Russians in the invasion of Ukraine, three years of

Driving tver, the first thing I noticed is the soldiers.

Them somehow. On billboards, the sides of the buildings, at the bus stop. Pictures of words “Hero of Russia”. Posters of troops with Kalashnikov rifles encourage the public to “love, proudly and protect” Russia.

In other words, sign up and go and fight in Ukraine. Three years after its full invasion of its neighbor, Russia is looking for new recruits.

Despite all military imagery around the city, if you live in tver it is possible to persuade yourself that life is normal. The front line is hundreds of miles away.

“Just look around,” Mikhail, a local teacher, tells me. “Cars past and all shops are open. No shells fall from anywhere. We don’t surprise any of the revokes.”

For many Russians their invasion of Ukraine – how much the Kremlin is called a “special military operation” – something they know on their TV screens.

But for the people Anna wants, the more real.

“I know a lot of people who go to fight,” Anna says when we chat on the road.

“Some of them haven’t arrived at home. I hope (the war) ended as soon as possible.”

Donald Trump admits that he also wants. If Ukraine did not invite the negotiation table, the Trump administration has already entered direct speeches in Russian leadership.

What did the Russian Russians do and when he passed by Moscow?

“Trump is a dark horse,” Anna believes. “I’m not sure what to expect from him.”

Some of the people I talk to in tver repeat the official narrative they have been hearing for the last three years on State TV: that their country is not the aggressor, that Russia is defending Russians and liberating, not occupying , territory.

It does not mean that Russian society as a whole purchase of this alternative reality.

“In a society that always wants to be in Mainstream,” believe that Andrei Kolesnikov, a columnist for Newttime.ru and Novaya Gazeta. “If the mainstream is pro-war and the TV says we are at war in the west, the average citizen will think like this. You want to live peacefully, so you don’t involve a lot.

“Some researchers call it in the fetal position. If you have defended yourself from the undisputed world you justifies. ‘I can’t explain me to the words. I can to feed me with words. I can feed me with words. I can feed me with words. I can feed me with words. I can feed me at words. I can feed me in words. I can feed me in words. I can feed me in words. I can feed me with words. I can feed me in words. I can feed me with words. I can feed me with words. I can feed me in words. I can feed me word. I can feed I am in words. I ‘accept it.’ It is usually for all societies in this class: a small authority, a small totalitarian. “

Larissa and her husband Valery is ready to accept the official line.

“We’re all for a special military operation,” Larissa told me. “We’re ready to volunteer and go there!”

They have not yet, clearly.

“We hope (Russia) to win. We want Ukraine’s total capitulation.”

The police went down. They received a call informing them that “suspicious people with a camera” surrounded tver. Means to us.

They are easy but want to know why we are here. They take a statement from our driver. They checked our car. They asked me for an official explanation of our visit. I told them that we started the situation away from Moscow. We show our documents, which are in order.

As we talked to officers, a crew crew from the Russian State TV raised and began filming us.

“We just went,” says the reporter, “and we saw the police and acknowledged you. Can you tell me what’s going on?”

“I don’t know,” I replied. “Maybe you can tell us?”

“What are you filming?”

“We talk to people on the streets,” I said. “I believe we are allowed to do that.”

“Yes, in our country we have freedom to speak,” replied the reporter. “Maybe the police just want to help you? It’s not good to hear Western TV spreading fake news with free speech in Russia. You talk to people free.”

“Besides you,” I mean. “And police officers standing beside our car.”

The incident, which lasted about an hour, not real surprise. Three years of war is saddened to the west within Russia. The first signs of a thorn in the US-Russian relationship have not changed that.

From talking to tver people clear that Russians hope to end the fight bring about economic comfort.

“Prices are very high now for the things I need lips,” Yulia said as he stabs his baby to sleep with a pram. “Like the price of potatoes and onions. I really feel it.”

But the teacher Mikhail didn’t feel Donald Trump had any way for securing peace.

“Unfortunately, Trump didn’t get any plans,” Mikhail believed. “He’s an improviser. He didn’t know what he would do. My sympathies were with him. I was glad he was winning. And all I was in the dark.”