On 8 September 2011, the Northern city of Yaroslavl hosted its ‘Global Policy Forum’, a showcase project of Medvedev, in the hope of putting Russia on the world map on the scale of events such as Davos. It took place in the city’s Hockey Stadium. As a result, a scheduled match of the popular Yaroslavl Hockey team was moved out of the stadium and the team was due to fly out on the second day of the Conference. The flight crashed, and all the players were killed.

I left the conference and went outside to join the crowd of mourners that was steadily assembling outside, after that attending the press conference of the progressive governor of Yaroslavl who had hoped that the event would help power his dream of turning Yaroslavl region into a leading developmental hub.

The presentation was never made.