Spring Cleaning: A Thankless Task

A young worker clearing a path in front of an underground road crossing on Sushchovsky Val.

Two workers shoveling snow near a monument dedicated to Russian space exploration near the All-Russia Exhibition Center.

Two women waiting for a bulldozer to pass them as it clears a pathway in Festivalny Park.

Railroad workers clearing snow off the tracks near Savyolovsky Station.

Three workers taking a break from shoveling on Ulitsa Narodnogo Upalcheniye. Before the collapse of the Soviet Union, most of the city?€™s snow cleaners were ethnic Russians, but the increasingly poor economic conditions in former Soviet republics in Central Asia have forced many residents of those states to seek work in Moscow.

A man clearing snow off a rooftop on Ulitsa Berezova. A winter?€™s worth of snow and ice can seriously damage rooftops and buildings, so there are periodic purges to keep things under control.

Workers breaking ice off of a sidewalk on Butyrsky Val. As snow periodically melts, it also refreezes during the night, resulting in thick layers of dirty ice on sidewalks. In short, a pedestrian?€™s nightmare.

A man transferring snow from a huge pile into a wheelbarrow.

A worker talking with a passer-by outside an underground road crossing on Sushchovsky Val.