Episode 2 Russia on Four Wheels

'We're going on an incredible journey...

'driving through the biggest and one of the most bewildering

'countries on Earth. '

This is so dangerous! We're in the middle of a motorway!

'Taking two very different cars...'

It's a tank!

CCCP. Built by Communists.

'..on two very different road trips.'

Which way? Does it matter?

'Three weeks...

'and thousands of miles on the roads of Russia.'

Look! Now we're talking.

Last time we set of from Sochi, home to the 2014 Winter Olympics -

Russia's showcase to the world.

No! Seriously no, I'm going to fall! Oh, my God.

Since then, I've driven 1,200 miles to Moscow,

seeing a Russia that's very much on the move.

It's about £100,000.

25 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall,

a whole new Russia is emerging.

The car's right at the heart of it.

So far on my journey, though,

I've been discovering a much older Russia...

Lada, Lada. Lada.

..driving deep into a land of proud traditions and constant

reminders of its Communist past.

So can this former military super-power ever become a new

economic power?

And if it could, what would that mean for Russia and the rest

of the world?

It's day ten and I'm halfway through my epic journey,

exploring new Russia in my oligarch tank.

My plan is to head northwest from Moscow to St Petersburg,

before a long drive beyond the Arctic Circle towards a

brand-new economic frontier, Murmansk - my ultimate destination.

First, thought, I've somehow got to get out of Moscow,

relying on my co-driver Sergei for directions.

Which way? Does it matter?

Oh, any way.

I'm about to try a brand new service.

A car train that's recently opened to save drivers

the 400-mile grind to St Petersburg.

The car is getting a good scrubbing before it goes to St Petersburg.

Apparently, it can't get on the train unless it's had a wash.

Today, there are more than 4 million vehicles in Moscow alone,

a number that's growing every year.

A real sign of the new middle-class Russia on the move.

This is how to drive a four-tonne tank into a very small hole.

You do it step by step

and have a couple of Russian men guiding you in.

Excellent! Job well done! Well done!

Meanwhile, after nearly 1,800 miles on the road, I'm rattling

ever-deeper into the Russian heartland.

I'm leaving the city of Perm and heading into the wilderness,

the ancient forests of the Ural mountains and Asia, seeking out an

old, traditional Russia that seems to stretch forever to the east.

My journey will take me into the fringes of Siberia and on to

the city of Chelyabinsk.

But having already experienced several breakdowns in my

37-year-old Communist UAZ, I want to be sure it's up to the trials ahead.

Aw, here we go. We're going to UAZ hospital.

Now where's the place?

There's some fellow UAZs here.

Hey! They look like they've seen some action!

-Oh! Hey, how are you doing?

-How are you?

Good to meet you. My UAZ needs treatment.

We've got problems with the power steering.

There have been problems with the generator. It needs help!

Can you help her?

Excellent!

So you have got some beautiful cars here.

Garage owner Aleksei has been an obsessive collector and

restorer ever since he got his first UAZ as a teenager.

And while mine was being fixed, I was keen to get a go in one

of his favourites.

So can I try out one of your UAZs?

Yeah?

Have you got somewhere for me to drive?

You've got an off-road track of your own?

The old Soviet UAZ remains a potent symbol

of rugged Communist engineering.

Joe Stalin first ordered production in World War II, when it looked

like the advancing German army would capture the bulk of Soviet industry.

I'm a bit nervous cos Aleksei said, "It will hurt."

I'm going to have to get some speed up, I think.

With help from the UAZ, the Red Army pushed the Germans back and

the Jeep lookalike's place in Soviet history was secured.

Whether I can match the UAZ's fighting pedigree, though,

is unclear.

I can't do it! I'm stuck in the bloody mud!

Just even.

Ah!

Right, good. Stop. Stop! Stop!

Ah!

Jesus Christ! Ah! Ah!

HE LAUGHS

Oh!

What happened?!

THEY LAUGH

Yes, I did it! Ah.

HE EXPELS AIR

That was really hard, though.

Still in Moscow, my shiny new Kombat is safely on board the

car train for St Petersburg.

But with a few hours spare before my sleeper train leaves,

there's a petrolhead craze I want to check out.

I can't quite believe this.

We're under an overpass somewhere on the outskirts of Moscow.

It's a massive dual carriageway.

There's just hundreds and hundreds of cars, boy racers,

turning up to race.

In many ways, new Russia is still a very strictly controlled society.

But it seems that young car owners aren't frightened

of kicking back against authority.

Get out the way. Get out the way.

Every week, men, and a few women,

meet here with their cars for illegal drag races.

It's something that would have been unthinkable during the

Communist years, but today many young Muscovites have money.

And they're using four wheels to push their newly-gained freedom

and their cars to the limits.

TYRES SCREECH

It smells of burning rubber.

Apparently, the police are happy to turn a blind eye.

I'm told they arrived just before I got here

and went away happy with the organisation.

All very Russian.

This should be rather tasty, a GTR and a Carrera S.

ENGINES ROAR

The GTR took it.

Yeah.

'Having watched some races,

'I couldn't resist getting involved myself.'

All right. All right. All right, I've got it!

Here we go. Here we go!

CHEERS AND APPLAUSE

SHE LAUGHS EXCITEDLY

Woo-hoo!

But there was no more time to hang around.

My train was about to leave, ready to take me out of Moscow

on the next leg of my journey.

Ooh, yeah. I love a train journey. Look, we've got proper berths.

The slow train to St Petersburg.

Hopefully, my Kombat will be on its way already.

This is me, top bunk! Ah! I'm looking forward to this!

I don't think you're coming in, though.

So excited, because tomorrow I wake up in St Petersburg,

a city I've wanted to visit my whole life.

I think of it as a romantic city, full of history -

the city of the Tsars, the city where the Bolsheviks stormed

the Winter Palace and Communism began.

After a restful night, I've been reunited with my armoured

four-by-four in one of the world's most beautiful cities.

If ever there was an argument for Russia looking west, this is it.

St Petersburg was designed to look like a European city.

The buildings are incredible!

Just a few miles from the Baltic Sea, this is Russia's gateway to

the west, carrying huge amounts of trade in and out of western Russia.

St Petersburg was designed to be Russia's grand European capital.

At its heart, the beautiful Winter Palace - the home of the Tsars

and the birthplace of the Russian Revolution.

But away from the grand buildings and the tourist spots,

there's a hidden side to today's modern city.

St Petersburg attracts workers from all over Russia,

but also economic migrants from some of the poorest

independent states of the former Soviet Union.

-Hello.

-Farrukh. Pleased to meet you.

-Thank you for seeing me.

-Thank you very much.

-So which way are we going?

-Let's go this way.

-Through the, through the chains?

-Yeah. Yes.

-OK.

We're literally just off the main road in St Petersburg

and we've entered a completely different world.

Many of the people living and working here are from Tajikistan -

a poor, landlocked country wedged between China and Afghanistan.

More than 2,000 miles from home, they come here desperate

for work to support their distant families.

Why are you here? Why live here?

THEY SPEAK THEIR OWN LANGUAGE

Ah. For living, because there are better conditions.

He needs to feed his family, that why he's here.

And where is your family?

In Tajikistan.

And who's in your family? How many children do you have?

Ah. There are four children.

Like economic migrants in many parts of the world,

living conditions for workers can be grim.

-Be careful.

-Yes, very careful.

It's really, well, you can see what it looks like,

it's quite long and dark, very basic.

It's got a really strong smell in here as well.

Yes. Oh, they're sleeping.

Oh, wow, here we go, there's lots of men sleeping in here.

'I counted ten men in this room and there are more than 20 rooms

'in this one hostel alone.

'Many migrants work in St Petersburg illegally

'and many also face racial resentment.'

There must be a lot of migrants living under the radar?

-Yeah.

-Obviously, not everybody here, Farrukh, has papers?

-There are many people who are illegal here.

-Mmm.

This is the problem.

And as the number of migrants rises, so has the number of attacks

by far-right Russian nationalist groups.

Hundreds of immigrants have been murdered in Russia in the

past decade and half of these have come from the Central Asian Republics

previously part of the Soviet Union.

They don't like people with another skin, another eye or another hair.

They think that people who come from Central Asia,

they took their working place.

25 years since the fall of Communism and it's clear modern Russia

is still grappling with its Soviet past.

Economic migration and the social tensions it causes are reminders

of how this is a country that's still very much in transition.

MUSIC: "Roadrunner" by Bo Diddley

HE SIGHS

My UAZ has been fixed and together we're entering a wilderness

that seems to stretch ahead for miles and miles.

I'm heading ever-further east and it feels like I'm going back in time

into an ancient landscape.

Out here, it's hard to imagine that Sochi and all of its Olympic glitz

was only 12 days ago.

We're up in the...in the Urals, the Urals now.

A great spine of mountains that runs through the centre of Russia.

For me, this is a very special moment on my journey

into old mother Russia.

Yeah, it's bloody steep!

The Urals, the Urals, are a crucial dividing line.

Look at this, this says Europe and, watch this...

One small step for man and here we are, this one says Asia,

because over here is the Wild East -

thousands and thousands of kilometres of Asian Russia.

This feels a world away from the new Russia of Moscow or St Petersburg.

If countryside contains the identity of a nation, then this is Russia -

vast, tough and untamed.

Oh, my God, it's a river.

This Russia is a country for strong men.

President Vladimir Putin makes no secret of his love of the outdoors.

He's keen to be seen as Putin the hunter, the horseman, the fisherman.

Oh, hold on, I think I see a hunting lodge. Wow.

'It's an image designed to appeal to an ideal of rugged masculinity

'that resonates with many Russians,

'like hunters Georgiy Goldyrev and Yuri Zvekov.'

So Yuri's getting the soup.

Hey, what's this, Yuri?

Ah, it smells delicious! Ah, look at that!

Would you normally have vodka with your lunch?

THEY TOAST

THEY LAUGH

Bit early in the day for that.

-So, guys, what do you reckon?

-All right.

Am I ready to hunt in Russia?

-Hey!

-Look at you.

THEY SPEAK RUSSIAN

OK.

Out here, to hunt is to be a man.

To take on nature in the raw.

We need to walk from here just through the woods very quietly

and if you see one...

And that's where, that's where its paw would be.

He says this is the footprints of a volk! Of a wolf.

Big animals! 50 kilos!

Whoa, I'm quite glad you've got the gun, Yuri.

But this also happens to be bear hunting season

and sightings here are apparently quite common.

I'm pretty uncomfortable about this whole idea of bear hunting.

You know, I don't believe that the bears are a real threat to

people and, you know, it doesn't seem right to hunt them.

But...I mean, the fact is, that's what people do, so...

Yuri and Georgiy soon spot the tracks not of a bear, but of an elk.

Because there's so many of us, we're making too much noise,

he thinks it's unlikely we'll get one.

But they're suggesting that maybe I'd like to experience what

it's like to fire one of their guns. So this is yours, Yuri, yeah?

What is this, what is this weapon?

Looks like a Kalash...

And there it goes. So now there is a...

-So now the safety catch is off...

-Yeah.

And there's a bullet in the barrel, so now this gun is live. OK.

So like this?

GUNSHOT

-HE LAUGHS

-God, that is noisy.

There was a bit of recoil but it was the noise that really...wow,

my ears are really ringing.

GUNSHOT

Jesus Christ.

That is really loud!

Despite not bagging anything,

I felt I was really getting a feel for old Russia.

And, after a hard day in the snow, I had one last treat in store...

A traditional Russian sauna called a banya.

THEY SPEAK RUSSIAN

The hunting lifestyle is all about masculinity, so I wanted to

know what these guys make of a new Russian law banning gay propaganda.

I mean, the big debate in Britain

and in the West has been about this law, this gay law,

that they've introduced, you know the gay propaganda law.

What do you think of that?

Really? Nothing wrong with it?

Can you understand why people in the West, they kind of, you know, get

angry and upset, feel that people are being oppressed, you know?

Russia's such a macho culture.

But then you think of the kind of saunas, the birch whipping,

the, I don't know, the backslapping and the hugging.

And it's really kind of intimate and I wonder whether that's not the

kind of root of this really profound homophobia that seems to be here.

That, you know, if you're...if you celebrate manliness that much

then homosexuality becomes, I suppose, you know, a real threat.

DISCO MUSIC

CHEERING

Old Russia might have trouble with issues like gay rights, but

new Russia, in places like St Petersburg,

there are signs of change.

Here, gay Russians are fighting back against old values

that many see as repressive.

So the new law states that

if you're found to be pushing gay propaganda towards minors

that could affect their mental, physical or spiritual development,

you could be fined 500,000 roubles, which is about £10,000.

Tonight, there happens to be a festival in St Petersburg

called Queerfest, which is a public event, it's not happening

underground, so I'm intrigued to see what's going on!

RUSSIAN MUSIC PLAYS

It's not illegal to be gay in Russia, but this is still a

very homophobic society.

This is quite normal for London, Manchester, anywhere in Britain.

The difference is that here, the majority of people

don't want it to go on.

With the Winter Olympics, though, domestic politics is suddenly

being thrust onto a world stage.

What about people in the West who are saying that the Winter Olympics

should be boycotted, people shouldn't come and perform here?

What do you think about the stance that people are taking?

That's a great question.

I think Olympics is going to be a great,

wonderful platform for speaking out for human rights,

for LGBT rights, for diversity and so forth.

The world will be watching.

And Olympics is Putin's pet project, he wants it to go well.

So I would call on people to come here, sponsors,

games participants, athletes, and speak out.

That way the Russian public will hear about the violations

of LGBT rights that are happening.

Just like the economic migrants from Tajikistan, gay rights activists

reminded me that new Russia is still only just emerging from its past.

Some things, though, never change.

In St Petersburg, there's an evening ritual that's been going on

for decades.

At night, ships and the River Neva take control of the city.

Every bridge has to be lifted, cutting off the roads.

-One minute. One minute.

-One minute. One minute to countdown.

-Is this the button?

-No. No.

-No. Which is the button, Maksim?

-Green.

-What's this one?

Yes. OK.

'Tonight, for one night only, I'm in charge.'

So all the chaps that work here have left to stop the traffic

and I've been put in control of a panel of buttons.

And I've been told not to press anything.

60 million tonnes of trade moves through the port

of St Petersburg every year.

At night, cars take second place and anyone caught on the

wrong side of the river can be in for a long wait.

Look, the traffic's gone.

Not yet. Not yet. No, no, no, no, no, no.

Not yet. I'm poised and ready. Now?

-No. No.

-No. No. One...

-No.

-Get off the bridge!

-Go.

Go! One, two, three.

And here it goes, the bridge is going up!

Oh, dear, look at all the people trapped at the other end.

Look at this lot. They've timed it very badly

and now they're trapped on this side of the river.

HORNS BEEP Look at the traffic!

This is like peak time London chaos in St Petersburg.

And that's because when the river's in full flow,

everything else comes to a standstill.

One of the cargo ships waiting to set sail is the Sandal.

-Hello, Valery.

-Hello.

-Captain of the ship!

-Yeah.

Lead the way.

'Just an hour before leaving, I was offered a brisk tour.'

This is our hold, yeah.

You can smell the woodchip, actually. It smells lovely.

-Woodchip's here. This is the cargo.

-And this is it?

-Yes, this is it.

-This is what comes from...

-Woodchips.

-..from the centre of Russia

and is taken to Finland to be used for biofuel.

-Yeah, yeah, yeah, for biofuel, yes.

-Yeah.

In a few days, this hold will be full with 1,500 tonnes of woodchips

and logs destined for Finland to be used to generate electricity.

I'd better get off cos I don't want to be a stowaway.

-OK, yeah.

-I've still got a long way to go

and I don't want to end up wherever it is you're going.

Want to make a guest here, not a stowaway, yeah. Yes.

-Thank you very much, sir.

-Thank you.

-Bon voyage.

Good night, fellas!

If this city is Russia's gateway to the west,

the River Neva is its economic artery.

Thousands of tonnes of cargo silently sail down the river to be

transported across Europe and beyond.

Another reminder of capitalist Russia taking to the world stage.

MUSIC: "On The Road Again"

# Well, I'm so tired of crying

# But I'm out on the road again

# Well, I'm so tired of... #

As Anita and I continued our journeys, we were both

discovering just how incredibly vast Russia really is.

We've been on the road for just so long.

I've had to take a break from the driving

because it is gruelling, let me tell you.

Ten time-zones wide, Russia is the world's biggest country.

Just building the roads that knit this continental-scale nation

together is a monumental achievement.

# Out on the road again. #

RUSSIAN FOLK MUSIC

Just over two weeks into my journey and I'm in a rush, because

anyone who's anyone in the military business is heading to the small

industrial town of Nizhniy Tagil, famous for its tank-making prowess.

Military might epitomised old Russia and today, in a post-Communist

world, its arms business is still doing pretty well.

Russia may have lost its super-power status,

but it's still the second biggest weapons exporter on the planet.

If you're looking to buy big, this is the place to be -

Russia's annual arms expo, where it seems every machine capable

of causing death and destruction is available at a price.

Unbelievably, we've been given an access-all-areas pass.

GUNFIRE

They've got all the toys out today.

LOUD GUNFIRE

Swimming tanks.

'In 2012, the Russian arms industry was worth more than

'£8 billion in exports alone, second only to the United States.'

It's really easy to get caught up in the spectacle

and forget that ultimately, these weapons are designed

-to wreak carnage and horror.

-LOUD EXPLOSION

We in the West are rather uneasy about some of Russia's customers.

They include Algeria and Assad's Syria.

Maybe a little drone. Always handy.

'I was keen to find out who was here and what they were buying.'

Where are you from, sir?

'The visitors, though, were a bit cagey.'

-Where?

-Oh, no, no, no.

I am not authorised to give you an interview, please.

-Thank you.

-Oh, OK. No, no, no, fair enough.

Excuse me, where are you from?

France.

What are you...what are you looking to buy, huh?

-I don't want to talk.

-You don't want to talk?

-No.

-Yeah.

-Ah, OK.

-Excuse me, sir.

THEY SPEAK RUSSIAN

Where are you from?

Excuse us.

No, he...just one short interview, a little chat!

Looks like he's spending the serious money.

They're taking him very seriously.

To underline the importance of this business, the

second most powerful man in Russia was rumoured to be making a visit.

It's all a little bit on edge because the Russian prime minister

Dmitry Medvedev is supposed to be coming here.

'For a brief moment, I found myself brushing shoulders with the

'Russian prime minister.

'But it seemed he only had eyes for

'the MQ-9 unmanned aerial combat vehicle.

'Such is life.'

MUSIC: "Oh My God" by Lily Allen

# Oh, my God, I don't believe it

# I've never been this far away from home

# Oh, my God, I don't believe it

# I've never been this far away from home... #

While Justin was playing soldiers, I was continuing my journey

north into new Russia.

Leaving St Petersburg, I was heading towards the town of Petrozavodsk...

Before continuing to my ultimate destination of Murmansk - the largest

city within the Arctic Circle and Russia's new economic frontier.

The landscape was changing and getting much, much colder.

Now things are getting really wild now.

We're just surrounded by forests, high trees.

Who lives in the woods? There's wolves.

Wolves and some animals, wild animals.

Wild animals. Bears?

Bears? SHE ROARS

-I don't know each names of animals.

-Oh, OK. OK.

I know just wolf.

-Bear? You must know bear?

-Ah, yes, yes. B, E, E, R.

-B, E, A, R.

-Ah, yes, it's an A.

-B, E, E, R is beer.

-Beer. Yes, yes. A, R.

THEY LAUGH

I might be heading to a new economic frontier, but since I was

going north, I couldn't resist stopping off to experience

one very old tradition.

-Maksim, pleased to meet you. Anita.

-And you. Maksim.

-How are you? How are you?

-OK. We are pretty good.

Look at these beautiful creatures! So what's this one's name?

-Wookie.

-Wookie?

-Wookie.

-Wookie! Wookie.

DOGS BARK

How many years have Russians used huskies?

This is OK?

I'm not afraid. I'm not afraid.

Do you know what, the one thing I know about dogs is they sniff fear.

DOG WHINES

Yes. Trisha! Trisha! This way! Oh!

Come on, put your, put your face in there.

In a few weeks' time, these dogs will be pulling sleds through

the snow, but Maksim needs to keep them fit and trained all year round.

HE SPEAKS RUSSIAN

Yep, safety first.

Get the helmet on, cos this...

No problem, Maksim, I want to be safe.

DOGS WHINE

Right, what do I do?

This can't be that difficult, can it? Surely not.

-Your foot.

-Yes, press that. Ready?

Here we go.

Whoop, whoop, whoop!

Oh! Yeah, steady on! We're very close here.

-Are you ready? I'm...

-Ready.

-I'm ready! Let's do it!

All right!

All right, allez, allez, allez! Woo, woo-hoo!

Here we go! Come on, doggies, mush, mush!

Woo.

Here we come. Woo.

Whoa! This is the fastest I've gone yet!

Go for it!

Woo-hoo!

Go on, allez, allez, allez!

All right!

# Oh, Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz?

# My friends all drive Porches, I must make amends

# Worked hard all my lifetime

# No help from my friends

# Oh, Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz? #

Arms fair over and I'm heading ever further into old Russia.

From Nizhniy Tagil, my trusty Jeep and I have made the short hop

to Yekaterinburg, the biggest city in the Urals.

# Oh, Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz... #

Yekaterinburg is a tough city.

In 1918, the Russian royal family was executed here by the

Red Army as they fought to consolidate the revolution.

But these graves are monuments to a more recent bloodshed, when powerful

gangs emerged 70 years later after the Communists had fallen.

I've never seen monuments like that to known criminals.

These three guys were some of the leaders of a violent gang

based here in Yekaterinburg -

a gang that waged a murderous war that made this city the most violent

city in Russia at a time when Russia was consumed by violence.

The gang leaders of the 1990s

still seem to enjoy protection, even in death.

The boss of the powerful Uralmash gang, Alexander Khabarov, is

buried here, and no sooner had we started filming than two

burly men appeared from the shadows.

I think we've got some company on...

HE SPEAKS RUSSIAN

Huh? Sorry, I speak only... I speak English.

Huh?

I'm sorry, I don't understand.

Are we not allowed to film these graves?

Can we just stop and get some pictures?

We just get some shots?

Huh?

He's saying no, don't film.

He's saying we can't film the monuments.

Clearly there's a bit of sensitivity associated with filming them.

Obviously I don't speak Russian but it's fairly clear that he's

telling us we have to leave the cemetery.

That there was a issue with filming them.

Today, Yekaterinburg is a calmer place, but it still exerts a

strongly independent spirit.

This place is the Yekaterinburg Town Hall.

And with any luck, I've got an interview with the mayor!

So the cameraman's allowed in but I apparently have to stay out here.

DISTANT SPEAKING IN RUSSIAN

Last year, an independent candidate, local man Yevgeny Roizman,

won a surprise victory over Vladimir Putin's United Russia.

Yevgeny, Justin from the BBC. Thank you very much for seeing me.

'Over the past years he's continually being asked

'if he had links with the criminal gangs of the '90s,

'something he has always vigorously denied.'

'Roizman is something of a local hero.

'Few other cities have dared to vote against Moscow's wishes.'

To what extent do you think your victory kind of suggests that there

is a possibility of a more kind of democratic form of government?

'Roizman has been hailed as an independent voice

'in a new democratic Russia.

'But whether this really is the beginning of a more democratic era

'for the rest of Russia very much remains to be seen.'

Back in my luxury oligarch tank, I'm still heading north,

a long way north.

-Where is the Arctic Circle? Have a look on...

-I don't know.

-You don't know?

-I don't know.

-Well, how are we gonna find it?

We can see from the road.

We just have to keep an eye out for a sign?

450 miles from Petrozavodsk, I was aiming to reach Polyarnye Zori

and some very northern entrepreneurs.

But first we had to cross the Arctic Circle.

I'm excited, Sergei.

This is gonna be the furthest north I've ever been in my life.

-So far... I'm excited. Me.

-Excited.

-Excited...

-Oh, yeah.

-..because we're going to the Arctic Circle.

-Excited.

Excited. I am excited. Look, excited, happy, because...

-Ah.

-..I'm going to the Arctic Circle, crossing the Arctic Circle.

-OK, I get.

-I'm going further north than I've ever been in my life.

The north, northernmost point I've ever been, yes?

-Yes, yes, me too.

-You too?

-Yes.

-I think you're Russian excited, laid back.

There it is, Sergei, the Arctic Circle!

Ah, yes. Yeah.

That's a Russian reaction.

At last, deep within the icy countryside

I arrive at my destination -

a very modern take on a very traditional business.

Here was a steaming lake packed with fish that are normally only

found in waters thousands of miles to the south.

-Hello, sir!

-Hello.

-Anita.

-Sergei.

-Pleased to meet you, Sergei.

Oh, my Lord, that is one big fish.

I can see it steaming, Sergei. It's very mysterious.

How warm is this water?

-Nine, ten.

-Ten degrees Centigrade?

-Yeah.

Pretty warm cos we've got snow on the mountains up there

and you can see the fog.

It turns out that there's a local nuclear power station nearby,

strictly off limits for our cameras.

The water here is so warm because it's used to cool the reactors.

How cold would this water be

if the power station wasn't here warming it up?

-Nil.

-Zero to minus?

-Mmm.

It's another sign of Russia's new entrepreneurial spirit -

taking advantage of any opportunity anywhere.

This fish farm breeds sturgeon,

the source of a valuable Russian delicacy - caviar.

Is it safe to eat the caviar from these fish?

Where does the caviar come from?

-Look.

-Oh, there's that little hole, look.

There we go. And they milk it.

So you massage the sturgeon and out comes the caviar.

With demand for luxury goods like caviar increasing, the owners

of the farm are doing well and are planning to expand.

Nuclear caviar. SHE LAUGHS

Mmm, it smells great. It smells good. Shall we?

How do you go for it? Shall we just taste a bit?

It's delicious.

Mmm!

They're like tiny, little grapes of saltiness just bursting in my mouth.

And that's how they package it.

Natalya, how much would this cost? How much?

-50.

-50. About £30 for that.

And you know what, it's worth it because that is yummy.

Mmm! Mmm! Mmm-hmm-hmm! Oh, yes, lovely!

At last here we are, Karabash.

Ah, I feel like I've been driving forever!

As Anita powers her way towards Russia's new economic frontier,

my trusty Communist Jeep is still trundling on through

the vastness of old Russia - the resource-rich heartland that

has always fuelled so much of Russia's economy.

140 miles has taken me from Yekaterinburg to Karabash -

one of Russia's many grim industrial towns.

Whoa! These are enormous!

Must be the slag heaps.

Russia has long mined and processed its abundant natural resources.

This area of the country is blessed with oil, coal and iron,

as well as diamonds and gold.

But the riches have come at a price to Russia's environment.

This is like Mad Max.

It's, like, post-apocalyptic.

At one time,

this was reckoned to be the most polluted place on the entire planet.

It still looks pretty polluted to me.

The copper plant here at Karabash is a typical legacy

of old Soviet industry.

It is polluting and inefficient.

Back then, strategic industrial plants like this were hidden

from the world.

And astonishingly, they've agreed to let us in!

BBC?

Put the mask on. Ah.

-Smelter.

-Uh-huh.

-Copper smelter.

-This is the smelter.

It really stinks!

Plants like this are still crucial to Russia's resource-based economy.

Whoa!

And today, in order to sell into world markets, operations

like the Karabash smelter need to modernise and quite literally

clean up their act.

But it's a slow process, as the plant's managing director

Aleksandr Golov explained.

I mean, looking at the plant, it still looks pretty...

kind of pretty rough and ready.

Aleksandr, are you serious there's a natural process of regeneration,

because it looks like a desert?

Undoubtedly this factory is less polluting than it was in

Soviet times, but the legacy of decades of dirty production

is going to take a long time to overcome.

As for me seeking out Russia's new economic frontier, I'm nearly there.

We've nearly made it! The final few kilometres.

Give me a high-five, Sergei. Murmansk!

After three weeks and nearly 3,000 miles from Sochi,

I'm finally in sight of my ultimate destination -

the Arctic city of Murmansk.

This port previously held strategic importance as home to the

Russian Northern Fleet, but today it's becoming Russia's base

to explore and exploit yet more natural resources.

And this is what it's about.

The location of this city, Murmansk, is crucial, because in a few

months' time 6,000 tonnes of metal will be taken from here out

to sea to begin the search for gas and oil - Russian's next frontier.

In this warehouse, the Russians are planning their controversial

assault on the Arctic.

With Norwegian help, these men are building drilling platforms

for the oil and gas industry.

Oh, it's so atmospheric in here, Jan! It's hot, isn't it?

-Yes, it's very metallic.

-Yeah.

The oil and the gas that's out there, somewhere,

what do those resources mean for Norway, for Russia?

For Russia it means a lot, because it's big resources

and it's going to last for many, many years, 30 or 40 years.

Of course, people are very concerned about the impact all this

drilling will have on the environment here.

Should we not be looking elsewhere for our energy?

In my opinion we need this oil and gas for many, many years

because we don't have enough of this alternative energy, so that...

Yeah.

As long as people need oil, I guess people will keep drilling for it?

-That's how it is, yes.

-Yeah. Yeah.

In the coming years, the Arctic could provide yet another

boost to Russia's economy and Murmansk itself could be on

the brink of a new 21st century oil rush.

Over the past three weeks, I've met local entrepreneurs starting

businesses and a whole new generation of Russians who

have never known Communism. I've seen the promise of new,

untapped wealth and I've seen a country bursting with potential.

For me, though, it's the end of my epic road trip.

That's it, I've gone as far as my road will take me and I've

stopped here in what feels like a completely different world.

I've completed my leg of the journey, which was a very long journey,

but in the grand scheme of this vast country, it was tiny.

Out in that direction is the Arctic and its wealth of gas and oil

and potentially the future of Russia's economy.

Arctic oil might represent Russia's future, but I'm travelling to

a place that's a powerful reminder that Russia's past is still

very much alive.

I'm a bit nervous because we're headed towards a place that until

recently, fairly recently, wasn't even...wasn't even on the maps.

It's one of the...

A network of closed cities that used to...

Used to be across Russia and this one was so secret

and so sensitive that it remains closed to this day.

I'm heading to the town of Ozyorsk.

Until a few years ago it was known only by its codename,

Chelyabinsk-65.

Only residents with the correct papers can get in.

Foreigners like me are banned because this town was the

heart of the Soviet atomic weapons programme.

And here is the checkpoint.

I might just get out and have a little look.

I've got to be careful what I do because what I've been told is that

if I...if I approach the guards

there's a 50/50 chance that they'll take me into custody.

Then it could be days before they let me out.

Probably not wise to hang around too long.

-Ooh.

-HE LAUGHS

I think I got away with that.

The reason for such security is only visible from across the lake.

The Mayak nuclear plant, built in total secrecy,

is still in operation today.

While I can't go in, I've arranged to meet a local resident,

Nadezhda Kutepova, who's lived in Chelyabinsk-65 all her life.

So what is the reason why they wanted the city to be closed,

and what happens at the plant?

It was built in 1948 for creation of first Soviet atomic bomb.

So the plutonium for Russia's first nuclear bomb was created here?

Yeah.

'Even family members were sworn to secrecy.'

So what did your father tell you that his job was?

When I asked my father, he answered, "I make paper for candies."

-Sweet wrappings?

-Yeah. Mmm.

-That's what he told you?

-Yeah.

In fact, he was making plutonium for Russia's first atomic bomb.

And there were problems.

The plant has a grim history of radioactive accidents.

In 1957, the underground tank with the high-level radioactive waste

was exploded.

Usually, scientists compare this with the Chernobyl accident.

So when the accident happened,

did the authorities tell people what had happened?

No. No. Many people signed papers about state secrets.

People were afraid, and the people still are afraid.

Coming to a place like this feels

like I've entered a Russian time warp.

It's as if nothing has changed since the Cold War days.

Who knows if it ever will?

Nearly 4,000 miles from the town of Sochi,

I still wanted to explore deeper into old Russia.

But my time was running out and so was the road.

ENGINE REVS

After three weeks, even my Soviet UAZ was calling it a day.

Ahh!

Ah!

After all these miles...

Russia's famous mud has seen to the end of my journey.

I wanted to get up to that hilltop and look out across Siberia.

After everything I've been through on this journey,

my overwhelming impression of this country is how

difficult it is to travel and how vast it is. Such a big country.

And...maybe this is a fitting end,

cos I tell you what,

I really, really want to go home now.

It has been a very long three weeks since we left Sochi and the

splendours of the most expensive Olympics in history -

Russia's showcase to the world.

£30 billion. 50 billion they've spent.

Since then, we've seen two very different sides to an

incredible country.

Like the Olympic Park itself, there's a new Russia out there

exploding with inventiveness and confidence.

This is the privilege of an elite few.

This is modern Russia.

But Russia is vast beyond comprehension

with an ageing infrastructure and attitudes that hark back to

its old autocratic past.

It is clear it still has a long way to go.

As for us, it was time to fly home.

THEY LAUGH

It's cos you blended in, I couldn't recognise you.

You've gone native!

I'm absolutely filthy.

-Look at you!

-I'm absolutely filthy and I am so knackered.

Oh, look at you!

You look a real state. In the nicest way!

I've got something for you. Give you a taste of my trip.

That is the finest, some of the finest Russian caviar.

That is genuinely a fantastic present.

-Nuclear caviar. I bought it with my own money as well.

-Really?

-Yeah.

-I'll tell you what I've got you.

-Go on.

-Absolutely nothing.

-It's been hard, hasn't it?

Yeah, there was nothing there to buy!

-Shall we go home?

-Let's go home now.

-Please let's go home.