"Real Chechnya" -- this is how Muscovites sum up their experiences during the recent holiday season. Fortunately, except for routine scuffles ignited by the excessive consumption of alcohol, there was no fighting in the Russian capital.
For some reason, Chechen jihad fighters chose not to intrude on the festive mood of Mother Russia. The metaphor actually suggested not the war in the Caucasus but the overwhelming number of impromptu fireworks that were exploded all over Moscow, adding light and color to the bleak wintertime cityscape but also filling the city with combat-style roaring, rattling and hissing and even jeopardizing Muscovites' physical well-being. Spectacular multicolored charges that normally exploded above the rooftops would occasionally shoot horizontally, severing limbs, piercing skulls and setting apartments on fire. Ignited mainly by intoxicated teenagers, the fireworks claimed 500 victims and kept medical emergency teams busy into the small hours of Jan. 1.
The emergency workers had good reason to curse not only the manufacturers of the deadly toys but also the authorities who chose not to impose any restrictions upon their use. For several hours, Moscow looked like a war zone -- or like a happy, carefree city, depending on your point of view.