by Gregor Tassie

Visiting Russia in October 2024, the first impressions after an absence of five years were positive - clean streets and everyone going about their affairs and no one would suspect a war was ongoing. The first evidence of the conflict were the soldiers at the railway station and the electronic surveillance machines at all metro and station entrances. Otherwise, on a weekend morning everyone was going shopping, strolling the wide avenues and parks of Moscow, visiting exhibitions or chatting in the parks. Chinese and Korean tourist groups were very noticeable compared to European or American tourists, who were nowhere to be seen.

MOSCOW LIFE

Of course, the welcoming warmth of public transport, whether on the metro on an electro-bus, or entering any shop, café or restaurant was a sharp contrast with the EU. In Moscow, traffic was moving day and night; the whole city was alive, and there was a vibrancy in the atmosphere unseen before. Absent was the poverty and the despair of Russia in the nineties, when one could see beggars and down-and-outs asking for a drink – now Moscow is an ultra-modern city with a high lifestyle. Just getting a place in a restaurant was difficult and, when we did get a place, the cuisine was excellent and inexpensive (the equivalent of £14 for a two-course meal plus drinks). The receptionist was a young man from Senegal (where he learned Russian), who was working part-time while studying at Moscow University.

AN INTER-CITY JOURNEY

Travelling by train from Moscow to central Russia (13 hours overnight) was a new experience after the modernisation of the railway system. We traveled on a new double-decked train with two- or four-bed compartments, and the coach had three pristine toilets and a shower. An attendant introduced himself offering tea, coffee and snacks, and there was an option to pre-book either an evening meal or a breakfast – and free Wi-Fi. On the returning journey, we met with orphaned children whose cheerful singing and running up and down the corridor kept us entertained. They were on a trip around the country organised by members of the People’s Front – a patriotic charity volunteer organisation arranging humanitarian aid for victims of the war.

IN CENTRAL RUSSIA

Arriving in the Mari-El autonomous republic near Kazan, the same spotlessness of the streets was evident, as was the heating of Russian homes with constant hot water and free WiFi. The biggest difference was the price of basic food items, through to alcohol and luxury items, which were half those in Moscow. The shops were well stocked and also selling fashionable Western goods; the best Scotch malt whiskies were available as well as Italian and French wines and cognacs. Most fruits and vegetables were from Central Asia and the Caucasus and were expensive.

The city has expanded significantly with new housing appearing where nothing existed before and, importantly, children's play areas were nearby along with health centres, shops, cafes and restaurants. The city has a population of 300,000 and has recovered from the Wild West of the nineties when the three biggest factories closed, transforming it into a ghost town with young people leaving for the bigger cities of Kazan and further afield to Moscow. Now three further education colleges attract foreign students and factories have opened up. The unemployment level of 0.5% is below the national average of 2.5%. The previous mayor was jailed for corruption after he built a fashionable town area with Russian and Dutch-style architecture to attract tourists. In the last elections, the city elected a Communist to represent them in the State Duma, and, unquestionably, life has improved. Public transport has become more frequent with trolleybuses, electro-buses and small private minibuses normally charging about 40p for one journey. New private enterprises have opened up, and attractive restaurants where a meal in a Georgian restaurant for four plus drinks costs about £27 and was very popular among young people.

The city now has three Olympic-sized swimming, ice skating and athletics stadiums, plus a newly built arena for multiple sports events and concerts. There are seven state drama and opera/ballet theatres plus a newly built philharmonic hall. A visit to the grave of a relative was memorable in that portraits of the deceased and the achievements of the person are inscribed on the gravestone. I did notice there were some twenty graves for soldiers who had lost their lives in the Ukrainian war and notable for displaying the Soviet red flags and Russian tricolours.

EFFECTS OF THE WAR

I met with a middle-aged soldier returning home and congratulated him on his safe return from the frontline; another meeting was with a young cadet who had completed his studies at an army academy and was joining his unit to serve as a professional officer. He was intelligent, very well-spoken and had no qualms about serving his country, his manner was exemplary and proficient, and he took great care in his vocabulary and dress. Talking to friends that we met, the overwhelming impression was one of stoic fortitude and support for their soldiers; everyone wants a peaceful outcome - but one which is acceptable. Generally, people were not discussing the war in public but posters of heroes were often to be seen on buildings and advertising billboards as well as recruiting posters on public transport. No graffiti was to be seen anywhere.

LIVING CONDITIONS

Of course, Russia is a market economy and many basic rights were abused in the final years of the Soviet Union with the abolition of entire industries and the sell-out to western capital of the country’s resources. However, essential elements of the socialist state remain in force: the right to affordable housing, free health service and education, the right to work, equality for women and equal opportunities for different races and religions. It is unheard of for people to be sacked or to be evicted – there are laws protecting citizens in the most basic conditions.

Council homes are well-heated and inexpensive – to rent a private flat in Moscow is between £400 and £500 monthly, while to buy a flat can cost £30,000. Community charges are low, about £12 a year, and state housing is the cheapest anywhere in Europe. While I was there, a Gazprom inspector and the local council visited the flat to check the water. We have had no visits or inspections of our flat back home since before the pandemic! The health service is excellent; a phone call to the local health centre led to an appointment the same day and a brief pain-free operation for a fee of about £11 (as I do not live there, I had to pay). I now have a health record online which can be accessed on a future visit. The health clinic was spotless and free of long queues. Sadly, I ran out of time to get some dentistry done…. next time.

OPENING THE ARCHIVES

TV and radio have lively discussion programmes with in-depth analysis of the war and world politics by specialists and Western journalists. One notable event in the media was the 60th anniversary of Khruschev’s overthrow in 1964. Several articles mentioned the crimes committed by him in the late fifties and early sixties by which time he had brought the country’s economy close to collapse and harmed relations with China. Khruschev released thousands of the terrorists who had fought Soviet power in Western Ukraine between 1946 and 1955. The state decree gave preference for these people to join the Communist Party or get influential jobs. In a strike over hugely increased food prices, Khrushchev ordered the shooting of workers in Novocherkassk. The housing programme was a disaster and for years homes were called ‘Khruschev slums’. This information was released from archives and the only exception to these views of Khruschev was a favourable article in the ‘Dissident’ magazine which helpfully warned its readers that the writer is ‘a foreign agent’. The Marxist historian Yevgeny Spitzyn argued that Khrushchev's ‘thaw' laid the groundwork for Gorbachev’s Perestroika and the breakup of the Soviet Union thirty years later. 

BOOKS  

It is always enlightening to discover what people are reading, and I was surprised to see an entire section devoted to Stalin’s collected works (24 volumes) in Moscow's biggest bookshop. This section was about the same as that devoted to Marx, Lenin and Soviet politicians. There was a section on Soviet espionage and Soviet history, and also one devoted to writers covering the Crimea and Donbass, with the politician, writer and war veteran Zakhar Prilepin having all his books on display. This huge bookstore also has a café and a room for writers to launch their books. 

A COMMON BOND 

The most impressive and unexpected aspect of my visit was the social consciousness amongst the people that I met. The brief period of the war has brought people closer with a common bond that I can only remember in the former Soviet Union before Perestroika. New organisations like the Pioneers encourage patriotism and social values, uniting hundreds of thousands of children plus the millions in the Peoples’ Front helping in charity work. Walking around some of the streets, one could see people simply taking pride in their city and how it has improved in recent years. After years of dismissing Soviet history, now the achievements of the USSR are publicised in the media, through the release of archives, documentaries and even feature films portraying the true history of the country between 1917 and 1991.

Of course, one of the reasons why the streets are so clean is because people do not throw away papers or cups, they look after each other. Sharing the belief that they are fighting a common enemy has united them in a social bond that will undoubtedly help Russia emerge victorious in the war with the collective West.