Inside Vladimir Putin's world of bunkers, body doubles and growing paranoia

The area around Valdai is straight out of a fairytale.

Tucked deep in a national park between Moscow and Saint Petersburg, hills bursting with birch and pine rise to one side of the town.

On the other, a vast network of glacial lakes extends as far as the eye can see. Crisp summer days here often begin with mist lingering over the water. In winter, the dense green forest turns white as branches bow under the weight of fresh snow.

It's easy to see why Vladimir Putin loves this place, although the locals don't really talk about that. Politics is a taboo subject for Russians and in Valdai - home to around 14,000 people, if the country's notoriously unreliable population stats are to be believed - that's absolutely the case.