There’s a religious revival going on in Russia’s provinces. We travel to the town of Malmyzh, on the border of Kirov and Tatarstan, where Islam is experiencing a renaissance. RU
In the Russian city of Kirov, local authorities recently closed down a scheme to rescue unwanted newborn babies after just four days. We speak to the women and priest involved. на русском языке
In the Soviet Union, anyone without an official job could be charged with ‘parasitism’ and sentenced to internal exile. Now Belarus has revived the idea. на русском языке
There are currently 59,000 women in Russian penal establishments. For many of them prison is not so much a punishment, more a way of life. на русском языке
In the recent regional elections, Governor Nikita Belykh of Kirov Region – the man who used to call Aleksei Navalny his friend – was again running for office.
Over a century after Maksim Gorky’s famous play about homeless people – ‘The Lower Depths' – Ekaterina Loushnikova has been looking around her home city of Kirov to see if anything has changed.
Charismatic opposition leader Aleksey Navalny is on trial in the provincial capital of Kirov, 900km from Moscow. He is controversially accused of stealing timber worth 16 million roubles in 2009; if found guilty, he will spend his next few years behind bars. Local journalist Ekaterina Loushnikova
In another report from her recent visit to the Vyatlag prison complex in central Russia, Ekaterina Loushnilova is entertained by some of the camp's nurses. They share with her not only cranberry liqueur and pickled mushrooms, but also their vivid experiences of camp life.
