feature

Wednesday 27th October

Outcasts — inmates of the Black Eagle

In Stalin’s time there were nearly a hundred GULag camps in Ivdel. Today, the maximum security penal colony FBU-IK 56 survives in their place. Ekaterina Lushnikova travelled there to speak to the inmates — some of Russia’s most hardened criminals.

Tuesday 9th March

A Soldier's Tale 9: changed, but not utterly dehumanised

In his final letter home from the army our conscript Tolya “finds” a mobile phone, is pursued by a mad officer and wonders what kind of man the army’s made of him
Wednesday 24th February

A Soldier’s Tale 8: violence is no joke

Our conscript Tolya continues his study of violence in his airborne division of the Russian army
Tuesday 16th February

A Soldier’s Tale 7: Hopes dashed, business as usual!

Our conscript Tolya had such high hopes of his new posting in the elite regiment of the Russian airborne division, but the bullying goes on – if anything it’s got worse
Monday 8th February

A Soldier's Tale 6: new beginnings? Perhaps!

Conscript Tolya has been moved again, this time to a show regiment. Life suddenly looks rather better, but is it for real?
Monday 1st February

A Soldier’s Tale (5): a new life? Not b… likely!

Our conscript, Tolya, has left basic training. He hopes that things will be different, but his hopes are soon dashed when he meets his demobbers or dembels.
Wednesday 27th January

Winter Storm in Tatarstan

Jobs are scarce, pension rises mediocre and the local authorities have even taken away the Christmas trees. But despite the disquiet, appetite for protest in Tatarstan remains low, says Oleg Pavlov
Monday 18th January

A soldier’s tale (3): hospital, then what?

In this third excerpt from his letters, our Russian conscript ends up in hospital, with time to reflect on what lies ahead. He reflects on the bullying of the ‘bitches’ by the ‘grandpas’. So deeply entrenched is it, he reckons, that the army would fall apart without it.
Friday 15th January

A soldier’s tale (2): trying to blend in

In this second letter home our new conscript Tolya is starting to settle in to his two-year stint in Russia’s army. He tells us about the food and how he has learnt to avoid being beaten up.
Saturday 2nd January

A soldier’s tale (1)

A new Russian army recruit writes home about life at a parachute regiment basic training camp
Wednesday 9th December

Panicking about swine flu in Orenburg

The region is gripped by swine flu panic, much of it orchestrated, in the opinion of Elena Strelnikova. But every cloud has a silver lining – we’re all having unscheduled holidays
Thursday 27th August

Pskov: the Paratroopers’ Town, My Town

Pskov is an ancient Russian city not far from St Petersburg. Life there in the 21st century is not always easy, but it's home and I shall stay, says Anna Lipina
Friday 7th August

Life in Nizhny Novgorod doesn’t stand still

A baby boom suggests one of Russia's largest cities will not be cowed by economic crisis or fear of the future
Thursday 23rd July

Notes from Samara

Sergei Khazov reports from the Russian city of Samara at a time of economic collapse
Friday 10th July

Life in Kazan: defying the crisis

Summer pleasures on the Volga put the machinations of Russia's elites into perspective
Monday 6th July

Sakhalin, the Island of Cyclones and Abundant Snow

Beyond the caricature of the land where bears roam the streets and people travel by reindeer, LNG exports to Japan and economic crisis connect the charmed island to the world
Friday 26th June

Far East is still far away

Khabarovsk panorama

The Kremlin's choice to hold the latest EU-Russia summit in the far eastern city of Khabarovsk, right by China, may have been political - China wants Russia's gas too. But for the residents of Khabarovsk, the summit just meant traffic jams, and China's proximity just means industrial pollution

Friday 19th June

Summer in Saratov

Summer brings seasonal jobs to this Volga city, but underlying economic problems remain
Thursday 11th June

The Vyatlag Archipelago

Penal colonies still hold thousands of prisoners in the Kirov Oblast
Friday 5th June

Letters from Russia: Lipetsk ! You can get a life – in spite of everything!

An account of life in an industrial Russian town hard-hit by the economic slow-down
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