This article from the NY Times is worth posting here. It’s a very sad portrait of what is happening along the busiest stretch of road in the country – the highway that connects St. Petersburg to Moscow.

I can’t help but be sad for the rural part of Russia, which is the overwhelming majority of it. What we are doing in the city must one day reach out for this country to reach its destiny.

http://www.nytimes.com/newsgraphics/2013/10/13/russia/?src=recg