With local elections planned in more than half of Russia's regions on September 10, the Kremlin is putting up a front of normality across the country despite combat raging in Ukraine. However, the conflict is hard to ignore in the city of Rostov-on-Don, which is close to the Ukrainian border and acts as a logistics hub for the Russian army. The city was briefly seized by Wagner mercenaries in June as part of their aborted mutiny, and two Ukrainian drones were shot down over Rostov's historic centre days before the polls. "People are very tense in wartime, but after the explosion it is very difficult," says one resident. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES