‘This is just hysteria’: Russians unmoved by threat of Ukraine conflict

As Russia approaches war, in Moscow it feels as if the public has barely taken note

Choral music wafted through the nave of the Cathedral of the Russian Armed Forces as Alexei Rozhkov, a visiting priest, considered the question: was Russia standing on the precipice of a new great conflict in Ukraine?

There won't be a war - there can't," he said quickly, glancing up at the skylights of stained glass depicting Soviet medals and religious symbols on the ceiling.