Russia's elderly live rough lives, and the state offers almost no help, but officials say everything is about to change
Alexander Ryumin / TASS / Vida Press Ryazan’s Malshin Geriatric Center, 2017 Responding to widespread criticism of the government’s plan to raise the retirement age, Russia’s state-controlled media has been busy telling readers how important it is to live vigorously into old age to avoid becoming a “grumbling old fogey.” “For many people, a pension is an excuse to stop being active, to become frail, and not to want anything, or to want to do things but not to do them, because their finances or