“You can’t come here, it’s closed,” a policeman blocks my path from one of the central streets to the monument to 1200 guardsmen. In front of the monument there are frames of metal detectors, each with a security officer on duty. There are no people in civilian clothes to be seen. This monument is the main memorial in Kaliningrad dedicated to the Great Patriotic War. But in the early morning of May 9, the passage to it was blocked. Monument to 1200 guardsmen.

The center of Moscow was completely blocked off on Victory Day a few hours before the start of the parade. It remained empty afterwards. Cafes and shops in the city center were closed on May 9.

St. Petersburg is cool, sunny and smells of fresh leaves. Residents of the residential area jog along the paths of the park or walk their dogs. There are no attributes of the Victory Day nearby. The only reminders of May 9 are the posters with congratulations that the St. Petersburg authorities installed on city lamps. Passengers on a bus heading to the center scroll through videos on blocked TikTok and Instagram along the way.

Any exam is always stressful. But the Unified State Exam (USE) and university entrance tests can be especially exciting. For schoolchildren, applicants and their parents, the Bereg cooperative of independent journalists has prepared instructions on how to prepare for exams.