Murmansk itself inspires little hope. The world's largest city north of the Arctic Circle, with a population of 380,000, it seems encased in a Soviet-era amber of substandardness. The Soviet Union formally expired almost a decade ago. The town's main drag is still called Lenina Prospekt, and a statue of Lenin himself remains the avenue's most prominent feature. Many cars sport cracked windshields.
Many people wear worry-lined faces and dress in shabby shades of brown and gray.
Nearly everyone smokes, and many walkers on the avenue swill cheap beer. The air reeks of industrial fumes. With the Northern Fleet in nearby Severomorsk starved for funds, the local economy has little to support it except for the port and adjoining rail depot. These facilities limp along with shipments of coal and other commodities. But just as in Severomorsk, crime is rampant along the docks.