By denouncing the war in Ukraine, Boris Nemtsov inspired the same hatred as Andrei Sakharov had by opposing the invasion of Afghanistan.

“When we passed their second checkpoint, they started shooting at us like in a shooting gallery,” Yuriy Bereza recalled. “It was an ambush.”

During NATO airstrikes, Serbian forces raged through the city, expelling Albanians and torching their homes. Today, only women and children venture to the Serb side of the river.

“When we were fighting the Russians, it was to the Americans’ advantage to help us,” says Commander Masood. “But when the Soviets were destroyed, they forgot about us.”

I was 17 years old when I first saw the Berlin Wall. I clambered up an observation platform in West Berlin to peer over to the Brandenburg Gate. Two summers later, I was back. Everything had changed.