Sergei had for years been clinging to hope that his hometown of Sovetskaya Gavan, a once bustling port city in Russia's Far East, would soon see better days. Sovetskaya Gavan had been home to ship construction and repair factories, a vibrant fishing industry, and military personnel of all stripes during Soviet times. However, the factories closed and the military largely left with the fall of communism and the economic turbulence that followed. The population of the greater Sovetskaya Gavan area has tumbled by a staggering 40 percent over the ensuing…
