World confronts pandemic shortages. Russians have been here before.

I recall the catastrophic upheaval well. The economic floor dropped away, destroying the livelihood of millions and forcing individuals to imagine entirely new ways to survive and feed their families. Old political verities proved worthless, and government largely failed to relieve the disaster.

Today’s coronavirus lockdown is a fresh nightmare for much of the world, but in Russia it is reviving painful memories of the chaotic 1990s, a social and economic cataclysm that anyone over the age of 40 knew all too well.

Through hyperinflation and a banking crash I lost my life’s savings twice. But I was spared the crushing, disorienting sensation experienced by millions of Russians as they realized that everything they had relied upon and formerly built

“We inherited a catastrophe”“What do you think I do for a living?”“It was unclear how to go on living”