James Ellingworth

Associated Press

In this photo taken Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2016, buildings of the AvtoVAZ car plant is seen above the residential buildings at the bottom of chimneys in the southern city of Togliatti on the Volga River, Russia. Once intended as a Soviet rival to the capitalist symbol of Detroit, Russia’s auto-making hub is sliding into economic depression.

Workers Suffer in Soviet Auto Town

Far from its 1960s roots as a socialist vision of the future, the auto-making hub of Togliatti is lined with discount retailers, payday lenders and pawnshops as the recession has cratered the car market.