New Russia, old Russia, Zygmunt Dzieciolowski

Thu, 05 Apr 2007 00:00:00 +0100

The temperature was -35 degrees centigrade when our decrepit TU-154 airliner landed in the middle of the night in western Siberia after a three-hour flight from Moscow. Khanty-Mansiysk airport is small, but very different from most post-Soviet terminals. It is modern, with signs in English, imported escalators, and brand new luggage conveyor-belts that deliver our bags promptly.

When we drove to the hotel on a brightly lit highway that was neatly cleared of snow, I felt slightly confused. Was this still Russia?

I remembered the homework that I did before arriving. Khanty-Mansiysk is not an average, run-down, post-Soviet Russian provincial city. Its name relates to two different indigenous tribes that once controlled the whole region. Now it is the administrative centre for the country's largest oil production area.

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New Russia, old Russia, Zygmunt Dzieciolowski