Once-closed Russian city opens doors for the World Cup

A picture taken from the Pleiades satellites, operated by Airbus Defence and Space, and released by Airbus June 6, 2018 shows the Nizhny Novgorod Stadium in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia. Pleiades/CNES 2018/Distribution Airbus DS/Handout via Reuters

NIZHNY NOVGOROD, Russia (Reuters) - During the Soviet era, foreigners were prohibited from entering the closed city of Nizhny Novgorod, the site of secret weapons programmes and the city where the famous dissident Andrei Sakharov was sent into internal exile.

Now the ancient Russian city of 1.2 million people has come full circle, welcoming an unprecedented influx of outsiders from at least three continents for half a dozen World Cup matches at its spectacular new riverside stadium.