The story is reported as if they are going through some kind of energy crisis, when in fact they live as they always lived taking advantage of mild climate and cooking stoves. They are also very good at keeping fruits from spoiling for the entire winter. Very resourceful people.
They come here to make money, mostly as home attendants and truck drivers, but they buy homes and plan their future in Uzbekistan as they see life there is better then here.
They work in Russia as well as migrants, because they don't have Russian citizenship. During the Soviet era, most of them believed they were exploited by the Russians, when in fact they had access to vast Russian natural resources, universities and industry. After the break up they quickly fell behind like most of the former Soviet republics.