The truth about Putin’s Moscow, revealed by a Romanian vlogger from Russia. “I’m telling you after 20 years of living here” VIDEO

Moscow is a pearl of Russia, at least at first glance, but with a lot of flaws. It is said by a Romanian vlogger who has lived there for 20 years and analyzes this metropolis.

Ilie Rădeanu and his wife, Olesa, together with their daughters, Emilia and Sabrina, are the “Planeta Rădeanu” team on YouTube, vlogging enthusiasts. The family has been living in Russia for several years, right in Moscow, an opportunity for the vlogger to analyze including the flaws of the metropolis with 13 million inhabitants.

“Even we came to Moscow almost 20 years ago, from a small village in Moldova, in search of a livelihood and a better life, and without a doubt at that time it was the best decision. And today I want to tell you about the minuses of this megapolis that we have faced over time and we still face today in our everyday life. Especially since many times we were even accused of promoting the city of Moscow too much. So, today, dear friends, we will talk about Moscow”says Ilie, in the beginning.

From the outset, he draws attention to the fact that the city is not entirely one of luxury, as some believe, and as it has generally been promoted.

“And somehow if it seems to you that the city of Moscow is all Kremlin, all lounge bars, cafes, restaurants, clubs, beauties, I have to spoil your great impression of the city of Moscow and tell you that only 20% of this wonderful and big city are the beauties behind me and where they surround me from here in the center of Moscow, the rest 80% is about the whole space of Moscow. The whole space, i.e. also the residential districts“, he adds.

“You’re only dealing with eye balm”

The Romanian admits that Moscow, a city he otherwise likes and where he has lived for two decades, has a lot of flaws. First of all, it’s an expensive city.

“Yes, indeed, the city of Moscow is one of the cleanest, most beautiful, without a doubt, in terms of cleanliness and beauty, the city is really beautiful. But most of the time, mere mortal, even me, you only deal with an eye balm. Because everywhere you turn, everything is beautiful and yet everything is expensive. Everything is expensive and most of the time you are only left with the feast of the eyes“, he says.

The climate is also not exactly friendly, a known fact. Besides, the dreaded Russian winter and the color gray are at home here.

“And already moving from the center to the more residential, more neighborhood areas, here we meet the other 80 percent, that is, without lounge bars, without party life, without all kinds of theaters. In a word, the everyday Muscovite newspaper is this. What I don’t like about Moscow is that out of the 365 days of the year, only about 100 are sunny days. Pretty much the whole year is what it is. Because already for so many years since we live in Moscow, I have already qualified myself in making the difference between grays. It’s gray like this, gray like that, all shades of gray of Moscow. Because I know what I’m talking aboutc”, completes the vlogger, emphasizing that the Muscovite gray color is a special one.

“Killing” distance

Enormous distances are another impediment. Thus, people lose important hours traversing the city.

“And another thing that makes you dislike Moscow is the distance. I think the distance is one of the main points that make you dislike Moscow. Because a lot of people from Moscow live somewhere outside of Moscow (…) A lot of people wake up in the morning with the night in their heads, I have a lot of acquaintances, even from my place of work. people who wake up at 6.00 to get to Moscow at 9.00. You see, the distance here is killer“, he explains.

For commuters who live even 100 kilometers from Moscow it is even worse: “And again, coming back to transport, to the car, if you are a personal car enthusiast, I can tell you that in Moscow having a car and driving around the city is a luxury. Not that you don’t have and can’t afford to get a car, but luxury in the sense that you don’t have time. Especially considering the fact that you are a simple employee and you depend on the employer and you depend on the exact time. You have to be at work on time. Then the car is not yours and you will have to keep it in the parking lot. If you are in the center, parking is very expensive. 450 upwards, per hour. Timed out, fine. The car, then, in Moscow is only good for those who are alde the boss or alde the son of the boss.”

A solution would be, in theory, the subway. And yet, it doesn’t escape the crowd here either. Just like in the Bucharest metro, it is also very crowded here.

“Without a doubt, the Moscow metro is considered one of the most beautiful metros in the world, if not the most beautiful metro in the world. And if we have transport traffic jams above, during rush hour, that is, now it’s 5:00 p.m., during rush hour here you can still encounter avalanches, whole world traffic jams, of people. Which I can somehow position as a minus of Moscow”he says.

A terrible climate and an unfriendly gray

The cold and the clouds are, in his opinion, the biggest minus. Basically, it’s winter and bad weather since October.

“And perhaps the most important minus for me is the fact that, being a person from the South, a person from Moldova, the fact that there are very few sunny days in Moscow, I clarified that, we all know that, but the most serious for me is that a very long period of the year is with short days and rather very long nights, i.e. from October to February, be ready to see the twilight. From 5:00 a.m. it looks like this and sometimes you no longer understand the morning, from 9:00 a.m. it appears, barely dawning and can stay like this until 4:00 a.m. in such a gray balance that you no longer understand what time it is 9:00 or that it’s 3:00. Just like that, be ready for such scenarios as well”, says Elijah.

Last but not least, Moscow is always a city of construction sites. Eternal works, combined with crowding, give rise to traffic jams.

“Another minus of Moscow is that here in Moscow everything is under repair. Eternal repair of Moscow, eternal, eternal repair”, states Elijah.

And he also says that Moscow always seems like a city undergoing major repairs. As in other big cities, real estate is very expensive and mortgages are also expensive.

“And one more minus for those who somehow have the hope and desire to buy a property in Moscow. In Moscow, no one has yet canceled the exorbitant prices for real estate, apartments, houses and everything related to real estate. Prices in Moscow are outrageously high. If we are to look for the most popular real estate site in Moscow, from Russia, let’s not refer to Russia, let’s say from Moscow, we see a sudden increase, from the year 2021, of real estate”, the vlogger pointed out.

Prices have risen even more in recent years, says Ilie, who gives some examples of prices and also explains what rates local banks offer: “So yes, one such fat minus is that the prices are very stingy in Moscow. So if you’re a middle-class person or working paycheck to paycheck, you risk working your whole life. Only the mortgage can be useful to you, but again the mortgage is good, but personally I don’t really prefer this business of messing with the banks, of being someone’s debtor. I have money, I take it. I don’t have money, I’m alive.”

A city only for those with money

The conclusion is simple. Moscow is a city where only those with generous incomes live well, and the middle class is less and less numerous.

“And if we make a conclusion about all the minuses of Moscow, we realize that not taking into account the fact that there are so many minuses that you have seen, although they may be more, I told them that I personally collide with day by day and which somehow affects me in one way or another, but in addition to the minuses, let’s not forget that Moscow is not a city for everyone”, notes the vlogger.

In conclusion, he describes the city as living according to the law of the jungle.

“It is a more specific, special, dynamic city, more according to the law of the jungle, so to speak. Moscow never sleeps and Moscow never believes in tears. This is Moscow. So here you have to work. You have to work to become something, you have to work. And in general, Moscow is a city with prospects, with very big prospects, starting from the political, engineering, artistic side, and I know more there. In Moscow it is very easy. If you’re talented, you can easily move up the ladder. Not dwelling on the minuses that are. The cons, as a rule, are more for the middle class or the lower class,”
concludes vlogger Ilie Rădeanu.