Moscow is not entirely "Russian" - much more cosmopolitan than the rest of the country, of course.. St.Petersburg as the old capital would be the same, but Putin has spent much of his active life there and he is a very popular figure in this corner of Russia.. The classic corruption has sort of died out. Street gangs riding in BMWs and shooting in the streets, that's (mostly) gone.. This has been replaced by a much more sophisticated system of white collar mafia controlling many official businesses worth billions.. today's villains are lawyers and bankers wearing Gucci suits and Russia is not different..