Vladivostok, Russia’s far-flung eastern outpost, was once proud and thriving – headquarters to a superpower’s awesome Pacific fleet. Now it’s a broken down place, gripped by savage cold. Vladivostok has just suffered the worst winter in 50 years. What made it even more desperate was the collapse of the city’s neglected heating systems and a power grid that simply ran out of fuel. Regional governor Evgeny Nazdratenko is accused of nepotism, corruption and of thieving money from the coal budget. We find a community shivering with rage, in squalid apartments where heating systems have broken down. Some march to blockade the Trans-Siberian rail link - hoping to summon aid from Moscow. Many miss the good old days of reliable Soviet warmth. The cold war was never this cold…

Produced by ABC Australia