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

MOSCOW (Reuters) – 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-metre fir tree (for New Year) and it cost 10,000 roubles ($110),” said Viktorina Petrova, visiting the Moscow Circus. “This year it costs 17,000 roubles. So we decided not to have a real fir tree at home this…