Ola Cichowlas

Ola Cichowlas is a British-Polish freelance journalist. She covers Russian regional politics and the arts in provincial Russia.

The future’s bright – the future’s Lidl

As Russia and the EU fight it out for Ukraine, Ola Cichowlas reports on a more positive initiative on another border, where Russians from Kaliningrad can travel to Gdansk in Poland to sample the bright lights (and cheap sausage)

By Ola Cichowlas

/ 7 Jan 2014

Chemfest in Russia’s ‘chemical capital’

Russia’s industrial cities are more than a blot on the landscape. They are the source of appalling chemical pollution, a problem that neither the authorities nor the oligarch owners seem to have any interest in addressing. But people still have to live there.

By Ola Cichowlas

/ 28 Nov 2013

The Zone

The northern territory of the Perm region is known as 'the Zone' – a remote region of prison camps and correctional facilities. Ola Cichowlas came to know it quite well….

By Ola Cichowlas

/ 9 Nov 2013