August 2nd is Paratroopers’ Day in Russia so when my wife and I were near Red Square this evening we found ourselves in the middle of a mixture of celebrating – and very drunk – paratroopers and riot police. They celebrated by fighting rival paratrooper divisions while the riot police watched.

I was enjoying taking a few photos until a young fellow got into his car, emerged with a glock and started shooting. The riot police sprang into action and chased him off, leaving his targets free to trash the car, a task they undertook with relish.

I have a very nice photo of the car trashing.

And here it is. The striped shirts belong to the paratroopers; the other two are riot police who watched the car mayhem with interest but no interference.