Festive season in Moscow includes conflict symbols

STORY: New Year's Day is Russia's main seasonal holiday, while Orthodox believers also celebrate Christmas on Jan. 7.

Outside the gates of Moscow's Gorky Park, the three Latin letters Z, V and O - frontline military symbols now used to promote the conflict in Ukraine - loom on plinths.

Inside the park, there's a pavilion that contains a studio where people can record New Year and Christmas video messages for troops.

Just off Moscow's busy Tverskaya thoroughfare, children supervised by adults were decorating cardboard boxes with glitter, baubles and images of Christmas trees to send messages and letters to troops.

On Red Square, a pavilion was set up for people to donate gifts and humanitarian aid to troops. Upbeat Soviet-era music played outside, while an elderly lady inside wrote a message of support.

Russia says it is waging a "special military operation" in Ukraine to rid it of nationalists and protect Russian-speaking communities. Ukraine and the West describe the Kremlin's actions as an unprovoked war of aggression.

*This content was produced in Russia where the law restricts coverage of Russian military operations in Ukraine.