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| Guardian Moscow Week / Московская неделя Guardian – live | Guardian Moscow Week / Московская неделя Guardian – live |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Mark Rice-Oxley | |
| Was the film Gorky Park set in Moscow? What’s a Moscow mule? And what statue of Vladimir is set to be erected overlooking the city? Test how much you really know about the Russian capital by taking our quiz. And let us know your scores using #guardianmoscow - disappointingly non-monetary acknowledgments to the best results. | |
| Meanwhile, some quick news snippets from Moscow on a quiet, sky-blue June Monday morning: | |
| @MedvedevRussiaE in rare carefree selfie moment with first graduates of Moscow's Skolkovo hi-tech college pic.twitter.com/urM0mIIJ0D | |
| As ever, though, you need to look a bit further afield in Russia for the daftest news story of the day. In Siberia, a drunk man destroyed a statue of Lenin while taking a selfie. There are, of course, pictures. | |
| Chris Michael | Chris Michael |
| Our social affairs reporter Amelia Gentleman (a one-time Moscow correspondent herself) asked four very different Muscovites - an ex-TV producer, a surgeon, a retired couple and a former Mrs Russia - for their thoughts on Moscow life under sanctions. | Our social affairs reporter Amelia Gentleman (a one-time Moscow correspondent herself) asked four very different Muscovites - an ex-TV producer, a surgeon, a retired couple and a former Mrs Russia - for their thoughts on Moscow life under sanctions. |
| She got, not surprisingly, four very different types of answers from across the political spectrum. But there’s one thing everyone in Moscow agrees on: | She got, not surprisingly, four very different types of answers from across the political spectrum. But there’s one thing everyone in Moscow agrees on: |
| Absurd as it sounds, I miss the cheeses. In Soviet Russia there were no specialist cheeses, there was really just one type. It wasn’t even really cheese – something similar to cheese, but not quite cheese – so when you got these cheeses in the 1990s, when people tried them … cheese came to symbolise the range of things you could have in a post-Soviet state. Even poorer people could choose between five and 10 imported varieties and it was quite affordable,” Evgeny adds, laughing about the amount of attention cheese consumption has attracted since sanctions were introduced. “You can still find them in some shops, but the prices are exorbitant.” | Absurd as it sounds, I miss the cheeses. In Soviet Russia there were no specialist cheeses, there was really just one type. It wasn’t even really cheese – something similar to cheese, but not quite cheese – so when you got these cheeses in the 1990s, when people tried them … cheese came to symbolise the range of things you could have in a post-Soviet state. Even poorer people could choose between five and 10 imported varieties and it was quite affordable,” Evgeny adds, laughing about the amount of attention cheese consumption has attracted since sanctions were introduced. “You can still find them in some shops, but the prices are exorbitant.” |
| That’s coming up tomorrow. In the meantime, we stopped to chat with Andrey and Svetlana, psychotherapists who have some incisive comments about bike lanes ... and booze. | That’s coming up tomorrow. In the meantime, we stopped to chat with Andrey and Svetlana, psychotherapists who have some incisive comments about bike lanes ... and booze. |
| Chris Michael | Chris Michael |
| Mark Rice-Oxley is a former Moscow correspondent who is back in the city after 10 years - and shocked by the changes since he last lived here. | Mark Rice-Oxley is a former Moscow correspondent who is back in the city after 10 years - and shocked by the changes since he last lived here. |
| The short story is Moscow has changed beyond all recognition in the past generation. Twenty years ago there were few spaces in which to stroll agreeably. Now the entire historic centre is a pedestrianised wanderfest. Fountains, trees (does Moscow have more trees than any other big city?), cafes ... the city appears to have moved psychologically at least 1,000km west, to be situated in central Europe somewhere. In fact, perhaps it has changed more than any other major world metropolis. Dhaka, Shanghai and Dubai might have something to say about that. You might as well.” | The short story is Moscow has changed beyond all recognition in the past generation. Twenty years ago there were few spaces in which to stroll agreeably. Now the entire historic centre is a pedestrianised wanderfest. Fountains, trees (does Moscow have more trees than any other big city?), cafes ... the city appears to have moved psychologically at least 1,000km west, to be situated in central Europe somewhere. In fact, perhaps it has changed more than any other major world metropolis. Dhaka, Shanghai and Dubai might have something to say about that. You might as well.” |
| Muscovite Kate Mikhaleynko does. She tells us via GuardianWitness: | Muscovite Kate Mikhaleynko does. She tells us via GuardianWitness: |
| I can definitely see improvement in the capital: public transport operates better, local government services are better organised, the streets are cleaner... in my old neighbourhood (a very working-class, high-immigrant community), there are more ‘high-street’ shops appearing, less potholes on the roads, new playgrounds, new trees being planted and even the occasional fountain being built. These things may seem little and shallow, but I can certainly see improvement in this sense, at least.” | I can definitely see improvement in the capital: public transport operates better, local government services are better organised, the streets are cleaner... in my old neighbourhood (a very working-class, high-immigrant community), there are more ‘high-street’ shops appearing, less potholes on the roads, new playgrounds, new trees being planted and even the occasional fountain being built. These things may seem little and shallow, but I can certainly see improvement in this sense, at least.” |
| One of the people responsible for some of these changes is Gorky Park director Olga Zakharova, who we caught up with earlier. She points out that giving people what they want is not rocket science: | One of the people responsible for some of these changes is Gorky Park director Olga Zakharova, who we caught up with earlier. She points out that giving people what they want is not rocket science: |
| Is Moscow changing for better or worse? That’s the question we’re asking today - share your thoughts with GuardianWitness or using the hashtag #guardianmoscow | Is Moscow changing for better or worse? That’s the question we’re asking today - share your thoughts with GuardianWitness or using the hashtag #guardianmoscow |
| Chris Michael | Chris Michael |
| From space-travelling babushkas to grainy electronic music, the Russian capital has come a very long way since the legendary 1991 rock concert that drew an audience 16 times bigger than Glastonbury’s. | From space-travelling babushkas to grainy electronic music, the Russian capital has come a very long way since the legendary 1991 rock concert that drew an audience 16 times bigger than Glastonbury’s. |
| Igor Zinatulin brings us up to date with an insider’s guide to Moscow’s cultural scene, featuring a bit of coding, a lot of concrete, and a new craze called Coub. | Igor Zinatulin brings us up to date with an insider’s guide to Moscow’s cultural scene, featuring a bit of coding, a lot of concrete, and a new craze called Coub. |
| There is a coub for anything on the internet. Created by designer Igor Gladkoborov, Coub is an online service for editing and sharing looped videos. Since its launch, it has become a new web cult for its users in Russia, with thousands of witty snippets thrown on to social media every day – such as the one above, which sends an unsuspecting babushka on the Moscow metro into outer space. Coub is a testament to the success of Moscow’s remix culture, whereby new artworks are constantly being derived from old material (or recent Game of Thrones episodes)” | There is a coub for anything on the internet. Created by designer Igor Gladkoborov, Coub is an online service for editing and sharing looped videos. Since its launch, it has become a new web cult for its users in Russia, with thousands of witty snippets thrown on to social media every day – such as the one above, which sends an unsuspecting babushka on the Moscow metro into outer space. Coub is a testament to the success of Moscow’s remix culture, whereby new artworks are constantly being derived from old material (or recent Game of Thrones episodes)” |
| Read the Insider’s Cultural Guide to Moscow here. | Read the Insider’s Cultural Guide to Moscow here. |
| Chris Michael | Chris Michael |
| Russia’s capital has begun a “liveable city” transformation – pedestrianisation, new parks, cycle lanes. But as Shaun Walker writes, western sanctions and falling oil prices have changed the political climate in the country, and many are wondering if Moscow’s “experiment” is about to end. | Russia’s capital has begun a “liveable city” transformation – pedestrianisation, new parks, cycle lanes. But as Shaun Walker writes, western sanctions and falling oil prices have changed the political climate in the country, and many are wondering if Moscow’s “experiment” is about to end. |
| Among the Muscovites Shaun spoke to was Alexei Navalny, the charismatic opposition leader who ran for mayor and who has his own strong ideas on the “Moscow Experiment”: | Among the Muscovites Shaun spoke to was Alexei Navalny, the charismatic opposition leader who ran for mayor and who has his own strong ideas on the “Moscow Experiment”: |
| Of course you can’t deny the improvements, they are there. But basically, what has happened is there was a huge gap in quality of life between Moscow and most normal western cities, and we’ve closed that gap slightly. I don’t think there’s any correlation between bicycle lanes and political activity. If you think falsifying elections is bad, no amount of bicycles are going to help you.” Alexei Navalny | Of course you can’t deny the improvements, they are there. But basically, what has happened is there was a huge gap in quality of life between Moscow and most normal western cities, and we’ve closed that gap slightly. I don’t think there’s any correlation between bicycle lanes and political activity. If you think falsifying elections is bad, no amount of bicycles are going to help you.” Alexei Navalny |
| Read the whole piece. | Read the whole piece. |
| Are you a Muscovite? How has life in Moscow really changed for you? And how do you feel about the future: is your city changing for better or worse? Share your thoughts with GuardianWitness or tweet us any time this week using #guardianmoscow | Are you a Muscovite? How has life in Moscow really changed for you? And how do you feel about the future: is your city changing for better or worse? Share your thoughts with GuardianWitness or tweet us any time this week using #guardianmoscow |
| We’ll also be out on the streets of Moscow today talking to people. Here is architect Vladimir Dudin, in the park with his daughter, who had this to say about what it’s like trying to raise a family in Moscow: | We’ll also be out on the streets of Moscow today talking to people. Here is architect Vladimir Dudin, in the park with his daughter, who had this to say about what it’s like trying to raise a family in Moscow: |
| Chris Michael | Chris Michael |
| What’s that sound? | What’s that sound? |
| Yes, it’s the great roar of the Russian capital ... the 10-lane symphony that is Moscow traffic. And it’s a fitting backdrop to day one of our weeklong exploration of all things Muscovite. | Yes, it’s the great roar of the Russian capital ... the 10-lane symphony that is Moscow traffic. And it’s a fitting backdrop to day one of our weeklong exploration of all things Muscovite. |
| With relations between Russia and the west growing tenser, we’re spending a week in the Russian capital, exploring the realities of life in this remarkable city. From cycling to sanctions, media to gentrification, the Cities desk and New East network have joined forces with the Guardian’s international newsdesk to look beyond the headlines (and the inevitable hipsters) and ask Muscovites what they really think. | With relations between Russia and the west growing tenser, we’re spending a week in the Russian capital, exploring the realities of life in this remarkable city. From cycling to sanctions, media to gentrification, the Cities desk and New East network have joined forces with the Guardian’s international newsdesk to look beyond the headlines (and the inevitable hipsters) and ask Muscovites what they really think. |
| We’ll be using video, live debates and social media – in both English and Russian – in an effort to seek a wider perspective and deeper understanding of modern life in Moscow. The key to this whole project will be hearing from you: you can tweet using the hashtag #guardianmoscow and of course leave comments under our articles. To comment in Russian, email moscow.week@theguardian.com. | We’ll be using video, live debates and social media – in both English and Russian – in an effort to seek a wider perspective and deeper understanding of modern life in Moscow. The key to this whole project will be hearing from you: you can tweet using the hashtag #guardianmoscow and of course leave comments under our articles. To comment in Russian, email moscow.week@theguardian.com. |
| We kick off with a special report. The Guardian’s Moscow correspondent, Shaun Walker, is asking whether the “Moscow Experiment” – the project to open up the waterfront, encourage cycling and green space, and generally liven up the city – is about to come to a crashing halt. | We kick off with a special report. The Guardian’s Moscow correspondent, Shaun Walker, is asking whether the “Moscow Experiment” – the project to open up the waterfront, encourage cycling and green space, and generally liven up the city – is about to come to a crashing halt. |
| Then at 12pm noon Moscow time (10am in the UK), Shaun will host a live debate at the Strelka Institute in the heart of Moscow - which is also doubling as Guardian Moscow HQ - asking the very same question: Is the Moscow Experiment over? | Then at 12pm noon Moscow time (10am in the UK), Shaun will host a live debate at the Strelka Institute in the heart of Moscow - which is also doubling as Guardian Moscow HQ - asking the very same question: Is the Moscow Experiment over? |
| pic.twitter.com/6LhW5PoY2U | pic.twitter.com/6LhW5PoY2U |
| Also today: Alec Luhn’s exploration of why Moscow’s migrants are fleeing the capital, our insider’s cultural guide to Moscow, and the piece everyone in Moscow is already talking about even though we haven’t launched it yet ... who made the cut of our 30 Under 30 list of Moscow’s young movers and shakers? | Also today: Alec Luhn’s exploration of why Moscow’s migrants are fleeing the capital, our insider’s cultural guide to Moscow, and the piece everyone in Moscow is already talking about even though we haven’t launched it yet ... who made the cut of our 30 Under 30 list of Moscow’s young movers and shakers? |
| Our crack Guardian Moscow squad - Judith Soal, Maeve Shearlaw, Mark Rice-Oxley and myself - will be out taking the pulse of the capital. We’ve already doorstepped Roman Abramovich, so things are off to a promising beginning. | Our crack Guardian Moscow squad - Judith Soal, Maeve Shearlaw, Mark Rice-Oxley and myself - will be out taking the pulse of the capital. We’ve already doorstepped Roman Abramovich, so things are off to a promising beginning. |
| Bumping into Roman Abramovich at Strelka, Moscow. Hard for an Arsenal fan... pic.twitter.com/pZIZa5l5rv | Bumping into Roman Abramovich at Strelka, Moscow. Hard for an Arsenal fan... pic.twitter.com/pZIZa5l5rv |
| He wished us well before security intervened. | He wished us well before security intervened. |
| In the meantime, however, take a hard look at yourself and ask: how much do you REALLY know about the Russian capital? Take our quiz and tell us how you did. Best result gets a non-monetary prize that is almost certain to be disappointing. What’s that hashtag again? That’s right it’s #guardianmoscow | In the meantime, however, take a hard look at yourself and ask: how much do you REALLY know about the Russian capital? Take our quiz and tell us how you did. Best result gets a non-monetary prize that is almost certain to be disappointing. What’s that hashtag again? That’s right it’s #guardianmoscow |
| Thanks for joining us and stay tuned for lots more: we’re live from Moscow all day. | Thanks for joining us and stay tuned for lots more: we’re live from Moscow all day. |