The Ukrainian city of Sumy is located 30 km from the Russian border and 20 km from the front line. A correspondent from «Most» visited there before the New Year holidays

#WarinUkraine #lifeinUkraine #FreedomofRussiaLegion #newYear #society #celebration #reportage #Russia

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In December 2025, Moscow began to be actively decorated for the New Year as part of the «Journey to Christmas» festival. Its prototype was the Strasbourg Christmas Market on Manezhnaya Square, which in December 2012 made a splash among Muscovites and visitors to the capital. After that, city hall decided to include the city’s Christmas celebration in the ongoing mega-festival «Moscow Seasons.» By 2026, however, little remained of Strasbourg and its Christmas traditions. But an imaginary Europe, now almost out of reach, still peeks through the New Year’s tinsel—just like other realities of recent years.

#state #Moscow #newYear #society #reportage #SergeiSobyanin #escapism

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The story of how the Soviet Grinch stole Christmas is telling in many ways. At first, the totalitarian regime shamelessly declared established family traditions to be barbaric. Then, after failing, Stalinism retreated a bit and, as a compromise, offered Soviet citizens a new holiday—with recognizable trappings, but stripped of its original meaning. Soon, the next generation came to perceive the Soviet New Year as an unshakable custom from time immemorial.

#householdandchildren #state #ideology #History #everydayculture #lenin #newYear #society #holidays #religion #theUSSR #Stalin #traditions

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