As Putin once more readies himself for the presidency, Elena Godlevskaya surveys the level of opposition in Oryol region. People are starting to wake up, she says, but they aren't entirely sure what to do yet.
In Western Russia's Red Belt effectively only the Communist Party and 'United Russia' are fielding candidates, often carpetbaggers parachuted in from elsewhere. This enrages local voters who feel themselves disenfranchised, says Elena Godlevskaya
The sleepy city of Oryol has erupted in terrorism. Investigations revealed how frustration at the state of Russia led security officers — the new nobility as their former boss calls them — to join the Oryol Partisans. Is this a one off or part of a wider movement?
In 2004, some local journalists in Oryol founded an independent newspaper ‘for those who want the truth’. Although it sold well, members of staff were subject to threats, bribes, attacks and arson. Still, it lasted four years.
Corruption has always been part of Russian life, and the Oryol region today just offers a rather extreme example, says Elena Godlevskaya. Some of the main perpetrators have been named, but the punishment being meted out to them is a joke.
Life in Oryol has changed little since Ivan Turgenev wrote about it 160 years ago, though the villages he described are disappearing. Earlier this year President Medvedev removed the governor who had been in place for 16 years and some of his officials are now on trial. The resulting snap election
