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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Shaun Walker, and Andrew Roth in Moscow

Moscow fireworks contrast with worsening news from Ukraine frontlines

Vladimir Putin touring a new martial arts centre in Moscow
Vladimir Putin toured a new martial arts centre in Moscow on Saturday, later making a speech that conveniently ignored disastrous news from the frontline. Photograph: Getty

It was not the ideal moment for a party. On Saturday evening, 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.

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.

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