It's New Year (nearly) as usual in wartime Moscow

A cashier works at a Metro Cash and Carry hypermarket in Moscow, Russia December 22, 2023. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov

MOSCOW (Reuters) - There will be no fireworks in Moscow again this year on Russia's biggest family holiday, but in almost every other way, the capital is as bright and bustling as at any New Year before the war in Ukraine.

Last year, the fallout of what Russia calls its "special military operation", which had begun 10 months earlier, and a military call-up dented Muscovites' appetite for entertainment. This year, only soaring prices are dampening the celebrations.