A Russian homecoming

Life goes on: A woman walking past a billboard in St Petersburg featuring a Russian soldier awarded for action in Ukraine, with the message ‘‘Glory to the heroes of Russia’. The war has drawn closer to home but it involves a relatively small percentage of the Russian population. – AP

IT had been over a year since I last visited Russia. Back then, most people I met thought the prospects of a war with Ukraine were very remote, despite the massive build-up of troops on the border.

So I was curious to see how attitudes had changed since then. Equally important was to see for myself how the war had changed life in Russia.