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In this episode of Trint’s “A Photo A Story”, Jeff speaks about being sent to post-Soviet Russia in 1998 for CBS Evening News. In Moscow it was a time when the euphoria of the collapse of the Soviet Union gave way to despair and hardship. Boris Yeltsin was dying, the economy had collapsed and the ruble lost two thirds of its value. 

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Jeff and his team travelled north to the city of Kostroma, where the consequences of the economic crisis were severe. The supermarkets were filled with food but people could not afford to buy it. It was an experience that gave Jeff a profound perspective on the hardships faced by many in the aftermath of an economic collapse.

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Watch the video above or see Trint in action by viewing a read-only link of this transcript, with playback features to read-along with the video. Or if you’d just like the text, you’ll find Jeff’s story below.

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Jeff: [00:00:00] People were coming in begging for food for their families. And it was just an awful scene. And what was really strange was that the supermarkets had food. People just couldn't afford it. 

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Jeff: [00:00:23] This is my press pass from 1998 when I did bureau duty in Moscow for CBS Evening News. I was sent there for a couple of months. Boris Yeltsin was president and it was a particularly important time in post-Soviet Russia because just a few months earlier, the economy had completely collapsed. 

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Jeff: [00:00:42] The Russian ruble lost two thirds of its value. It went from six to the U.S. dollar to 18 to the U.S. dollar. And it meant that people didn't have the money to sustain themselves and winter had set in. But the story was really outside of Moscow, because Russia is really two countries, Moscow and the rest. And we drove to Kostroma, about six hours north of Moscow. It was winter where the consequences of that economic collapse were so much more severe than they were in Moscow. 

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Jeff: [00:01:12] We went to the local Red Cross and met some really wonderful people, I remember who really were committed to trying to help people. But they didn't have the resources. They didn't have the supplies, and people were coming in begging for food for their families. And it was just an awful scene. And you have to remember, it is winter. It is cold. 

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Jeff: [00:01:29] There's this image that captures just how cold it is that we came across this wooden box in the town square with flowers in it and some candles. And I looked and I realized this was a flower seller. And she was using candles to keep the flowers warm enough that the freezing temperatures outside wouldn't kill them before she could sell them. But we then went on to a supermarket, which, to our surprise, was filled with food, but people didn't have any money to buy, and they were literally walking the aisles looking for food and leaving. 

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Jeff: [00:02:02] While we were at the Red Cross, a woman came in asking for help and we talked to her with our interpreter. She offered to take us to her very, very modest apartment, which was just two rooms. Drafty, no heat, a simple element, no refrigerator showed us the larder, which had a couple of rotting potatoes and some potato skins for her dog. And that was it. Her daughter refused to come out to talk to us. She was embarrassed by the clothes she had, and it was wrenching. And when I asked her how she was going to make it through winter, she just shook her head and said she had no idea her husband was dead. The pension that she was due hadn't arrived for four months and she had no money. 

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Jeff: [00:02:42] And before we left, we just felt so, we were so devastated by this experience that my crew and I went into our own wallets and took some money out some rubles and put together a stash of rubles and some of the food that we had and went in and gave them to her. And she did not want to accept it, but we insisted. And I suppose I should have felt better. But I think that knowing the scale of the hunger at that time, the tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands who were in a similar situation, it was hard to feel good about what we'd done. I mean, we had helped two people and I am glad we did that. It's not usual as a reporter that you do that kind of thing. You can't change the world, you know, with an action like that. 

‍Jeff: [00:03:25] You know, it's humbling when you see that kind of privation. It makes it really as a reporter, you see wonderful things, but you see devastating things. And it really does give you a perspective. Your worst day is better than a lot of other people's best day.