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Episode details

World Service,01 Sep 2004,22 mins

The Great Divide

Inside Putin's Russia

Available for over a year

Is St Petersburg still the 'window on the west' as Peter the Great intended it or merely 'window-dressing' for the west in Putin's Russia? It may have all the gloss of a Western capital, but how deep does that really go? "Personally I'm very happy that things have changed and communism is a thing of the past ...but don't be under any illusion that we've become a civilised country that shares your values, it'll be decades before that really happens here." Dr Andrey Kupachov. Written and presented by Bridget Kendall. Picture: The Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood, St. Petersburg, Credit: Getty Images

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