A Summer in Sydney, a Winter in Moscow: A Journalist's Transformative Journey

Deborah Snow recounts her pivotal 1991 assignment to Moscow during the Soviet Union's collapse, marking a career-defining moment and personal milestone.

• In 1991, journalist Deborah Snow transitioned from a Sydney summer to a Moscow winter for a high-stakes assignment covering the Soviet Union's dissolution.
• Snow's posting coincided with Boris Yeltsin's rise to power and the West's optimistic but short-lived view of Russia's future post-Soviet Union.
• She witnessed firsthand the rapid unraveling of the Soviet empire, including conflicts in regions like Tajikistan, Georgia, and early tensions between Ukraine and Moscow.
• A serendipitous helicopter trip with colleagues led to her meeting her future husband, marking a personal milestone during a relentless professional period.
• Snow reflects on the challenges and exhilaration of reporting during one of the most tumultuous periods in modern Russian history, which shaped her career and life.

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