The Soviet Union had invaded Afghanistan in 1980 such processions in Orel and other Russian cities were not uncommon. We could see the body, a 20-year-old perhaps, in a paratrooper’s uniform. The casket, carried on the shoulders of young guys in sailors’ vests and blue berets, was open. The road was blocked by a funeral procession. My friends and I were on the bus, a group of 14-year-olds from Orel, some 220 miles southeast of Moscow, returning home after judo practice, when the traffic suddenly stopped. I have a clear memory of that July day in 1987.
