An interesting piece by Joshua Kucera at Slate: Where Russia Meets China

IRKUTSK, Russia—When you’re the leader of a fringe political group, a cafe called “I’m Waiting for a UFO” may not be the best place to take a visiting journalist. But it’s possible that alien abduction is more likely than what Mikheil Kulekhov is working for: Siberian independence.

Kulekhov claims solidarity with other secessionist movements, which, he says, are everywhere in Russia. But at least for now, Russia is heading in the opposite direction. Regional governors used to be elected by local voters, but in 2004, then-President Vladimir Putin changed the law and decided to appoint the governors directly, greatly increasing the Kremlin’s authority over Russia’s far-flung regions. This would become a running theme throughout my trip: how distant Moscow rules Siberia imperiously, with little regard for the wishes of the people here. The word colony came up again and again in conversation.