Russia: Rejecting The West?

through southern Russia, the Urals

and Siberia to explore how deep

Russia's rejection of the West now

runs.

Under Vladimir Putin, a tragic

feeling has surged. To many

Russians, he is the strong man who

stood up to the West.

This country once embraced

Western-style freedoms and

democracy. Now there is increasing

talk of Russian values and a Russian

ways. Here in the frozen heart of

Siberia, it feels an extremely long

way from Europe in every sense. But

politics aside, in some ways, west

and east now feel more similar than

ever.

As Vladimir Putin stands for a

fourth term as president, I have

been travelling around the country

to see how deep Russia's rejection

of the West now runs.

It stands as silent testimony to a

brutal past. A time of paranoia and

total Power. This is the only part

of Stalin's do about survived. But

this was a prison camp -- Gulag that

survived. This was a prison camp

into the 1980s, where Serbia Russia

sent its political opponents. Now

there is a fight for its history,

with those who dig too deep branded

enemy agents of the West. -- Soviet

Russia. This man found at the Museum

over 20 years ago, recovering the

stories of those held prisoner. But

Perm 36 has now been taken over by

the authorities. Victor's

organisation was labelled a foreign

agent. He says the focus of the

museum then started to shift.

TRANSLATION: Before there was you

public interest in the history of

the Gulag. Now that interest has

died and the dominant idea now is

that the Gulag was necessary for the

country and the economy and for

discipline and order.

The physical

reminders have been preserved, but

staff admit there were moves here

that seemed to justify all this,

even a plan to add the memoirs of

prison guards.

Dress? Russia is

trying to build a more powerful

state, so perhaps there is a policy

dictated from above that says we

don't need to remember all the bad

things, let's just remember the good

things.

These days Russia sees

threats to its power in unlikely

places. This place here is the only

gay club in Perm, and we have been

invited to meet the local drag queen

who is performing. Every weekend,

Ruslan is transformed. A factory

worker by day, I night he becomes

whoever he wants. The painstaking

makeover takes several hours. The

crowd in this basement club are out

and proud, but beyond these walls

many conceal their sexuality. Ruslan

accepts his double life as a Russian

reality. Gay pride has become a slur

here, gay rights seen as a concept

imposed by the West.

TRANSLATION: If

gay people are and not forced to

talk about it openly or are out in

company -- out in public, we are

fine. Russia's borders are open. If

you want to hold hands with your

boyfriend in the street and kiss and

have everyone clapped, then go for

it. Buy a ticket and travel.

But at

Perm's only LGBT support group, they

are too nervous to even put a sign

on the door. Under Vladimir Putin it

has become a crime to promote

homosexuality to the young, and

police have raided this group twice

to check out their activity. When we

came they were discussing famous gay

figures from history. On other days,

Masha provides counselling and

support. We met up again at the flat

she and Nadia share with their pets.

Masha does not mention her sexuality

at work. A child psychologist, she

is worried he would be accused of

gay and the gander. Nadia tells me

everyone has heard of the new law

and it has made the climate here

much worse. -- a propaganda.

TRANSLATION: They found an enemy and

that is it. There are a lot of

problems here but if you can blame

the gaze for everything there is

money to sort anything else out. It

has always been the way in Russia.

-- big

in some corners, Russia looks

increasingly conservative.

Like

many, Igor discovered religion when

the atheist Soviet Union fell apart.

Deep in the countryside he and his

family live what they now call a

traditional life. The couple say

they are children of perestroika.

But along with new freedoms, Igor

says the 1990s wrought a cascade of

corrupting influences from the rest

and he -- from the West and he

regrets that.

TRANSLATION:

Unfortunately society is moving away

from Christian values. This is

happening slowly but surely. There

is a rejection of traditional family

relationships and fewer people are

having children. But we are

resisting this.

The local church

became a cheese factory in soppy at

times. It is now open to worship

again. -- Soviet times. And Igor

says the congregation has been

growing, partly through bigger

families. So they are collecting

funds to restore the rest of the

building, one small piece in Russia

a snack orthodox revival. --

Russia's orthodox revival. Far away

in Rostov, we found Cossacks riding

into battle, or at least a

constructive one. They are another

force now enjoying a revival. The

Cossacks see themselves as born

warriors. Defenders of Russia's

borders the centuries. These days

their brand of patriotism is on the

rise. This battle of the civil war

is now being replayed. The Cossacks

taking on the red Army. It is part

of the historical re-enactment, but

it also about patriotic action here.

Many of these people are young

student at Cossack schools. Vitaly

is a tutor, and is playing a key

person in the battle.

Cossacks want

to serve their country and their

land, I think this is important, too

raise our children as defenders.

The

boy said they want to become offices

in the Russian army one day, they

said loving their country is the

most important thing. So what do

they make of the hostility now

between Russia and the West?

TRANSLATION: I had never thought

about it. To me what happens in my

own country is more important.

And

what about all the new Cold War

talk?

TRANSLATION: We don't really

have any negative thoughts about the

West.

But when conflicts came to

eastern Ukraine, other Cossacks were

among those who joined the fight.

For them it was about protecting

fellow Russian speakers, and land

that many here treat as their own.

The border is just a short drive

away. We can't take a camera any

further down here, but this is a

road that leads directly to eastern

Ukraine, where officially there is a

ceasefire now. But in actuality are

fighting still goes on almost every

day. And it is from here that Russia

has been supporting and supplying

that conflict right from the very

start. Russians who died fighting in

Ukraine are remembered here as

heroes. The Kremlin still denies

sending serving soldiers, despite

the evidence. But the war was a

breaking point in relations with the

West. I tried asking a passing woman

about the conflict. She agreed many

locals did go to Ukraine, but I

don't want to talk, she said,

especially to the BBC. Alexandr,

though, did agree to meet. He went

to fight in Ukraine himself and

helped many other volunteers are. He

insists there was a coup in Kiev,

backed by the West. View is that

sound radical are now mainstream

here.

Dress? Volunteer fighters felt

they had to take part in the war,

because if they didn't then there

towns would be next. Ukraine is just

the beginning. We know how things

will progress. We remember Iraq and

Afghanistan. It is the West that

wants to divide up our country.

It

is chilling talk, at the signals

come from the very top. Since

flooding and Putin was last

collected six years ago, Russia has

been painting the West as an enemy.

A force that won the Cold War and

then rubbed Russia's face in it. Now

Moscow is pushing back. And yet all

of this is happening when Russia

looks more western than ever even

here a long way from the capital.

Foreign brands and tastes are now

part of life, even as politics drive

east and west apart. That growing

gulf worries some here. Maria is the

creative force behind this business,

one of a cluster of fashionable new

places in Rostov. She is full of

energy and optimism about her brand,

with plans to expand sales to the

West. She is deeply pessimistic

about the politics of Vladimir

Putin. And how his message is pushed

by Russia's powerful state-run

media.

TRANSLATION: Instead of

talking about problems we have

inside the country, they talk about

how we are surrounded by enemies who

all want the West -- worse for us.

It is really scary because it leaves

everything out, and then people

think you need to push back.

Otherwise we will be overrun and

destroyed.

Maria tells me the

hostility could be reversed, though,

and quickly, if the message changed.

In the meantime, this is her latest,

the bar she opened recently across

the road. She and her friends don't

see the West as an enemy. To them it

is somewhere to trade with and

travel to. For Maria, it is also

representing the democratic values

she thinks Russia has lost.

To flesh

we are Europeans, we have a European

mentality. We are also Russians but

in Europe. I like to think that

Russians share European values

somewhere inside themselves.

Today's

Russia though is steering a path

away from Europe. With no sign it

plans to turn back.

As Russia's relations with the West

have entered a deep freeze, the

climate at home has changed too. The

1990s brought a burst of new

freedoms, a move towards

Western-style democracy. But slowly,

controls have been reimposed. Our

journey to explore that broadcast

next to Siberia and to TV2. Three

years ago Patel was forced to stop

broadcasting. Since we have been

here the cat has even been removed.

TV2 want to buy this entire

building. Since the channel has been

taken on air, there is just a

handful of people working here, so

we have come along to see what the

newsroom is like these days.

This place was

This place was Viktor's light for a

20 years. Now this independent TV

Channel is just a lot of expensive

equipment gathering gust.

Officially, TV2 was shut down over a

licence dispute. But Viktor does not

buy that. The channel's reports are

annoyed officials in Tomsk. The team

found that was their job. But

reining in the free press was one of

Vladimir Putin's first moves as

president. TV2 was one of the last

survivors.

TRANSLATION:

Is obvious that we were

no threat here in Tomsk. But the

authorities are constantly afraid of

revolution or losing control. They

want to control everything, but that

is impossible. And they don't trust

anyone.

Back home, Viktor and his

wife showed me how other media have

been tamed. When there were protests

against closing TV2, Tomsk says

state-run channels ignore them.

TRANSLATION:

That is you how free

they are. If there is an order not

to show something, they won't.

Most

disturbing for this couple is how

quickly the new reality has been

accepted. Here in the frozen heart

of Siberia, it feels an extremely

long way from Europe in every sense.

But politically speaking, Tomsk was

a relatively liberal city in Russian

terms for many years. But all of

that has been changing. On the

streets, though, nobody seemed too

bothered by that. -- seems.

TRANSLATION:

TV2 has a right to

exist, of course, but I am a

supporter of Vladimir Putin. I will

vote for him.

TRANSLATION:

I am for Vladimir

Putin. Everyone is happy with them.

Why do we need anyone else. There is

no wars. He managed to agree with

everyone. He does everything right.

I like at all.

Those are close to

the President, life can be tough.

Last year, Xenia's car was covered

in paint and the tyres slashed. Men

entered the building in the dead of

night and sealed up her flat. Taking

me back to the scene, Xenia is sure

that she was targeted as an activist

for Alexey Nizami. Mr Fitton

greatest critic has been barred from

running for office. -- Mr Putin. But

she think it was a warning.

TRANSLATION:

It was clearly to

frighten us and to put other

supporters off, so that others think

twice before going to a rally for

Alexei Navalny, if this is how it

can end.

Undeterred, Xenia still

runs a Alexei Navalny's offers here

in Tomsk. She was eight when

Vladimir Putin came to power. Now

26, she thinks it is well past time

for a change. So her team are

helping train monitors for the

election will stop Xenia calls it a

fake vote in any case, and as

Vladimir Putin's last term brought

war and sanctions, she is worried

what the next might hold.

TRANSLATION:

I want Russia to

continue as part of Western

civilisation, and not closed off

behind a wall. Yes, we want to be

seen as equals. We want to protect

our interests, but we do not want to

be seen as North Korea. We don't

want to be isolated.

That seems to

be the direction the country is

heading in, though. We travelled

north to St Petersburg to

investigate claims that Russia's

information war is now targeting the

West, too. From here, the Kremlin

has been accused of using the

Internet to manipulate opinion at

home and abroad. And this building

has become notorious as Russia's

troll factory. It is mostly empty

now. The signs as it is up for rent.

But an investigation in the United

States -based Mustafi at operated as

an online army designed to sow

discord in America. Ludmila shows me

a fake character she helped to

create. She took information and

leaked it from inside the troll

factory. Her own focus was on

Russian content, but she says that

they worked in shifts posting up to

80 times a day.

TRANSLATION:

I would say thousands

of posts appearing on every news

story, right before my eyes. If a

troll spoke about America or

Ukraine, it had to be negative. If

it was Putin's or Russia's military,

it was positive. They got written

instructions of what to present and

the conclusion is that people should

draw.

Ludmila thinks that very few

trolls are driven by patriotism. She

tells me it is about the money, and,

if a new boss instructed them to

criticise Putin, they would. And it

seems the trolls are still

operating. We have been told that

the troll factory has mooted this

premises. I am coming to see if any

of these people in the smoking

shelter opposite work there and what

they can tell me. The man tells me

he has seen here and he does not

like what they do. Inside, I managed

to speak to the director of one firm

named in the US indictment, but he

would not comment on camera its

work. 2000 kilometres away Perm as

weathered all the twists and turns

since the soviet Union fell apart.

It was the home to Soviet factories

for decades and closed to

foreigners. Then a dry day

transformation. -- then it tried a

transformation. Perm was to become a

capital of culture not just for

Russia but the world. It began with

investment in public art. This giant

structure is a reminder of the

cultural Revolution here in Perm. A

hugely ambitious project to open the

city to the world and rebranded

through art as a modern and

progressive place but that

experiment ended abruptly, and there

are now signs that Perm, like

Russia, is moving in the opposite

direction. The contemporary arts

Museum has survived, but its founder

and the mastermind of Perm's

decimation was sacked. The shows he

curated were deliberate. He said

there were times that Perm felt like

New York. Now there are limits to

what she can do here.

TRANSLATION:

The fact that the

museum is vulnerable makes a self

censor. The most important thing is

for us to maintain our institution.

We don't lower the bar and lower our

artistic repetition. We just lower

that average. That is the price.

In

Perm, as across this country, the

political tide has turned. Vladimir

Putin's vision now is of a Russia

that is strong and assertive,

rejecting the West that is hostile

and subversive being part of that.

On our journey, we found many

Russians who don't share that view.

But no one who expects change here

any time soon.