The walled Solovetsky Monastery at dusk. John Poole/NPR hide caption

A fisherman looks at sturgeon lying in a boat on the Volga River near Astrakhan in August 2000. The communities around Astrakhan are struggling as the sturgeon population plummeted during recent decades. Oleg Nikishin/Newsmakers/Getty Images News hide caption

Russian veterans of World War II attend a Victory Day event in Volgograd, formerly Stalingrad, May 8, 2010. The site of one of the bloodiest and most important battles of World War II, Volgograd and its residents are struggling to find their way in post-Soviet Russia. Mikhail Mordasov/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

While Russia's president, Vladimir Putin visits a farm in the Volga region, outside Saratov, in September 2004. Since then, Putin has helped bail out farmers in the area, but many observers worry about his party's seemingly pervasive power. Alexey Panov/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

A day after leaving Moscow, travelers can see colorful churches along the forested banks of the Volga. They share the banks with mansions of Russia's nouveau riche. Anne Garrels/NPR hide caption

Russia's Volga River travels 2,300 miles through the country's heartland. It is the source of Russia's power, spanning from imperial times to the present. Here, a cruise ship travels down the Moscow-Volga canal, heading into the river. Anne Garrels/NPR hide caption

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev (right) and Defense Minister Anatoly Serdiukov inspect a Russian soldier's military uniform Oct. 8 at a base outside Moscow. The two leaders are spearheading a massive and highly controversial overhaul of the Russian military. Dmitry Astakhov/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

A young conventual sings during an Orthodox Easter celebration Mass at the St. Nicholas convent in the town of Maloyaroslavets, about 80 miles southwest of Moscow, in April 2004. Denis Sinyakov/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov (right) and Russian parliament deputy Adam Delimkhanov pray at a mosque in Chechnya's capital, Grozny. Musa Sadulayev/AP hide caption

Demonstrators in Moscow hold photos of journalist Mikhail Beketov last year during a protest against a brutal attack on him for investigating allegations of corruption. President Dmitry Medvedev says Russia's biggest problem is corruption among local officials. But attacks on anti-graft crusaders continue in the country. Mikhail Metzel/AP hide caption

A boy chops wooden pallets next to a Russian-made Lada in the suburbs of Sofia, Bulgaria. Russian automaker AvtoVAZ has announced it will lay off 25,000 employees from its plant in Togliatti, where 1 in 7 residents is employed by the manufacturer. Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin speaks at an international investment forum in the Black Sea resort of Sochi earlier this month. Despite efforts to push U.S.-Russia business ties, obstacles remain: Close friends of Putin dominate boardrooms, while businessmen who have not supported the current government have found themselves the victims of hostile takeovers. Alexei Druzhinin/AP/RIA Novosti hide caption

Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, the president of Ingushetia, speaks Aug. 22 at the site of the police compound attack in Nazran. He vowed no mercy in fighting a bloody Islamist insurgency as he returned to Ingushetia two months after being badly wounded in an assassination attempt. Kazbek Basayev/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

An undated photo of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin. STR/AFP/Getty Imges hide caption