Will Putin’s Petersburg past come back to haunt him?

Vladimir Putin’s image as the hard man, the only one who can pilot Russia through turbulent skies, is a carefully cultivated one. But on the eve of the presidential election, more questions are being asked about him than ever before.

Some of the answers may lie six hours’ drive from St Petersburg, in a remote dacha, with an elderly woman who worked with Vladimir Putin when he was St Petersburg deputy mayor in the early 1990s.

She has carefully hoarded her store of documents. Former St Petersburg official Marina Salye told Channel 4 News: “I’ll tell you that from this document, signed by Putin, all $124m disappeared without a trace.”

Mr Putin has said he never signed any such documents.

Read more: Has Putin's FSB turned Russia into a police state?

Blocked investigation

It was a time of extreme hardship and turmoil. In 1991 people queued to buy rationed food. Soldiers were despatched to harvest the fields.

The city authorities signed contracts with what turned out to be fake firms to barter timber, aluminium and other commodities for food, but the food never arrived. When Marina Salye investigated, she was blocked.

Mr Putin has said the St Petersburg city council should have done more to stop what he called shady businesses but has denied any personal connection with the fraud.

Digging up the past

Corruption is a major theme in this weekend’s election. All the candidates, including Vladimir Putin, say they will fight it.

His opponents say he and his associates are to blame, but his supporters say only Mr Putin can address Russia’s problems.

Twelve years ago, when Marina Salye first tried to tell her story of corruption in St Petersburg in the 1990s, no-one wanted to listen. But times have changed.

Now growing numbers of Russians are protesting against the government. Vladimir Putin’s re-election is sure, but more people are now interested in digging up the past to challenge him in the future.

Read more: 'Undemocratic' Putin fires Russia's opposition