Moscow Mayor Serhiy Sobyanin on Friday, based on the results of consultations with the population and taking into account their mood in the conditions of the war in Ukraine, decided to cancel large outdoor concerts and fireworks during the New Year holidays.

Mayor Serhii Sobyanin emphasized that this was the decision of Muscovites during a meeting attended by almost 300,000 people, and the majority agreed that holidays should be celebrated, but celebrations should be limited, EFE agency reported on Friday, quoted by Agerpres .

29% were in favor of the traditional format of the holidays, and 52% were in favor of rejecting mass actions, the mayor of the Russian capital said. However, he added, there will be no shortage of traditional lights and decorations during the winter holidays.

Convening a consultation on the city hall’s website, Serhiy Sobyanin asked from the very beginning to preserve the usual Christmas and New Year holidays, claiming that there is nothing worse than a state when “people fall into depression and forget their traditions”, and this is exactly “what the enemy is looking for” “.

The mayor of Moscow reminded that even in 1942, after the German invasion, Russia did not cancel festive celebrations, which were then held in trenches, anti-aircraft shelters, factories, theaters or parks.

On Moscow Day (Photo: Oleksandr Zemlyanichenko / AP – The Associated Press / Profimedia)

The income received from the events that will take place in Moscow during the holidays will be directed to the benefit of military personnel and workers of the military industry, Sobyanin said. “Humanitarian aid will be collected in many parks and festivals. And children will be able to send greeting cards to the military and residents of the new Ukrainian regions annexed by Russia with the help of the courier Santa Claus, adds the mayor of the Russian capital.

The second city of Russia, St. Petersburg, has already refused to organize festivities and street lights for these holidays. The southern Krasnodar region also canceled celebrations and fireworks, and the far-eastern Russian city of Magadan suspended its traditional ice sculpture festival.

The head of the Russian State Duma, Vyacheslav Volodin, conducted a similar survey of the mayor of Moscow in Telegram in early November.

According to the results announced by him, 24% of the participants voted for the complete cancellation of the celebrations, 10% – for their holding, as in all years, and 65% – for limiting the festivities to only concerts for children.

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