Quotes from Anne Garrels

was killed because he was an ethnic Tatar. Interethnic abuse is common in the military

Like every Russian city, Chelyabinsk has an impressive monument to those who died during World War II.

President Putin declared a holiday to give couples time off to make babies, and on one Valentine's Day he urged couples to do their patriotic duty and procreate.

In 2012, corruption even by official statistics was eating up one-third of the state budget.

I love my country but hate the government and see no one, no one who can lead us.

I would give my life for this country, but this country would do nothing for my wife and child had I died.

many, despite the boom in oil and raw material prices, are finally dying.

Russians are trying to figure out who they are and where they fit into the world.

Irina harbors a resentment, almost an outright hatred of the West. She is a proud Russian

She regrets the breakup of the Soviet Union and blames Western-imported corruption

In the early 1990s, Chelyabinsk, like the rest of Russia, was flooded with foreign missionaries

The Orthodox Church has been central to Russian identity and empire since 988,

concentrate on Stalin's development of the country and its victory, against all odds, in World War II.

his belief that the Orthodox Church is once again little more than a corrupt government asset.

Russians now say they are Orthodox believers,

Chelyabinsk was at the center of the war effort.

She misses the surety of Soviet patriotism that she grew up with,

produced eighteen thousand tanks, almost fifty thousand tank diesel engines, and more than seventeen million units of ammunition.

Archbishop Feofan, was appointed with the specific task of raising up the church

that the Orthodox Church must be the country's unifying force,

For him, the resurrection of the church means the resurrection of Russia.

agrees that the fates of the church and Russia are inextricably intertwined.

Orthodoxy is our roots, the roots from which our country evolved,

public demonstrations, a freer press, and freer elections were not enough to keep the Soviet Union together.