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A Soviet woman teases a Red Army musician during a parade in Moscow celebrating International Women's Day. All government offices and state-owned businesses were closed in the Soviet Union, where women were showered with flowers, gifts and - for most - a rare day off from the double drudgery of keeping house and holding a full-time job. The wives of many prominent Soviet politicians had their day in the sun. However, noticeably absent from the limelight were the spouses of the country's two most powerful politicians: Mikhail Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin.

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