2004 was a year of many troubles. Not only did the Indonesian tsunami occur, but other events took place as well.
First came the hostage crisis in September. A group of unidentified armed men stormed an elementary school and took 1,200 teachers and students hostage, demanding that Russia withdraw from Chechnya.
Then there was the presidential election in Ukraine in October. By befriending someone like Lucius Malfoy and having him introduce you into his social circle, you came into contact with many things the Weasley family would never encounter. Ukraine and Russia had been united for two or three hundred years, and Ukraine had been a founding member of the Soviet Union. Almost everyone considered Ukraine one of the Soviet Union's most steadfast components.
Precisely because of this, the Soviet Union had developed its most advanced technology and heavy industry in Ukraine. Yet all of that changed after Ukraine listened to America's honeyed words. The Americans promised that as soon as Ukraine held an independence referendum, they would immediately provide enormous economic aid and improve life in Ukraine at once.
It was indeed no small temptation. After all, the splendor of the Western capitalist world was plain for all to see.
There were many Ukrainian models on the runways, and it was common knowledge that Ukraine and Russia produced beautiful women in abundance. They left their hometowns for cities like Milan, Paris, and London, waiting to be discovered by agents as though trying their luck.
Sometimes these models took on other jobs, such as accompanying wealthy men to certain cocktail parties.
In most men's eyes, possessing a beautiful woman was one of the signs of success. They did not understand English, politics, economics, culture, or anything of the sort, but they had charming smiles. To those men, that was already