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From Brezhnev To Putin -- 30 Years In Russia

Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev died on November 10, 1982. In the three decades since, Russia has experienced glasnost, perestroika, an attempted coup, hyperinflation, an oil-price boom, and what some fear is a return to Soviet-style rule. RFE/RL presents a series of images illustrating how some things have changed in the past 30 years.
Workers attach an election poster featuring Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, appealing to people to vote for the United Russia political party, onto an office building in the southern city of Krasnodar late last year.
2 Workers attach an election poster featuring Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, appealing to people to vote for the United Russia political party, onto an office building in the southern city of Krasnodar late last year.
A customer compares smoked sausages in a Moscow hypermarket.
4 A customer compares smoked sausages in a Moscow hypermarket.
Passengers read newspapers in the Moscow Metro in 1982.
5 Passengers read newspapers in the Moscow Metro in 1982.
New Moscow apartment buildings can be seen under construction in early 1982.
7 New Moscow apartment buildings can be seen under construction in early 1982.
Students practice their craft at a hairdressers vocational school in 1982.
9 Students practice their craft at a hairdressers vocational school in 1982.
Staff attend to customers at a McDonald's restaurant in Moscow.
12 Staff attend to customers at a McDonald's restaurant in Moscow.
A model displays a casual dress in Moscow in 1982.
13 A model displays a casual dress in Moscow in 1982.
Models present creations by Russian designer Viktoria Andreyanova at the Volvo Fashion Week in Moscow last month.
14 Models present creations by Russian designer Viktoria Andreyanova at the Volvo Fashion Week in Moscow last month.
A woman displays products and a State Quality Mark of the U.S.S.R., the highest certification of quality, in the shop at the Perm telephone production plant in 1982.
15 A woman displays products and a State Quality Mark of the U.S.S.R., the highest certification of quality, in the shop at the Perm telephone production plant in 1982.
A woman talks on a phone near an office of Russia's MTS mobile phone operator, with a billboard displaying the firm's logo behind her, in Moscow.
16 A woman talks on a phone near an office of Russia's MTS mobile phone operator, with a billboard displaying the firm's logo behind her, in Moscow.
The Soviet ZiL-114 limousine was reserved for top party and government officials.
17 The Soviet ZiL-114 limousine was reserved for top party and government officials.
The Central Telegraph building (Moscow's central post office) on Gorky Street, now Tverskaya Street, is decorated to mark the 65th anniversary of the October Revolution. The slogan above the entrance reads, "Long live the Leninist Communist Party of the Soviet Union!" The building is decorated with portraits of members of the Politburo. The Intourist Hotel to the left has since been demolished and replaced by the five-star Ritz-Carlton.
19 The Central Telegraph building (Moscow's central post office) on Gorky Street, now Tverskaya Street, is decorated to mark the 65th anniversary of the October Revolution. The slogan above the entrance reads, "Long live the Leninist Communist Party of the Soviet Union!" The building is decorated with portraits of members of the Politburo. The Intourist Hotel to the left has since been demolished and replaced by the five-star Ritz-Carlton.
Moscow's Kremlin and Foreign Ministry is seen with the Moscow City business district in the background.
20 Moscow's Kremlin and Foreign Ministry is seen with the Moscow City business district in the background.
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