The applause for Putin is sparse.
Even if you take the trouble to watch the whole show that Russia's leader put on on May 9, 2022, "Victory Day" on Red Square.
There is a lot of shiny military equipment, orchestrated cheers from hundreds of soldiers and people waving in the stands.
But voluntary applause from the guests is rarely heard.
The annual celebration commemorates the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany in 1945, when Josef Stalin staged the largest military parade Russia had ever seen.
And at the same time create a second founding myth alongside the anniversary of the October Revolution.
For years Vladimir Putin has been using this memory link for his own myths of upright Russia, which supposedly has to defend itself against the cunning West and save the world from ruin.
This usually works well because victory in WWII is so important to Russian history.
It is all the more surprising that hardly anyone is clapping.
“I can see that the pressure is enormous.
I also see that many Russians are speaking out and saying: Yes, I support Putin and yes, I support him in this military operation, but we don't have the effect at all of the annexation of the Ukrainian Black Sea peninsula of Crimea," says Christina lever , SPIEGEL correspondent in Moscow.
“We don't have 'Hooray!' not at all.
I also noticed that during the parade, when the tanks and weapons drove by.
There was a bit of cheering and clapping, that was it.«
The lack of enthusiasm, however, is no sign of hope, no indication that a new - albeit silent - opposition is emerging.
On the contrary.
Because Putin not only has his people under control, the Russian leadership is also taking increasingly tough action against all statements that the regime sees as criticism.
That drives independent journalists out of the country and frightened citizens out of public discourse.
"This also means that many Russians are afraid to talk to foreigners," says Christina lever. "Our work has become much more difficult as a result, because above all I have to be careful not to endanger the people I'm talking to."
How the longtime correspondent experienced the first 10 months of the war in Ukraine;
What developments in Russian society she observes and how difficult the work of journalists in Moscow has become - that's what she tells in this episode of the foreign podcast »Eight Billion«.
Listen to the current episode here: