About Elena
Elena Strelnikova is a journalist based in Orenburg (Southern Russia)
Articles by Elena
This week's editor
Phoebe Braithwaite is openDemocracy’s submissions editor.
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Gossamer
or spider web shawls have been knitted in Orenburg for
generations. The tradition nearly disappeared, but folk crafts are in the
ascendant again — there is money to be made from them, after all, says Elena
Strelnikova
Regional journalist Elena Strelnikova takes a wry look at some of the events of the departing year. 
Holidays by the sea in Turkey or Egypt are beginning to lose their appeal to ordinary Russians, and they’re no longer that cheap either. This summer, Elena Strelnikova joined many of her compatriots in looking nearer to home for rest and relaxation.
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It’s an age-old adage that things always look greener on the other side of the fence and this is particularly true of married women looking at single women’s life and vice versa. Elena Strelnikova gives a wry account of the problems encountered by single women in the Orenburg Region, where she lives
Life for ex-prisoners is not easy in any country in the world, but there are so few opportunities in provincial Russia that it is hardly surprising a high percentage of the prison population in the Orenburg region are habitual re-offenders, says Elena Strelnikova
In any country farming is a hard life, but in Russia the mass exodus to the cities of people of working age has had catastrophic results. Local authority programmes go someway to reversing the flow, but not enough. For many town dwellers the country is only for holidays, says Elena Strelnikova
The degree of press freedom in Russia has fluctuated violently over the 20 years since the fall of communism. The situation in the Orenburg region, as everywhere, is a balancing act between principles and funding. And it’s always more difficult to rebuild what has been lost, laments Elena Strelnikova.
Bordering Kazakhstan, Orenburg is a first destination for migrant workers from post-Soviet Central Asia. In her latest letter from the Russian Provinces, Elena Strelnikova considers the pluses and minuses of the visitors and how they integrate — or not — into the local societyElena Strelnikova
I'm almost 90 years of age! But, my god, don't I look well!? The wonders of modern medicine! How marvellous there's no more heart disease, cancer, and HIV. And how beautiful, happy everyone is... If you'd have said this to someone living in Russia forty years ago — how Russians would be full of serenity and love — you'd have written them off as crazy. Looking forward to my next forty years!
The Cossacks have played an important part at various times in Russian history. Now their ranks are diluted by intermarriage and the admission of non-Cossacks. Elena Strelnikova ponders the attempts to keep Cossack traditions alive in Orenburg, South Russia.
External factors like the Internet, post-Soviet economic upheaval and the availability of exotic fruit have given young Russians a different system of values and approach to life. Mother of three Elena Strelnikova gives a wry overview of parenting in provincial Russia.
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