IA vast statue of Mother Russia towers over the football stadium in Volgograd where England kick off their World Cup campaign on 18 June.
Sword raised in a pose of power and defiance, the figure is a monument to the brutal Battle of Stalingrad, as the city was then called. It is also a reminder of a time when Russia and Britain were allies.
But as Volgograd prepares to host crowds of England fans, that World War Two alliance is distant history.
The political hostility that exists now appears to have dampened appetite for Russia's World Cup.
There were clear signs of the new reality as city residents made their annual pilgrimage up to Volgograd's iconic war memorial to mark the anniversary of the Soviet victory over the Nazis.
One man climbing the long flight of steps wore a T-shirt depicting Mother Russia slicing the head off the US Statue of Liberty. "Welcome to Stalingrad," the slogan read.
"I'm wearing this because the West is Russia's enemy. They want to kill us all," explained Ivan, a former history teacher. "I see that they hate us, and they have done for hundreds of years."
There is now a widespread view among Russians like Ivan that the West is intent on diminishing their country's influence
Such hostile talk is increasingly common, fed from the top by both politicians and the state-run media machine. Both now portray the West as intent on "containing" Russia as Vladimir Putin oversees the country's "rightful" return as a global power.
The same message came from spectators at last month's Victory Day parade of soldiers and tanks through central Volgograd. "England was never our ally," a pensioner in military uniform snorted. "No-one wants a strong and powerful Russia."
Relations were far warmer in 2010 when Russia won the right to host the World Cup.
Then came the 2014 annexation of Crimea, the conflict in eastern Ukraine, Russia's military campaign in Syria and, most recently, the poisoning of former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter using a military nerve agent
