0:00:07 > 0:00:09'We are going on an incredible journey.
0:00:13 > 0:00:14'Driving through the biggest
0:00:14 > 0:00:19'and one of the most bewildering countries on Earth.'
0:00:19 > 0:00:21This is so dangerous!
0:00:21 > 0:00:24We're in the middle of a motorway.
0:00:24 > 0:00:27'Taking two very different cars...'
0:00:27 > 0:00:29It's a tank!
0:00:29 > 0:00:32"CCCP". Built by Communists.
0:00:32 > 0:00:35'..on two very different road trips.'
0:00:35 > 0:00:37Which way? Does it matter?
0:00:38 > 0:00:44'Three weeks and thousands of miles on the roads of Russia.'
0:00:49 > 0:00:53'Almost 25 years after the collapse of the Soviet Union,
0:00:53 > 0:00:57'Russia is a country transforming before our eyes.'
0:00:57 > 0:01:02If ever there was an argument for Russia looking West, this is it.
0:01:03 > 0:01:07'A whole new generation of Russians desire Western cars.'
0:01:07 > 0:01:09SHE SCREAMS
0:01:09 > 0:01:12'And the lifestyle that goes with them.'
0:01:12 > 0:01:15It's about £100,000.
0:01:16 > 0:01:20'But this is also a country where the old Soviet brands
0:01:20 > 0:01:23'still hold great sway.'
0:01:23 > 0:01:25Lada. Lada. Lada.
0:01:25 > 0:01:30'And it's a country of old loyalties and proud traditions.'
0:01:30 > 0:01:32Am I ready to hunt in Russia?
0:01:33 > 0:01:37'Where Russia's Communist past still exerts a powerful pull.'
0:01:41 > 0:01:43They've got all the toys out today!
0:01:43 > 0:01:46'So can this former military superpower
0:01:46 > 0:01:49'ever become a new economic power?'
0:01:51 > 0:01:54'And if it could, what would that mean for Russia
0:01:54 > 0:01:57'and the rest of the world?'
0:02:16 > 0:02:19The city of Sochi on the Black Sea.
0:02:23 > 0:02:27For the likes of President Putin and Russia's wealthy elite,
0:02:27 > 0:02:29it is a favourite holiday haunt.
0:02:30 > 0:02:34For most of the world, though, Sochi is now famous as the location of the
0:02:34 > 0:02:372014 Winter Olympics.
0:02:37 > 0:02:39Put a bit more life in it, come on.
0:02:39 > 0:02:40Hey, I love it!
0:02:40 > 0:02:43The most expensive Olympic Games ever.
0:02:43 > 0:02:46Oh, yeah. Look. Now we're talking.
0:02:46 > 0:02:48They look like kind of, you know, spaceships just landing.
0:02:48 > 0:02:53'It is all designed to present Russia to the world as ultra-modern,
0:02:53 > 0:02:56'forward-thinking and very dynamic.'
0:02:56 > 0:02:58Look at this, Anita.
0:02:58 > 0:03:01- It's beautiful, isn't it? - It is. It's really good.
0:03:01 > 0:03:04I love the shape of these buildings.
0:03:04 > 0:03:06Move over Torvill and Dean.
0:03:06 > 0:03:08Oh, yeah.
0:03:08 > 0:03:09- I can't stop!- I'm not moving.
0:03:09 > 0:03:13'The Russian Government has spent £30 billion
0:03:13 > 0:03:14'on hosting the Games here.'
0:03:14 > 0:03:17Coming your way, Anita!
0:03:17 > 0:03:21'25 times what was spent in Vancouver at the last Winter Games.'
0:03:21 > 0:03:24No! Seriously, no! I'm going to fall!
0:03:24 > 0:03:29'And with an expected global TV audience of three billion people,
0:03:29 > 0:03:31'they don't want any slip-ups.'
0:03:31 > 0:03:32Oh!
0:03:37 > 0:03:39- Oh...- It's lovely. - I like it. It's nice, isn't it?
0:03:39 > 0:03:42- It's a really nice place. - This is not what you expect of Russia, is it?
0:03:42 > 0:03:46Not at all and it's not where you'd expect to have the Winter Olympics either.
0:03:46 > 0:03:48What, sub-tropical paradise? I know. It's extraordinary.
0:03:48 > 0:03:51You don't think of lemons, do you, growing down by the beach?
0:03:51 > 0:03:54And the world's eyes are going to be on Russia.
0:03:54 > 0:03:57- What a showcase.- It's amazing. - Hey. It's nice, isn't it?
0:03:57 > 0:03:59It's really nice.
0:03:59 > 0:04:04For us, Sochi is the starting point for two extraordinary journeys
0:04:04 > 0:04:06to discover the real Russia
0:04:06 > 0:04:10that lies far beyond this glamorous shop window.
0:04:15 > 0:04:18I'll be seeking out this new and very modern Russia.
0:04:20 > 0:04:23It'll take me more than 2,000 miles through Moscow,
0:04:23 > 0:04:27St Petersburg and finally, if I make it,
0:04:27 > 0:04:31to Murmansk high above the Arctic Circle.
0:04:31 > 0:04:34Meanwhile I'll be exploring old Russia to discover
0:04:34 > 0:04:39how its proud history and Communist past still shapes Russia today.
0:04:39 > 0:04:42It's a journey that will lead me through the agricultural
0:04:42 > 0:04:45and industrial heartlands into Asia
0:04:45 > 0:04:50and right to the edge of the vast Siberian wilderness.
0:04:50 > 0:04:51Is this it?
0:04:51 > 0:04:56Two very different journeys in two very different cars.
0:04:57 > 0:05:01I like it! What a monster.
0:05:01 > 0:05:03- Monster!- Isn't it?
0:05:03 > 0:05:06- Russian monster.- Russian monster. Yeah, exactly!
0:05:06 > 0:05:10I'll be driving a classic UAZ-469
0:05:10 > 0:05:15with the help of support driver Sasha and mechanic Yevgeny.
0:05:15 > 0:05:18Yevgeny is best mechanic in the Sochi.
0:05:18 > 0:05:21- Yevgeny's the best mechanic in Sochi? - In Sochi.- I'm glad to hear it.
0:05:21 > 0:05:24It looks like we might need it with a car this old.
0:05:24 > 0:05:27'It might have been made in the '70s, but that is nothing
0:05:27 > 0:05:30'for a Soviet vehicle tough enough for the Red Army.'
0:05:32 > 0:05:36- Quite an engine.- It's very powerful. Look at this.
0:05:36 > 0:05:38"CCCP."
0:05:38 > 0:05:42USSR. USSR! Built by Communists.
0:05:42 > 0:05:44That's what we need in Russia!
0:05:44 > 0:05:46Built by Communists! HE LAUGHS
0:05:48 > 0:05:52I tell you what, this is going to be a lot better than Anita's car,
0:05:52 > 0:05:54I reckon.
0:05:54 > 0:05:57'But I've been promised something rather special.'
0:06:00 > 0:06:04Oh, my good God. What is that?!
0:06:05 > 0:06:07Oh!
0:06:07 > 0:06:12'The Kombat T-98 is a car fit for an oligarch.
0:06:12 > 0:06:15'It's claimed to be one of the fastest
0:06:15 > 0:06:18'and most luxurious armoured vehicles in the world.'
0:06:18 > 0:06:20Hello there.
0:06:20 > 0:06:21Hello.
0:06:21 > 0:06:24- Sergei, pleased to meet you. - Nice to meet you.
0:06:24 > 0:06:26It is...it's a tank!
0:06:28 > 0:06:34'£100,000 buys a guarantee of safety from just about anything.'
0:06:34 > 0:06:36Oh, my God!
0:06:36 > 0:06:39I've never seen anything like it in my life!
0:06:39 > 0:06:42Have you seen the thickness of these windows?
0:06:42 > 0:06:44Who drives this car? Who owns this car?
0:06:44 > 0:06:48Rich guys, a guy who know very good protection.
0:06:48 > 0:06:51Right. OK. Rich guys who need protection.
0:06:51 > 0:06:54- Can you give me names?- I don't know names.- I bet he does.
0:06:54 > 0:06:56- It's top secret. Top secret. - Top secret.
0:06:57 > 0:07:00I mean, I'm excited. I'm also petrified.
0:07:02 > 0:07:05Our cars had better be up to it,
0:07:05 > 0:07:09because Russian roads are notoriously dangerous.
0:07:12 > 0:07:16So dangerous that many Russians have installed dashcams to record
0:07:16 > 0:07:19evidence of any trouble they might get caught up in.
0:07:24 > 0:07:29With three weeks and nearly 5,000 miles of potential mayhem,
0:07:29 > 0:07:31we set off tomorrow.
0:07:36 > 0:07:38Up, up, up and away!
0:07:39 > 0:07:42'Right now, though, with an afternoon to spare,
0:07:42 > 0:07:47'there's a chance to explore Sochi's brand-new Olympic ski resort.'
0:07:47 > 0:07:52- This is impressive.- That is awesome. Everywhere you go they're building something, aren't they?
0:07:52 > 0:07:56'The whole thing has been built from scratch to provide ski slopes,
0:07:56 > 0:07:58'a ski jump and what's meant to be
0:07:58 > 0:08:01'one of the safest bobsleigh runs in the world.'
0:08:03 > 0:08:08'But all this construction has led to allegations of corruption.
0:08:08 > 0:08:12'Stories of environmental damage and criticisms
0:08:12 > 0:08:15'that Sochi has been turned into a giant building site
0:08:15 > 0:08:19'with scant regard for local residents.'
0:08:19 > 0:08:22Look at this! Tatyana, it's terrible!
0:08:22 > 0:08:24So what actually happened?
0:08:29 > 0:08:32So the house used to be here? And it's shifted all that way?
0:08:33 > 0:08:37Tatyana Skiba and her neighbours believe that illegal dumping
0:08:37 > 0:08:40from Olympic construction sites has caused a landslide
0:08:40 > 0:08:43that has devastated their homes.
0:08:48 > 0:08:50These big chunks of concrete?
0:08:50 > 0:08:54'Residents believe the authorities have ignored their plight.
0:08:54 > 0:08:58'The government, though, has said there is no evidence of corruption.'
0:09:05 > 0:09:08So you're saying the Olympics has ruined your life?
0:09:12 > 0:09:15Justin and I were already getting a taste of this country's
0:09:15 > 0:09:21very stark contrasts and here in Sochi, amid the brand spanking new,
0:09:21 > 0:09:23old Russia is never far away.
0:09:25 > 0:09:28'Just a stone's throw from the shiny Olympic stadiums,
0:09:28 > 0:09:33'there is a bizarre relic of one of Russia's most notorious figures.'
0:09:35 > 0:09:38Wow, here we are. Stalin's villa.
0:09:39 > 0:09:43The holiday home of one of the biggest mass murderers in history.
0:09:43 > 0:09:44Whoo.
0:09:46 > 0:09:48It's a bit creepy.
0:09:48 > 0:09:51'Joseph Stalin led the Soviet Union from the mid 1920s
0:09:51 > 0:09:55'until his death in 1953.
0:09:55 > 0:09:57'He ruled with an iron grip,
0:09:57 > 0:10:02'transforming a backward nation into a military superpower.'
0:10:02 > 0:10:05'But under his rule millions died, many of them
0:10:05 > 0:10:08'executed as enemies of the state.'
0:10:10 > 0:10:14This is Stalin's office
0:10:14 > 0:10:16and there is Uncle Joe himself.
0:10:18 > 0:10:20He is such an important figure in Russian history
0:10:20 > 0:10:24and he still casts a huge shadow over the country.
0:10:24 > 0:10:27You know, this is the man who built the Soviet Union,
0:10:27 > 0:10:31really made it the empire that it became.
0:10:31 > 0:10:33But he is reckoned to have killed more people
0:10:33 > 0:10:36than anyone else on Earth, including Hitler.
0:10:36 > 0:10:38Millions were executed by him.
0:10:38 > 0:10:42Millions died in the gulags and then of course millions died
0:10:42 > 0:10:44when he tried to reorganise agriculture
0:10:44 > 0:10:45and there was a huge famine.
0:10:47 > 0:10:51'It appears that even in Olympic Sochi in 2014,
0:10:51 > 0:10:54'Russia cannot escape its past.'
0:10:58 > 0:11:02It's a bit naughty, but I'm going to try on Stalin's coat.
0:11:08 > 0:11:10Makes me feel like a great dictator.
0:11:31 > 0:11:34Departure day and I'm all set to go.
0:11:34 > 0:11:37My four tonnes of blinged-up bulletproof steel
0:11:37 > 0:11:41is ready to take on anything the Russian roads can throw at us.
0:11:42 > 0:11:45I'm not quite sure about Justin's, though!
0:11:45 > 0:11:47SHE LAUGHS
0:11:47 > 0:11:49Ridiculous. HE LAUGHS
0:11:53 > 0:11:55- Anita.- Justin.
0:11:55 > 0:11:57That vehicle is a disgrace.
0:11:57 > 0:11:59Who do you think you are, Batman or something?
0:11:59 > 0:12:01I'm in Russia now. I'm in Russia.
0:12:01 > 0:12:04I need to make an impression and what better than Kombat?
0:12:04 > 0:12:07- I think it's got bullet holes there. - Armour plated.
0:12:07 > 0:12:10- Maybe, but the bullets will have just ricocheted off.- Seriously?
0:12:10 > 0:12:12Seriously. It's armour plated.
0:12:13 > 0:12:15This car is not for good people to drive, is it?
0:12:15 > 0:12:17It's for badasses like me!
0:12:17 > 0:12:19So this is an UAZ.
0:12:19 > 0:12:21I like it. I have to say it's got character.
0:12:21 > 0:12:23Jump in. ENGINE REVS
0:12:23 > 0:12:25Oh, listen to that! Now rev that.
0:12:25 > 0:12:28'Suddenly me and my old communist UAZ
0:12:28 > 0:12:31'are feeling just a little inadequate.'
0:12:31 > 0:12:34- I like that petrol smell, though. - I know. There's something fresh...
0:12:34 > 0:12:36And what about all these wires that are hanging out here?
0:12:36 > 0:12:41- Yeah, you know, we'll just keep... - Bit of colour.- ..access in case we need it, you know.
0:12:41 > 0:12:44- Comrade.- Yeah. Good luck. Be safe.
0:12:44 > 0:12:46- I'll see you. Yeah, I will be. - Seriously.- Good luck.
0:12:46 > 0:12:47See ya. Bye-bye.
0:12:47 > 0:12:49- Dasvidaniya!- Dasvidaniya!
0:12:49 > 0:12:51Oh my...
0:12:51 > 0:12:52Oh!
0:13:02 > 0:13:05As I set off east to explore the traditional face of Russia,
0:13:05 > 0:13:10I'm heading from Sochi towards my very first destination -
0:13:10 > 0:13:13Stavropol and Russia's agricultural heartlands.
0:13:16 > 0:13:18It feels great to be on the road at last.
0:13:19 > 0:13:22It's a bit faster than I thought it was going to be.
0:13:22 > 0:13:24She's running really nicely.
0:13:24 > 0:13:26I mean, 37 years old,
0:13:26 > 0:13:29but it's still a, you know, reasonable car to drive.
0:13:29 > 0:13:31Here we go. Head out on the highway!
0:13:34 > 0:13:36'But there was a problem.'
0:13:36 > 0:13:37Jesus.
0:13:39 > 0:13:41Ah, shit.
0:13:43 > 0:13:45I don't believe it.
0:13:47 > 0:13:48This is so dangerous!
0:13:48 > 0:13:50We're in the middle of the motorway.
0:13:50 > 0:13:52Yevgeny! Yevgeny!
0:13:54 > 0:13:55It just lost power.
0:13:57 > 0:14:01I was going along and it started going dudum, dudum, dudum.
0:14:01 > 0:14:04We're, like, ten minutes out of Sochi, Yevgeny!
0:14:04 > 0:14:06What have we bought, man?!
0:14:09 > 0:14:11Yeah, that may be true!
0:14:11 > 0:14:14We're supposed to go like 3,000 kilometres, 2,000 miles.
0:14:21 > 0:14:22What is it?
0:14:29 > 0:14:30Well done, Yevgeny.
0:14:30 > 0:14:32'Thankfully a few minutes of tender loving care
0:14:32 > 0:14:34'from Sochi's top mechanic...'
0:14:34 > 0:14:36It feels good. In gear.
0:14:38 > 0:14:40'..and we were going again.'
0:14:48 > 0:14:51'While Justin was struggling just to get out of Sochi,
0:14:51 > 0:14:54'my luxury tank was eating up the miles.'
0:14:54 > 0:14:55Woo! I'm driving a tank!
0:14:57 > 0:15:00We're going to be good friends, me and the Kombat.
0:15:02 > 0:15:05Don't try and take me on, mate. I'll crush you.
0:15:09 > 0:15:15I was aiming to travel 400 miles to the port city of Taganrog.
0:15:17 > 0:15:22It was the first stop on my quest to discover a new capitalist Russia.
0:15:22 > 0:15:24A vibrant city of entrepreneurs.
0:15:27 > 0:15:29- Do you feel safe, Sergei? - Yes, yes, yes.
0:15:29 > 0:15:31- Yes.- I feel safe. - Good, good, good.
0:15:31 > 0:15:36But as well as eating up the miles, I was also discovering that
0:15:36 > 0:15:38my Kombat simply drinks fuel.
0:15:38 > 0:15:40Here we go.
0:15:42 > 0:15:43That's how many litres are going in.
0:15:45 > 0:15:46A lot.
0:15:46 > 0:15:47She's had a feed.
0:15:49 > 0:15:52But with one of the world's biggest oil reserves,
0:15:52 > 0:15:54petrol here is very cheap.
0:15:54 > 0:15:55There we go.
0:16:00 > 0:16:03The hours passed in oligarch-style luxury
0:16:03 > 0:16:06before we finally entered the outskirts of Taganrog.
0:16:07 > 0:16:10So this is Taganrog. This is an industrial city.
0:16:10 > 0:16:13Five rivers meet here in Taganrog.
0:16:13 > 0:16:18It's got a long history of trading, business
0:16:18 > 0:16:21and there are actually 10,000 entrepreneurs in this city right now
0:16:21 > 0:16:23and I'm off to meet one of them.
0:16:26 > 0:16:30Millionaire Konstantin Savenko is one of the new Russian capitalists.
0:16:32 > 0:16:36I am a businessman and I made myself.
0:16:36 > 0:16:39The most for me is to be happy.
0:16:40 > 0:16:45Seizing the opportunity of the end of Communism, Konstantin started
0:16:45 > 0:16:50his own business in 1993, and it's clear he's now reaping the rewards.
0:16:53 > 0:16:55And like rich people the world over,
0:16:55 > 0:16:59the car of choice? A luxury German brand.
0:16:59 > 0:17:02Konstantin, why do you drive a BMW and why not a Russian car?
0:17:04 > 0:17:07Because I...
0:17:07 > 0:17:09I have got enough money to.
0:17:10 > 0:17:15- So this is your bakery? - Yes. This is our small bakery.
0:17:16 > 0:17:20Konstantin's mini empire includes 16 supermarkets,
0:17:20 > 0:17:23as well as warehouses and factories.
0:17:23 > 0:17:26All built around making bread.
0:17:28 > 0:17:33Every day we do maybe 7,000 bread.
0:17:33 > 0:17:35- Loaves of bread?- Yes.
0:17:35 > 0:17:36- 7,000?- Yes.
0:17:36 > 0:17:38Thank you. Spasibo.
0:17:40 > 0:17:42- Do I look like a baker?- Nice.
0:17:42 > 0:17:44- Would you employ me? - Stay in Taganrog, please.
0:17:44 > 0:17:46- Stay in Taganrog?- Yes.
0:17:46 > 0:17:47Mm-hmm.
0:17:47 > 0:17:51This new Russia isn't only about the super rich oligarchs.
0:17:53 > 0:17:58It's also about more every day millionaires, like Konstantin.
0:17:58 > 0:18:00There we go. Look, I'm doing all right here.
0:18:00 > 0:18:03I think I've got another career. Is there not much competition?
0:18:03 > 0:18:06- Are there not big, big bread companies?- Yes, yes, yes.
0:18:06 > 0:18:10There are nearly 15 bakers in Taganrog.
0:18:10 > 0:18:13We must do the best bread.
0:18:13 > 0:18:16- Do you do the best bread? - I think so.
0:18:16 > 0:18:17This is the best bread.
0:18:18 > 0:18:22Businesses like this are evidence that in the 25 years
0:18:22 > 0:18:26after the fall of Communism Russia is transforming.
0:18:35 > 0:18:39Meanwhile, I was heading well into old Russia.
0:18:39 > 0:18:43300 miles to the east and deep inside the rich corn belt
0:18:43 > 0:18:45of Stavropol Krai.
0:18:45 > 0:18:49The countryside here seems completely timeless.
0:18:51 > 0:18:54So we've come into this great plain
0:18:54 > 0:18:56and they call this area the larder,
0:18:56 > 0:18:59the bread basket of Russia, and just look at it.
0:18:59 > 0:19:04These rich black fields stretching out to the blue horizon.
0:19:04 > 0:19:05Spectacular.
0:19:06 > 0:19:10Russia's countryside was the scene of the biggest social experiment
0:19:10 > 0:19:12of the Communist era.
0:19:12 > 0:19:15Millions of small private farms were taken over
0:19:15 > 0:19:18and combined into huge collectives
0:19:18 > 0:19:21under the single ownership of the state.
0:19:28 > 0:19:31When the Soviet Union collapsed, shares in the collective farms
0:19:31 > 0:19:33were given to the workers.
0:19:33 > 0:19:36Now what's been happening ever since is that corporate interests
0:19:36 > 0:19:40have been buying up those shares, creating vast private farms.
0:19:45 > 0:19:50These enormous fields have slid from the sole ownership of the state
0:19:50 > 0:19:53to the sole ownership of big business.
0:19:55 > 0:19:57- Spasibo!- Hey!
0:19:57 > 0:19:58MAN SPEAKS RUSSIAN
0:19:58 > 0:20:00Here we go.
0:20:01 > 0:20:03Whoa, what a monster.
0:20:09 > 0:20:11Ah, it's quite skilled. You have to line it up.
0:20:11 > 0:20:12Yeah.
0:20:12 > 0:20:16It's like a giant insect just devouring everything in its path.
0:20:18 > 0:20:21The scale is simply staggering.
0:20:21 > 0:20:26This one farm occupies 45,000 acres,
0:20:26 > 0:20:3070 square miles, hundreds of times bigger than the average farm
0:20:30 > 0:20:32in Britain.
0:20:34 > 0:20:36So at the moment it's harvest time
0:20:36 > 0:20:42and Pavel has 50 of these huge combine harvesters working every day.
0:20:42 > 0:20:4350 combine harvesters.
0:20:45 > 0:20:49A farm this size under Communism provided work for thousands
0:20:49 > 0:20:51of people.
0:20:51 > 0:20:54Today technology and corporate efficiencies
0:20:54 > 0:20:57mean it now employs just 300.
0:20:59 > 0:21:02Farm manager Pavel Petrovitch is a happy man.
0:21:06 > 0:21:08So how profitable is it now?
0:21:14 > 0:21:17But you employ fewer people and the profits now
0:21:17 > 0:21:19just go to a few owners of the farm,
0:21:19 > 0:21:21not to everybody who works on the farm.
0:21:38 > 0:21:41Profits are clearly good.
0:21:41 > 0:21:44But I can't help thinking that while the owners are doing well,
0:21:44 > 0:21:48the changes haven't been so great for ordinary workers.
0:21:50 > 0:21:54It just seems, you know, for the people in the Russian countryside,
0:21:54 > 0:21:57whoever's in power, if it's the tsars, the Communists
0:21:57 > 0:21:59and now capitalism,
0:21:59 > 0:22:02the little farmers, the little guy in Russia, gets screwed.
0:22:16 > 0:22:17Day two,
0:22:17 > 0:22:21and Justin and I are getting well into our two road trips.
0:22:21 > 0:22:23Jesus, he's undertaking.
0:22:23 > 0:22:25Whoa, whoa, did you see that?
0:22:27 > 0:22:29Gosh!
0:22:29 > 0:22:31You've got to keep your wits about you.
0:22:32 > 0:22:37Continuing my journey into new Russia, I'm heading 470 miles north
0:22:37 > 0:22:39from Taganrog towards Gubkin.
0:22:40 > 0:22:43An industrial town that sits on one of the most
0:22:43 > 0:22:46concentrated iron ore reserves in the world.
0:22:49 > 0:22:53And I appear to have arrived in the midst of some sort of celebration.
0:22:53 > 0:22:55There seems to be some sort of street party going on.
0:22:55 > 0:22:56It's only nine o'clock in the morning
0:22:56 > 0:22:59and they're already out waving flags.
0:23:04 > 0:23:07It turns out that this is Gubkin's day of the town...
0:23:07 > 0:23:09Sorry, sir.
0:23:09 > 0:23:11..and its 74th birthday.
0:23:14 > 0:23:18For Russian towns, days like these are chances for everyone
0:23:18 > 0:23:20to turn out and march around...
0:23:22 > 0:23:24..get married...
0:23:25 > 0:23:27..or simply just drink a lot.
0:23:27 > 0:23:31Oh, what is that? Giving me vodka. It's too early for me.
0:23:31 > 0:23:33HE SPEAKS RUSSIAN
0:23:33 > 0:23:35Moonshine.
0:23:35 > 0:23:38Phoar! Paint stripper.
0:23:38 > 0:23:41It is 11 o'clock in the morning and everybody's boozing.
0:23:44 > 0:23:48Gubkin's local businesses are also here.
0:23:48 > 0:23:52Most important of all, the local mine, Metalloinvest,
0:23:52 > 0:23:55which the whole town has come to rely on.
0:23:55 > 0:23:59All these people, all these blue and white and red balloons,
0:23:59 > 0:24:02they're marching for the company, for Metalloinvest.
0:24:02 > 0:24:04I'm trying to imagine if anyone would do that back home.
0:24:05 > 0:24:09Since I was in town, I thought it would be rude not to pay them
0:24:09 > 0:24:13a visit, especially as the deposit of iron ore here
0:24:13 > 0:24:19is so colossal that it even distorts the Earth's magnetic field.
0:24:19 > 0:24:24Unbelievable. I've never seen anything like it.
0:24:24 > 0:24:27This is Metalloinvest's mine.
0:24:27 > 0:24:30More than three miles wide, it has more iron ore reserves
0:24:30 > 0:24:32than anywhere else on the planet.
0:24:42 > 0:24:44Woo!
0:24:46 > 0:24:50That, just the biggest wheel I've ever seen in my life.
0:24:50 > 0:24:53From up the top, they seem tiny, they're just little Tonka trucks.
0:24:57 > 0:25:01Natural resources dominate Russian exports.
0:25:01 > 0:25:03Vast mineral deposits.
0:25:03 > 0:25:06The biggest reserve of natural gas on Earth.
0:25:06 > 0:25:10The second largest of coal and the top exporter of oil
0:25:10 > 0:25:12in the entire world.
0:25:14 > 0:25:19Every single one of those scoops weighs 20 tonnes.
0:25:19 > 0:25:23This is proper industrial heavy-duty machinery.
0:25:24 > 0:25:28In terms of steel, a fifth of all Russia's iron ore
0:25:28 > 0:25:30comes from right here.
0:25:30 > 0:25:32Come on, you've got to get in with me.
0:25:32 > 0:25:34I don't know what I'm doing.
0:25:34 > 0:25:37Right, which is the accelerator?
0:25:37 > 0:25:39No, don't touch that? Don't touch that, OK.
0:25:39 > 0:25:42That's the accelerator, that's the break.
0:25:42 > 0:25:44HE SPEAKS RUSSIAN
0:25:46 > 0:25:50This is great. I'm driving a 180-tonne truck
0:25:50 > 0:25:52and I'm getting lessons by someone in Russian.
0:25:52 > 0:25:55Get out of the way, is all I'm saying.
0:25:55 > 0:25:57- Are you ready?- OK.
0:25:57 > 0:25:59Here we go. Look at the size of this thing!
0:25:59 > 0:26:01Oh, my lord, where's my wing mirror?
0:26:03 > 0:26:05- Go, go, go, go. - Go, go, go, go.
0:26:05 > 0:26:07I'm going, I'm going.
0:26:07 > 0:26:09Turn it?
0:26:09 > 0:26:12Turn it? Leonard, you have to tell me what to do, mate.
0:26:12 > 0:26:14OK.
0:26:14 > 0:26:18Yahoo! I'm driving a flipping truck.
0:26:18 > 0:26:20Oh, my God, this is as much fun as you think it is.
0:26:23 > 0:26:28Today, Russia is heavily reliant on the export of its natural resources.
0:26:29 > 0:26:32And how does it end up? Like this.
0:26:33 > 0:26:36Iron briquettes. This is about 90% iron
0:26:36 > 0:26:39and this is how it gets shipped all around the world
0:26:39 > 0:26:42and it ends up as bridges, cars,
0:26:42 > 0:26:45bits of motorways, kettles, fridge freezers.
0:26:45 > 0:26:48In fact, there's almost definitely something in your house
0:26:48 > 0:26:50that started life here.
0:26:53 > 0:26:57The problem is, they probably weren't actually made in Russia.
0:26:57 > 0:27:0190% of Russian exports to the United States
0:27:01 > 0:27:06are minerals or other raw materials, and China is a fast-growing market.
0:27:08 > 0:27:11It seems to me there's a great opportunity here.
0:27:12 > 0:27:15If even a tiny fraction of those exports were refined
0:27:15 > 0:27:18and manufactured into products here in Russia,
0:27:18 > 0:27:22they'd have an economy that could be the envy of the world.
0:27:29 > 0:27:34Meanwhile I'm continuing my journey into old Russia.
0:27:34 > 0:27:39350 miles from Stavropol, I've reached the vast Volga River.
0:27:39 > 0:27:44Over 2,000 miles long, it leads to the great city of Volgograd.
0:27:46 > 0:27:49In places, the River Volga seems as powerful as the sea,
0:27:49 > 0:27:53and it's known to stir the hearts of all true-thinking Russians.
0:27:55 > 0:28:00Look at that, the Agronomi Volga, the mighty Volga River,
0:28:00 > 0:28:03the mother river of Russia.
0:28:03 > 0:28:06It's the largest river in Europe, not just in length,
0:28:06 > 0:28:10but also in terms of the sheer volume of water it carries,
0:28:10 > 0:28:13and it's got a powerful place in Russian culture,
0:28:13 > 0:28:16a crucial artery of the nation.
0:28:29 > 0:28:35The city of Volgograd stands at the heart of Russia's national identity
0:28:35 > 0:28:36and steely character.
0:28:38 > 0:28:43Formerly known as Stalingrad, this was the site of the bloodiest battle
0:28:43 > 0:28:44in human history.
0:28:45 > 0:28:50On a hill overlooking the city, a monument commemorates the victory
0:28:50 > 0:28:55of the Soviet Red Army over Nazi forces in 1943.
0:28:58 > 0:29:01Look at that. One of the biggest statues in the world, that is.
0:29:01 > 0:29:03It's called The Motherland Calls
0:29:03 > 0:29:06and is a call to battle for the people of Russia.
0:29:07 > 0:29:12What it seems to be saying is, "You don't mess with Russia."
0:29:28 > 0:29:32This is where the advance of Hitler's army was bought to a halt.
0:29:32 > 0:29:36Against all the odds, the city stood firm against the Nazis.
0:29:36 > 0:29:40In Britain we tend to remember our own battles,
0:29:40 > 0:29:42but the Russian victory here at Stalingrad
0:29:42 > 0:29:45turned the tide of the Second World War.
0:29:45 > 0:29:49The German retreat began here.
0:29:49 > 0:29:53Stalin ordered that his troops defend the city against the Nazi advance
0:29:53 > 0:29:56to the last drop of blood.
0:29:56 > 0:29:58Victory or death, he demanded.
0:30:00 > 0:30:02And the Soviet Army followed his orders.
0:30:06 > 0:30:10The human cost was unimaginable.
0:30:10 > 0:30:13One and a half million people died here.
0:30:21 > 0:30:24- Anatoly? - Anatoly.
0:30:24 > 0:30:25Zdravstvujte.
0:30:25 > 0:30:26And, Vladimir?
0:30:26 > 0:30:28- Vladimir. - Yeah.
0:30:36 > 0:30:39Anatoly Kozlov and Vladimir Torov
0:30:39 > 0:30:42both fought in the battle of Stalingrad.
0:30:56 > 0:31:00But it must have been terrifying fighting under those conditions.
0:31:09 > 0:31:12Having fought for the Red Army and lived through the Cold War,
0:31:12 > 0:31:17I wondered how life under Communism compared with the Russia of today.
0:31:35 > 0:31:40It seems Anatoly and Vladimir have a slight difference of opinion
0:31:40 > 0:31:43when it comes to life under the old Soviet regime.
0:32:14 > 0:32:18It isn't only Red Army veterans that differ in their views
0:32:18 > 0:32:20on Russia's Communist past.
0:32:23 > 0:32:28Today a new generation, proud of the city's history, is campaigning
0:32:28 > 0:32:31to change the city's name back to Stalingrad.
0:32:47 > 0:32:49- Stalingrad?- No.
0:32:49 > 0:32:51No. Volgograd.
0:32:51 > 0:32:55I was surprised how many people supported their cause,
0:32:55 > 0:32:58despite Stalin's notorious reputation.
0:32:59 > 0:33:03In the West, Stalin has a terrible reputation.
0:33:03 > 0:33:06I mean, do you really want a city that bears the name
0:33:06 > 0:33:07of a murderous tyrant?
0:33:30 > 0:33:31So this is interesting.
0:33:31 > 0:33:35He's not mentioning, obviously, the purges or the millions
0:33:35 > 0:33:38of people who died during the collectivisation of agriculture.
0:33:38 > 0:33:41What he's saying should be celebrated is Stalin's help
0:33:41 > 0:33:43winning the Second World War.
0:33:43 > 0:33:45He talks about the growth of the economy in that period.
0:33:45 > 0:33:48So a very different picture of the world that he's got.
0:33:48 > 0:33:51Fascinating. Anton, thank you very much.
0:33:51 > 0:33:52Ow!
0:34:02 > 0:34:0670 years ago, the Red Army gave everything to keep Germany
0:34:06 > 0:34:08out of Russia.
0:34:08 > 0:34:12But today there are places where Germans have been invited in
0:34:12 > 0:34:14with tax breaks.
0:34:15 > 0:34:19From Gubkin I've continued my journey to Kaluga.
0:34:19 > 0:34:22Once the heart of one of Russia's poorest regions,
0:34:22 > 0:34:24it's now been utterly transformed.
0:34:27 > 0:34:30And all because foreign car manufacturers have been
0:34:30 > 0:34:32setting up Russian bases here.
0:34:32 > 0:34:35The very first to come to Kaluga was Volkswagen.
0:34:37 > 0:34:40All of these cars are brand-new Volkswagens
0:34:40 > 0:34:43fresh off the production line ready to be sold to Russians.
0:34:43 > 0:34:45This plant is enormous.
0:34:45 > 0:34:48It employs 6,000 people here in the town of Kaluga
0:34:48 > 0:34:52and it's really changed this city.
0:34:52 > 0:34:55It was in 2005 that the local government here had the foresight
0:34:55 > 0:34:57to invite in foreign car producers,
0:34:57 > 0:35:01Volkswagen being the first, and gave them quite generous tax breaks.
0:35:03 > 0:35:07In return, Volkswagen bought in Western technology
0:35:07 > 0:35:11and provided employment to around 6,000 local workers.
0:35:17 > 0:35:20And the German invasion hasn't stopped at the gates
0:35:20 > 0:35:22of the Volkswagen factory.
0:35:27 > 0:35:30In the last six years, bar owner Kirill Okunev
0:35:30 > 0:35:33has seen his bar change beyond all recognition.
0:35:36 > 0:35:39Since Volkswagen came in there are so many plants and factories
0:35:39 > 0:35:42building around who attract people.
0:35:42 > 0:35:48A lot of foreigners come to our city and a lot of things going on.
0:35:48 > 0:35:51It's not just my bar, you know, business makes business,
0:35:51 > 0:35:53so there is a lot of activity going on.
0:35:54 > 0:35:58Since Volkswagen came to Kaluga, other car manufacturers like Peugeot
0:35:58 > 0:36:00have joined them.
0:36:00 > 0:36:04All part of the commercial forces that are wrenching Russia away
0:36:04 > 0:36:05from its Communist past.
0:36:07 > 0:36:09I shared a drink with some Germans
0:36:09 > 0:36:11who'd been here pretty much from the start.
0:36:12 > 0:36:16So when you came here in 2008, how was it?
0:36:16 > 0:36:18Was it like it is now?
0:36:18 > 0:36:20Oh, no. That's far away from this.
0:36:20 > 0:36:27The Russian very changed. Six years ago it was Soviet time.
0:36:27 > 0:36:28Soviet time.
0:36:28 > 0:36:32And I think now it's a new time, the beginning of a new culture.
0:36:32 > 0:36:36New culture? Are the Germans changing Russia?
0:36:36 > 0:36:38- I don't see it like that. - Oh.
0:36:38 > 0:36:41The Russians changed by their own.
0:36:41 > 0:36:46In a small time, way by way or step by step.
0:36:47 > 0:36:51Now it's not only the car industry setting up here.
0:36:51 > 0:36:55Korean Samsung and Japanese Mitsubishi have moved in too,
0:36:55 > 0:36:57making Kaluga an economic hotspot.
0:36:59 > 0:37:03All starting with one German corporate invasion.
0:37:04 > 0:37:07How do the locals feel about all these German companies
0:37:07 > 0:37:09being here employing them?
0:37:09 > 0:37:11We love them. I mean, hey.
0:37:11 > 0:37:15- You love the Germans? - I love Germans, I mean, er...
0:37:16 > 0:37:19Why should we have a problem with Germans who come here
0:37:19 > 0:37:23and invest in my country and they make my country grow?
0:37:23 > 0:37:26I mean, why should they have complaints?
0:37:27 > 0:37:31Economic success here in Kaluga has helped push the Second World War
0:37:31 > 0:37:33firmly back into history.
0:37:35 > 0:37:38Now this city is very much looking towards its future.
0:37:41 > 0:37:43SONG: "Get Lucky" by Daft Punk
0:37:46 > 0:37:48Fix the car!
0:37:48 > 0:37:52Meanwhile, far to the east, I was having a night out of my own.
0:37:53 > 0:37:56My Communist UAZ had broken down again,
0:37:56 > 0:38:00and we were stuck outside a closed garage near Volgograd.
0:38:00 > 0:38:05But we were determined not to let any of that dampen our spirits.
0:38:05 > 0:38:07# I'm up all night to get lucky. #
0:38:24 > 0:38:27Morning, and I was still in Volgograd.
0:38:27 > 0:38:31With my car needing repairs, I decided to take the train.
0:38:45 > 0:38:47Jeez, just minutes to go.
0:38:47 > 0:38:49Seven and eight, apparently.
0:38:51 > 0:38:53Oh, wow, this is fantastic.
0:38:55 > 0:38:57Oh! Hey!
0:38:57 > 0:39:00God, like a tsar. This is magnificent.
0:39:06 > 0:39:13The plan was for this train to carry me 400 miles north, out of Volgograd
0:39:13 > 0:39:17and on to the city of Samara where I'd meet up with my car again,
0:39:17 > 0:39:22before driving on to Tolyatti, the heart of the Russian car industry.
0:39:32 > 0:39:35- Hey. Is it fixed then? - Yeah.
0:39:35 > 0:39:38Looking good. It looks good. You've washed it.
0:39:38 > 0:39:42Next day, and for once the sun was peeking out.
0:39:42 > 0:39:45- Cabriolet.- Yeah, let's get the cabriolet thing going.
0:39:45 > 0:39:49So we chose to take advantage of my Communist car's stylish
0:39:49 > 0:39:51convertible option.
0:39:51 > 0:39:53SONG: "On The Road Again" by Canned Heat
0:39:53 > 0:39:56# But I'm on the road again
0:39:56 > 0:39:58# I'm on the road again
0:39:59 > 0:40:02# Well, I'm so tired of crying, but I'm on... #
0:40:02 > 0:40:05HE SINGS: # On the road again. I'm on the road again. #
0:40:11 > 0:40:14Oh. Now it's started to rain.
0:40:15 > 0:40:18That's the problem with the Cabriolet, isn't it?
0:40:18 > 0:40:21Unfortunately my cool cruising was brought to a halt
0:40:21 > 0:40:26by the Russian weather, just as I arrived in Tolyatti.
0:40:26 > 0:40:30HE SINGS: # We're on the road again. #
0:40:30 > 0:40:31Hey, hey!
0:40:34 > 0:40:38Tolyatti is the birthplace of a little Russian car that in Britain
0:40:38 > 0:40:40is the butt of jokes.
0:40:40 > 0:40:43Out here, though, it is the object of affection
0:40:43 > 0:40:46and almost obsessive loyalty.
0:40:46 > 0:40:48Lada, Lada, Lada.
0:40:49 > 0:40:52There's a Lada up there, and a Lada there.
0:40:53 > 0:40:55There are just Ladas everywhere.
0:40:55 > 0:41:01This place is the centre of the Russian car industry.
0:41:01 > 0:41:05It's a city called Tolyatti and they call it the Russian Detroit,
0:41:05 > 0:41:09and it is the home of the famous Lada,
0:41:09 > 0:41:13and everywhere you look there are Ladas on the street.
0:41:14 > 0:41:16Lada.
0:41:16 > 0:41:20Rich Russians might desire fancy Western cars, but the home-grown Lada
0:41:20 > 0:41:25still boasts a dominant market share here, selling more than twice as many
0:41:25 > 0:41:27cars as any other brand.
0:41:29 > 0:41:32This is actually one of the biggest factories in the world
0:41:32 > 0:41:36and the biggest car plant in all of eastern Europe.
0:41:36 > 0:41:39This place has made 27 million cars.
0:41:41 > 0:41:45Lada was set up in the '60s to make an affordable people's car
0:41:45 > 0:41:49for the Communist world. The Volkswagen of the Soviet Union.
0:41:49 > 0:41:53Today it is still going strong.
0:41:55 > 0:41:57When the cars come off the production line
0:41:57 > 0:41:59they immediately test drive them
0:41:59 > 0:42:03and they've told me that I can ride along.
0:42:08 > 0:42:09Here we go.
0:42:15 > 0:42:19Lada is one of the few major factories in Russia that managed to
0:42:19 > 0:42:22survive the collapse of the Soviet Union
0:42:22 > 0:42:25and the financial crisis of 2008.
0:42:29 > 0:42:30There we go.
0:42:30 > 0:42:36The 27 millionth and something Lada rolls off the production line.
0:42:36 > 0:42:37There he goes.
0:42:39 > 0:42:41It has been a tough couple of decades, though.
0:42:42 > 0:42:46During the bleakest times Lada couldn't afford to pay some salaries,
0:42:46 > 0:42:51but most of its employees continued to work for nothing.
0:42:52 > 0:42:55Why do you think people were so loyal to Lada?
0:43:07 > 0:43:10So what made you stick by the company?
0:43:13 > 0:43:14Patriotism?
0:43:17 > 0:43:21Everyone I met showed a loyalty that rival car manufacturers
0:43:21 > 0:43:24around the world would give their eye teeth for.
0:43:26 > 0:43:29And it's not only the factory workers.
0:43:29 > 0:43:31Oh, my word. Look at this.
0:43:31 > 0:43:35Some local enthusiasts have taken their love of Lada
0:43:35 > 0:43:36to whole new heights.
0:43:38 > 0:43:41Guys, I love your cars, but I don't like the weather.
0:43:43 > 0:43:46So all of these cars are Ladas, yeah?
0:43:48 > 0:43:52These were some seriously pimped up people's cars.
0:43:52 > 0:43:53Oh!
0:43:53 > 0:43:55HE LAUGHS
0:43:55 > 0:43:57That is fantastic.
0:43:57 > 0:43:59It's like a kind of Lamborghini Lada.
0:43:59 > 0:44:03A sign that local loyalties are now being matched by individuality
0:44:03 > 0:44:07and creative expression in post-Communist Russia.
0:44:07 > 0:44:12Look at this bad boy. It's amazing.
0:44:12 > 0:44:14Monster Lada.
0:44:14 > 0:44:17I suppose it shows the car culture here in Russia is similar to
0:44:17 > 0:44:21elsewhere in the word. You've got nutters who will do almost anything
0:44:21 > 0:44:23to make their car stand out.
0:44:24 > 0:44:27And it doesn't get much crazier than this beast.
0:44:28 > 0:44:31Whoa! Oh, bucket seats!
0:44:32 > 0:44:35This is proper boy-racer's Lada.
0:44:35 > 0:44:37HE REVS THE ENGINE
0:44:41 > 0:44:45It's like a gun going off. It's like somebody firing a gun.
0:44:45 > 0:44:46It's fantastic.
0:44:47 > 0:44:52He claims his Lada can do more than 200mph.
0:44:59 > 0:45:03And he was keen to demonstrate his doughnuting prowess.
0:45:15 > 0:45:18Woo. Whoa! Jesus, Max!
0:45:18 > 0:45:20Oh!
0:45:23 > 0:45:25Oh! HE LAUGHS
0:45:25 > 0:45:27Oh, my God.
0:45:27 > 0:45:30- Lada, eh? - Lada.
0:45:30 > 0:45:33Who would've known that a Lada could do that?
0:45:39 > 0:45:43Ten days and nearly halfway through my trip into new Russia.
0:45:43 > 0:45:47My oligarch tank continued to glide north.
0:45:48 > 0:45:531,200 miles from Sochi, and at last I was entering the outskirts
0:45:53 > 0:45:54of the nation's capital.
0:46:05 > 0:46:08After ten days on the road, I've finally arrived
0:46:08 > 0:46:10in the Russian capital of Moscow.
0:46:10 > 0:46:12The roads have opened up.
0:46:12 > 0:46:15We've got five-lane avenues cutting through the centre of Moscow.
0:46:15 > 0:46:20Big concrete Soviet blocks of buildings on either side.
0:46:24 > 0:46:29During the Soviet era, Red Square was famous for its May Day parades,
0:46:29 > 0:46:31with lavish displays of military hardware.
0:46:32 > 0:46:36Today, though, even Red Square has turned on its Communist past
0:46:36 > 0:46:40and fully embraced capitalism.
0:46:40 > 0:46:44Once the GUM Department Store was famous for having empty shelves.
0:46:44 > 0:46:49Today it's packed with every luxury brand imaginable.
0:46:49 > 0:46:52Signs of an expanding wealthy middle class.
0:46:52 > 0:46:56And Moscow also has more millionaires
0:46:56 > 0:46:58than any other capital city.
0:47:00 > 0:47:02This is what modern Russia's all about.
0:47:02 > 0:47:05Its luxury, its opulence, its decadence.
0:47:05 > 0:47:08Because there's an elite group of people here who've made
0:47:08 > 0:47:09a heck of a lot of money
0:47:09 > 0:47:12and if you've got it in Russia, you flaunt it.
0:47:15 > 0:47:20Alisa Krylova is a former model from Siberia who came to Moscow
0:47:20 > 0:47:25and won a few beauty contests before entering Russian high society.
0:47:27 > 0:47:30I joined up with her for an every day shopping trip.
0:47:31 > 0:47:33Wow.
0:47:34 > 0:47:37So we're in a house of fur.
0:47:37 > 0:47:42Your client has the same worry, rich people from government,
0:47:42 > 0:47:44from celebrities.
0:47:44 > 0:47:46And there's lots of people in Russia.
0:47:46 > 0:47:48- A lot of. A lot. - Yeah.
0:47:59 > 0:48:01This is great fun. I'm having the time of my life.
0:48:01 > 0:48:05But this is the privilege of an elite few.
0:48:05 > 0:48:08This is the sort of life and the sort of haute couture
0:48:08 > 0:48:11that the wealthiest people, not just in Russia,
0:48:11 > 0:48:14but on the entire planet can afford.
0:48:14 > 0:48:19Today the extreme rich still seem to exist in a world far removed
0:48:19 > 0:48:21from real life.
0:48:21 > 0:48:23A world in which, if you have to ask the price,
0:48:23 > 0:48:25you probably can't afford it.
0:48:25 > 0:48:27It feels very soft so I'm going to try it on.
0:48:27 > 0:48:29- Five million roubles. - Five million roubles?
0:48:29 > 0:48:34It's about...200 euros.
0:48:36 > 0:48:38It's about £100,000.
0:48:40 > 0:48:43- £100,000? - Yes.
0:48:43 > 0:48:44Nice, yes?
0:48:45 > 0:48:49Oh, my God.
0:48:49 > 0:48:52- Leave, leave.- Oh, my God, let's go!
0:48:52 > 0:48:56- Let's just keep walking. - Bye. Stop shooting.
0:48:56 > 0:48:59It's not just the mega rich that like to splash out
0:48:59 > 0:49:01on a bit of bling.
0:49:01 > 0:49:04Consumer capitalism is a relatively new thing here.
0:49:04 > 0:49:08So maybe it's not surprising that people are so keen to show off
0:49:08 > 0:49:10everything they've got.
0:49:29 > 0:49:33Far to the east, exploring old Russia, I was driving through
0:49:33 > 0:49:38a very different world from that of Moscow and Russia's rich elite.
0:49:39 > 0:49:43From Tolyatti I was heading towards the city of Perm
0:49:43 > 0:49:45in the foothills of the Ural Mountains
0:49:45 > 0:49:49and a place that struck terror into the hearts of many free-thinking
0:49:49 > 0:49:52Russians during the Communist era.
0:49:54 > 0:49:57It's getting very cold now
0:49:58 > 0:50:01and I'm coming to a very sinister place.
0:50:03 > 0:50:04Oh, here it is.
0:50:04 > 0:50:09Perm-36 Gulag was one of a network of labour camps located in the most
0:50:09 > 0:50:13remote and extreme regions of the country.
0:50:16 > 0:50:20This prison camp remained open until 1989.
0:50:24 > 0:50:27Now it is kept as a museum.
0:50:29 > 0:50:32Many dissidents, human rights activists and journalists
0:50:32 > 0:50:37who criticised the Soviet state were sent here for correction.
0:50:42 > 0:50:47Tired, hungry and a bit unshaven, I felt a bit like an inmate myself.
0:50:48 > 0:50:50It was a really brutal regime here.
0:50:50 > 0:50:54There'd be four blokes on a bed like this.
0:50:54 > 0:50:57The regulation was two square metres each.
0:50:57 > 0:51:01And in winter, and it gets down to about minus 40 here,
0:51:01 > 0:51:04there were no windows, they'd just board the windows up
0:51:04 > 0:51:06with planks of wood.
0:51:06 > 0:51:10Every day, without fail, started at 6am.
0:51:20 > 0:51:24The diet was simple and monotonous, just porridge, kleb,
0:51:24 > 0:51:26Russian bread,
0:51:26 > 0:51:29maybe some thin soup and if you're lucky, a cup of tea.
0:51:35 > 0:51:39After breakfast the prisoners faced a one-and-a-half-hour march
0:51:39 > 0:51:43to the forest, then nine hours of hard labour logging,
0:51:43 > 0:51:45before the long march home.
0:51:49 > 0:51:54Viktor Pestov was sent to Perm-36 Gulag in 1978.
0:51:54 > 0:51:58He was sentenced to five years forced labour.
0:51:59 > 0:52:02Did people die while you were here at the camp?
0:52:20 > 0:52:22What did you do to be sent here?
0:52:35 > 0:52:37How do you feel walking in here?
0:52:37 > 0:52:40How does it make you feel in your heart about the five years
0:52:40 > 0:52:44of your life that you lost for handing out a few leaflets?
0:53:08 > 0:53:12This is extraordinary because Viktor says, you know,
0:53:12 > 0:53:15it was one of the few places in the Soviet Union at the time
0:53:15 > 0:53:18where there was genuine free expression because, you know,
0:53:18 > 0:53:21you were already in a prison camp, how much worse could it get?
0:53:21 > 0:53:24So in a sense, you know, there was a sense that there was freedom
0:53:24 > 0:53:26within the camp, which is really interesting.
0:53:26 > 0:53:30The Gulag system epitomised an instinct of Russia's leaders
0:53:30 > 0:53:34to repress any challenge to their authoritarian rule.
0:53:37 > 0:53:42Vladimir Putin's presidency is often described as a managed democracy,
0:53:42 > 0:53:46but Russia still remains a strictly controlled society.
0:53:46 > 0:53:50In 2012, right here in Red Square, a group of feminist artists
0:53:50 > 0:53:53staged a protest that drew global attention.
0:53:59 > 0:54:03Pussy Riot was protesting about state suppression and gay rights,
0:54:03 > 0:54:06directing their attack towards President Putin himself.
0:54:08 > 0:54:10Their song was rather delicately titled
0:54:10 > 0:54:12Putin's Pissed His Pants
0:54:12 > 0:54:15and was the first of a number of protests which ultimately led
0:54:15 > 0:54:17to serious trouble.
0:54:22 > 0:54:26The world's eyes were drawn to the issue of human rights in Russia
0:54:26 > 0:54:29when three members of an all-female artist collective,
0:54:29 > 0:54:33Pussy Riot, were imprisoned and given what seems to us
0:54:33 > 0:54:36like outrageous sentences for staging a peaceful protest,
0:54:36 > 0:54:39and I've managed to arrange a meeting with one of them
0:54:39 > 0:54:40in this cafe.
0:54:43 > 0:54:45- Hi, Katya. - Hi.
0:54:45 > 0:54:49Lovely to see you. Thank you. Thank you for meeting me.
0:54:49 > 0:54:53I want you to tell me what is it that you're actually standing against.
0:55:08 > 0:55:12It was this performance in Moscow's Orthodox Cathedral
0:55:12 > 0:55:14that finally prompted the authorities to act.
0:55:15 > 0:55:20Russia is a deeply religious society and many people were offended.
0:55:29 > 0:55:32Three members of the band were arrested and convicted
0:55:32 > 0:55:36of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred.
0:55:36 > 0:55:38Katya's sentence was suspended on appeal.
0:55:42 > 0:55:45Your protest drew the world's eyes to what's going on in terms of
0:55:45 > 0:55:47human rights in Russia.
0:55:47 > 0:55:49But has any of it made any difference?
0:56:06 > 0:56:10For the first time on my journey I'm hearing the voice of dissent
0:56:10 > 0:56:12and what a voice to hear from, you know,
0:56:12 > 0:56:15one of the most famous human rights protestors on the planet today.
0:56:15 > 0:56:19And the one thing that really has stuck in my mind from what she said
0:56:19 > 0:56:21was that if they don't continue their protest,
0:56:21 > 0:56:25their country is sleepwalking into a jail.
0:56:25 > 0:56:29And from that, I take it she means that far from this country
0:56:29 > 0:56:33moving towards democracy, it's actually going back towards
0:56:33 > 0:56:37an autocracy where the state has a really tight grip on everything.
0:56:40 > 0:56:41After 11 days on the road,
0:56:41 > 0:56:45I thought it was a good time to catch up with Anita.
0:56:48 > 0:56:51- Hi, Anita. - Hello, Justin.
0:56:51 > 0:56:55- How's it going?- I'm great. I'm in the lap of luxury right now.
0:56:55 > 0:56:58I've got a glass of fizz in front of me,
0:56:58 > 0:57:02a slice of really, really dangerous chocolate cake.
0:57:02 > 0:57:05- Yeah.- And I'm in one of the most decadent shopping arcades
0:57:05 > 0:57:08you'll find anywhere on the planet. How about you?
0:57:08 > 0:57:10God, it sounds like the lap of luxury.
0:57:10 > 0:57:13I tell you what, it could not be more different from where I am.
0:57:13 > 0:57:17I'm in a punishment cell in one of the Gulags, you know,
0:57:17 > 0:57:20the network of prison camps they used to have across Russia.
0:57:20 > 0:57:23And it is a pretty nasty place, I tell you.
0:57:23 > 0:57:25That's the way this show works, Justin.
0:57:25 > 0:57:28Someone's got to take the rough, someone's got to take the smooth,
0:57:28 > 0:57:29and it's, you know...
0:57:29 > 0:57:32Well, you enjoy it, yeah. I've got some porridge waiting for me, yeah.
0:57:32 > 0:57:35Good luck. Do svidaniya.
0:57:35 > 0:57:37Good to speak to you. See you. Bye.
0:57:38 > 0:57:42Next time, I'll be heading even further east...
0:57:42 > 0:57:47Thousands and thousands of kilometres of Asian Russia.
0:57:47 > 0:57:51..meeting some tough Russians and getting to play with their toys.
0:57:54 > 0:57:57Before getting up close to some even bigger ones.
0:57:59 > 0:58:01They've got all their toys out today.
0:58:01 > 0:58:05While I'll be heading to Russia's gateway to the West...
0:58:05 > 0:58:07One, two, three.
0:58:08 > 0:58:10Here it goes. The bridge is going up.
0:58:10 > 0:58:13..and then heading into the freezing north...
0:58:14 > 0:58:17Mush, mush, mush! Here we go!
0:58:17 > 0:58:21..towards a whole new economic frontier.
0:58:21 > 0:58:24There it is, Sergei! The Arctic Circle.