At the.

Huge Soviet era exhibition center in Moscow, there's a new show on that's just called Russia. The recruitment posters outside, and they're everywhere now, are the only reminder that this is a country at war. But that's not top of people's minds here. They've come to marvel at the motherland, or rather a futuristic fantasy version of it, each Russian region represented in dazzling LED. The Chechens Republic is one of the more popular stands, as militaristic as this show gets. Russia's war spoils are represented at four stands devoted to the Ukrainian regions, which Russia illegally annexed last year, as though the sandy beaches of Kerson's coastline are really going to pull in the crowds.

Half of Kerson region isn't even controlled by Russia.

Sometimes it controls it, sometimes it doesn't.

Do you think that that is a part of Russia now, Zimbay, Russia? Yes, of course.

Ukraine thinks it belongs to them.

They lost it themselves. We didn't want it in the beginning.

Vladimir Putin has yet to announce that he'll run in the elections coming up next March. But to make his majority even bigger than usual, the people must believe that Russia is great and their future is rosy. And as for the war, not to worry, it's all in hand.

This time last year in the run-up to Christmas, the message was low key. Let's think about our boys at the front. Let's keep the lights switched off. This year, that message has changed radically, and it is all about the magnificence of Russia, its wealth, its diversity, its new territories, even if they're not legally theirs. And my impression from the audience is that they're lapping this stuff up, wide-eyed and unquestioning at what is a barrage of messaging.

One man you can't miss in the new ultra-patriotic Russia is the pop star, Shaman. This song, Yarovsky, or I'm Russian in spite of the entire world, is a mega hit, a song for the Times. He often performs at the patriotic set piece concerts, which Putin attends, making Putinism cool for younger fans. We caught up with him at a patriotic play in Moscow, where he gave a brief star performance.

Your lyrics say, I'm Russian to spik the world. What does.

That even mean? It's very simple. To be Russian is to be in one place and do work giving your own.

Do you think of yourself as an artist or as doing propaganda?

Propaganda of what?

Patriotic propaganda for Putin.

But we don't get a reply from Chaman, just from his manager, who tells us he doesn't like what we're asking and that any questions should be cleared in advance.

By him. I mean, we're journalists. We can ask any question, right?

The play is about three Russian women on the front lines in Donbas, and it's filled with the emotions and the loss and the tragedy which both sides experience in war.

This is our reality. The only thing we can do is help from all our hearts, help with a pure heart, and firmly hope that soon, everything will be fine for every person in our big, great country.

Patriotic narratives are easier to latch on to than facing up to uncomfortable truths. That by invading Ukraine, Putin has set his country back. He has not brought it forward, and that the vision of the future that the Kremlin wants people to believe in may prove very different from the one they end up living. Diana Magne, Skye News, Moscow.