In Moscow, Russia's capital, residents speak as the country celebrates Defender of the Fatherland Day, its national military holiday, a day before the one-year anniversary of the Russian offensive in Ukraine. Pensioner Lyubov tells AFP that the annual celebration "has its intended recepients" as "Russia has been fighting a lot, mostly defending itself." Security guard Lyubov Yudina says that in the year of conflict in Ukraine, Russia has been changing "for the better." She adds, however, that many of her friends' sons have been drafted, with "some of them dying." IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES