Dick Lyons (third from left) was one of 40 U.S. observers who joined 400 other international observers for the March 18 Russian presidential election. After two days of training and briefing in Moscow by the O.S.C.E., Dick and his international team from Armenia and Finland were flown further east to observe polling, counting, and tabulation procedures in rural areas outside of Perm, Russia near the Ural Mountains where they endured three days of bitter cold, wind, and snow. The adverse weather did not deter the turnout!