Journalist and filmmaker Andy Hayward arrived in Moscow to join the Russian bureau of VICE News in January 2022, barely a month before the Kremlin launched a full-scale invasion of neighbouring Ukraine. While he describes the timing as "somewhat accidental," he spent the following year reporting and filming inside Russia.
The story is the spine , and then we've got vignettes of different things happening in the Russian society," Hayward said. The film also includes the views of Russians who support the invasion of Ukraine. However, Hayward felt that the general belief in the war in Russia was "fragile", with individuals seemingly parroting the government line without true conviction. “It's like going through the motions.