarket full of Western alcoholic drinks and New Year baubles, shopper Natalia said she would not be over-spending this year.

“I’m not planning to be frugal, but I won’t spend on a grand scale,” she said, declining to give her surname.

Russian political scientist Ekaterina Schulmann at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center in Berlin said a background of sharply rising prices – inflation is running at about 7 percent – and economic growth fueled by a war with no end in sight were influencing spending.

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“This kind of outlook, suggesting things are kind of OK right now and nothing good is likely to happen later, of course encourages spending rather than saving,” she said.

Natalia Seleznyova, who was also visiting the Moscow Circus, said costs during the festive season have “undoubtedly gone up a bit”.

“The situation in the country is changing. But we still want to have the New Year feeling. So you try not to think about prices,” she said.