Most of the couple's friends also have left Russia. Many have gone to the United States, while others went to Germany, Scandinavia or Great Britain. Mrs. Sokolovskaya acknowledged this brain drain hurts her country, but said the people must leave to live. There is no money,'' she said, her voice rising and her hands gesturing emphatically. We have no choice but to leave.'' Back in Russia, those with no chance of escaping are hit hard.
Basic survival takes everything they've got.
There is no room for luxuries. The struggle to survive is etched on gray, somber faces waiting stolidly in the snow for the next overloaded bus. They do not even cough when noxious, metallic-smelling exhaust blows in their faces. It is written in the wrinkles of old women searching garbage cans for food scraps. It is scarred into the blank stares of middle-aged men who lost their jobs when the factory closed and have no skills to get another.