Moscow’s narrative on its ‘special operation’ starts to fray

It was not the ideal moment for a party. Last Saturday even-ing, as Russian troops speedily retreated from numerous towns in the Kharkiv region, and the Ukrainian army triumphantly raised its yellow and blue flag, spectacular fireworks crackled across Moscow.

- Shaun Walker and Andrew Roth MOSCOW

City authorities claimed there were more than 30,000 fireworks in total, at 23 coordinated displays in different parts of the city, all to mark the city’s 875th anniversary. It was an incongruous sight when the news from the front lines in Ukraine got more disastrous for Moscow by the hour, with even patriotic Ukrainians amazed at the speed with which Kyiv’s forces were advancing in the north-east .

Numerous politicians called on Moscow to postpone the annual City Day celebrations, but the bad news seemed to catch the Kremlin flatfooted. Reluctant as it is even to admit that what is happening in Ukraine is a “war” and not a “special military operation”, cancelling the festivities would have been an admission that everything was going wrong.

As Ukraine took back towns where just weeks ago Russia was proclaiming itself the new overlord “ for ever” , all Russians heard was a forlorn statement from the defence ministry that a “regrouping of forces” was under way.

Meanwhile, state TV showed Moscow’s mayor, Sergei Sobyanin, giving Vladimir Putin a tour of a new martial arts centre , chuckling obediently as Putin recounted a jokey anecdote. Later, the y inaugurated a new observation wheel, the tallest in Europe.