But like others there, Rozhkov said he could not see what could motivate Russia to launch an attack on Ukraine today – despite Vladimir Putin’s public ultimatums to the west and the tanks, missiles and other weapons continuing to make their way to the Ukrainian border.

“When Russia has gone to war, it’s gone to war for a reason,” he said. “And there is no reason for this bloodshed, there’s nothing worth it in today’s world. What would [people] be fighting for? … And how can you fight a war without people?”

Despite warnings from the US that an attack could be imminent, one would have been hard pressed walking around Moscow to guess that something extraordinary was afoot.

“Leaders need to talk tough, this is just hysteria,” said Konstantin Danilin, 36, who had brought his two daughters to go tubing at Park Patriot, an amusement park just outside Moscow opened by the Russian military. “Putin is aggressive: he takes risks, it’s possible he makes mistakes. But this is all just a negotiation.”