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MOSCOW (Reuters) - Artem, a 22-year-old IT student in Moscow, has no regrets about shelling out more than $3,000 to see his favourite singer perform.
Around the world, fans of Taylor Swift - "Swifties" - are used to paying eye-popping prices to attend her concerts. But in Russia, there are other challenges in the quest to catch the superstar on tour.
Many Western performers have shunned Russia since 2022, when Russia sent its army into Ukraine, and outward travel to the West is fraught with complications.
But Russian Swifties, undeterred, embarked this summer on daunting odysseys - requiring visa appointments and clever flight combinations - to catch Swift on her sold-out Eras tour.
Elizaveta, a 20-year-old medical student, travelled with Artem to see Swift perform in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, in July.
"When you realise your dream has come true, well of course, (you feel) happiness, joy, and great thankfulness that everything worked out," she said.
Elizaveta and Artem have become close to other Swifties in Moscow who set up a fan group three years ago on the Russian social platform VKontakte.
Members say dozens attend the events they organise, from singalongs to bracelet-weaving workshops.
"We try to create some kind of cosy community, a place for people to meet," said Diana, 20, studying international relations.
But for those with the time and money, nothing beats seeing Swift live.
Artem and Elizaveta were determined to do that this summer. Elizaveta flew via a third country to Greece, for which she had secured a visa, then to Germany. Artem applied - six months ahead - for an Italian visa through an agency.
"I combined it with a general European trip; if I was there just purely for the concert ... it would have been cheaper," he says. "It turned out to be about 300,000 roubles ($3,200)."
The students have learned to adapt to the shifts in geopolitics.
Elizaveta's Apple Music account is registered in Turkey, while Artem and others use "workarounds" to listen to music on Spotify, which stopped streaming in Russia in 2022, after the full-scale war began. Apple paused product sales the same year.
And another fan, Dmitry, says Swifties around the world are just a click away.
"We are not really isolated from the rest of the world. (We) sit and watch TikTok, there are videos from foreigners and various discussions ...
"In principle, we have enough of everything. We have a very rich life."($1 = 92.7000 roubles)
(Reporting by Reuters in Moscow; Writing by Lucy Papachristou in London; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
