The work force dwindled to 2,500. Some of the younger and smarter engineers went to work for a successful Moscow cellular telephone company. On the verge of being forced into bankruptcy, the institute was given a reprieve by President Boris Yeltsin, who decreed in November that it could not be forced to close. But the halls of its headquarters are silent. In the entrance, a kerosene heater roars loudly.
Wires hang from ceilings, the linoleum floors buckle underfoot.
On the other hand, I am ready and willing to repair any electronic equipment, VCRs, tape recorders, automobiles, do construction. Though, by profession, I am a physicist, an engineer. In a vivid reminder of how far they had fallen, Vinogradov said the scientists got a special pass for people who haven't been paid allowing them to ride the buses and subway free. In a twist that is deep with irony, the problem of ballistic missiles is gaining fresh attention around the world. One of the first places they looked for help was post-Soviet Russia.