Russian bullet train whirrs past bleak lives

Our first stop is Klin, a nondescript town 90km outside Moscow.

Its main claim to fame is composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, who spent his summers here.

The town hopes the legacy of the great 19th-Century composer will help revive its 21st-Century fortunes.

Two years ago a well-connected businessman, Igor Chaika, launched an ambitious project to turn Klin into a Russian Salzburg, like Mozart’s much-visited birthplace in Austria.

There were plans to revamp the town centre, build a metro, and start an annual Tchaikovsky festival.

Two years on, Igor Chaika has pulled out, but his name and the project featured in a widely-publicised opposition video last year, accusing him and his father – Russia’s chief prosecutor Yuri Chaika – of corruption. Both deny the allegations.

Klin still has no metro, but there is a music festival, and Alyona Sokolskaya, the town’s smartly-dressed mayor, is happy to talk about it.

But when I ask about Igor Chaika, the conversation abruptly ends.

“Are you here to interview me or to talk about Chaika?” she asks icily, and I am escorted from the building by security.