The contrast with Moscow, just a few hundred miles away, could hardly be more surreal. Fred Weir Gorky Park, whose entrance is seen here decorated for summer events on Sept. 8, has been a major venue for music, dancing, and other festive activities this year. To outsiders, the elaborate festivities taking place in the proximity of a terrible war seem wrong, and the carefree prosperity of downtown Moscow looks downright inexplicable. “People don’t just want to work, they want to have a comfortable living environment,” says Igor Korotchenko, a leading Russian military expert. What’s wrong with that?”As for the war, he says, “Yes, we have military activity in the border zones and along the line of contact.