From the ashes of the Soviet Union, Russia has again risen to world power status, with money, oil and attitude. The country has embraced capitalism and flung its door wide open to all the luxuries money can buy. Yet dark forces remain, and democracy is dead. This series looks at the winners and losers of Russia’s resurgence and asks why people are willing to support Putinism, exchange freedom for wealth, and participate in modern empire-building.

Spring arrives in Siberia as life stirs beneath the snow that has smothered it for half a year. The four of us set off for Baikal, the world’s deepest lake, near Russia’s border with Mongolia. For several months each year Baikal – the world’s largest body of fresh water, more voluminous than all the North American Great Lakes combined – freezes so solidly that locals drive their cars and lorries over it to reach towns that are only accessible by boats in summer. We trek 90 km from the eastern bank to the west, taking in the fabled Olkhon Island on the way. We waited until March because February would be too cold; but rising temperatures have already opened a web of cracks underfoot that regularly kill those who fall through.

Rupert and Kristin believe horses and shamans can unlock their son’s autistic mind. So they saddle up and take an incredible journey with their five-year-old Rowan across the Mongolian grassland on a quest for a miracle cure.