It’s a key refuge for Moscow’s wealthy, including the record producer Iosif Prigozhin. He insists he still loves President Vladimir V. Putin, no matter what you’ve heard.

© Katarina Premfors for The New York Times

The Russian leader is convinced that Moscow’s battlefield superiority is growing, and that Ukraine’s defenses may collapse in the coming months, according to people close to the Kremlin.

© David Guttenfelder/The New York Times