Kyiv
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Silhouettes move through dark alleys covered with snow and ice, towards the muffled beat coming from a concrete building in central Kyiv. Inside, a dim red light blurs the faces of a dancing crowd, their sweaty bodies pressed up against one another.
The red glow evokes the low-light torches used by soldiers on the front lines with Russia, hundreds of miles to the east, as they seek to avoid detection by the enemy. But for ravers at Closer, one of Kyiv’s most renowned nightclubs, partying is a way to forget the war – even if just for one night.
“It’s what helps to keep us sane,” Valeriia Shablii, 32, who attended a Closer event held to mark Maslenytsia – a…

