MOSCOW — A short drive outside of Moscow, luxury shopping malls stand out against the heirloom forest, their large glass windows advertising Ferrari and Prada. Russian President Vladimir Putin and many senior civil servants travel this route to their dachas (summer homes) in convoys of black limousines with blaring sirens
A suburban development another 15 minutes out looks like a showcase for life in Russia’s upper middle class. Businessmen, bureaucrats, journalists, a prominent event producer, a lobbyist, and bankers all live here.
A high-ranking government bureaucrat lives in a large mansion at the far end of the development. The handyman who takes care of the property is Ukrainian, but over the last half a year, since Russia occupied Crimea, he has been telling people that he is Belorussian.
One mansion houses a family of refugees from Ukrainian Slovyansk, a city taken by pro-Russian rebels who have since fled. The family’s Ukraine apartment was requisitioned by pro-Russian separatists ahead of heavy fighting with Ukrainian government troops in early May. When a firing point was established in their living room, the family left their home and came to Moscow to stay with friends.