This weekend, as Kyiv fought and Kyiv burned and Kyiv mourned, London got busy washing away blood with a festival of laundering.
On Saturday, Saudi Arabia, in the shape of their vassal football state, Newcastle United, came to the west of the city to play Brentford in a Premier League match. That was just the prelude to the real fun.
On Sunday , Chelsea, the plaything of Roman Abramovich, the Russian oligarch and crony of the president, Vladimir Putin, take part in the first showpiece of the season, the Carabao Cup final, against Liverpool at Wembley.