“Everything’s for fucking sale.”
Sochi
The Olympic Land Grab
Officials in Sochi introduce a new Olympic discipline.
Skating in a Swamp
The Olympic Park has sprouted up on a drained wetland that until a few years ago was a state farm.
The Pearl of Sochi
Fleecing tourists is the name of the game.
Potemkin Olympic Village
The world is looking to Sochi, a Soviet resort that Vladimir Putin dreams of turning into a cross between St. Moritz and Saint-Tropez.
I got an inside look during numerous reporting trips. My blog-memoir is now being published here, on Medium.com.
At Putin’s Dacha
Putin’s love of Sochi is the sole reason that Russia’s only subtropical city will host the Winter Olympics.
Russian Riviera
Sochi was just a provincial backwater when I first visited.
Putin’s Shadow Looms Over Mayoral Race in Olympic City of Sochi
Vladislav Funtyakov, a member of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party, is losing the faith. When the Sochi city councilman tried to enter the mayoral race in his hometown, site of the 2014 Winter Olympics, his application was rejected.