"Civil society" is a loaded concept in Russia; during the Soviet period, the voices that heralded civil society were the same ones that demanded the Union's dis
Lake Baikal in Siberia is a global treasure, ecologically unique, and local environmentalists have been striving for decades to protect it. Spanning the Soviet/
Siberia's Lake Baikal is one of nature's most magnificent creations, the largest and deepest body of fresh water in the world. And yet it is nearly unknown outs