The image of Russia that flashed across world television screens last weekend was violent and repressive, almost a throwback to its Soviet past, with riot police beating pro-democracy demonstrators and hauling away old women who tried to intervene.

Yet from the dark-panelled office of Sergei Ivanov, for six years Russian defence minister and recently promoted to first deputy prime minister, Russia seems a different place, of robust growth, massive resources and rising salaries. Continuity and stability are what count.