About 200 foreign workers employed by a construction firm in the Russian city of Ekatherinburg have gone on strike after not being paid for three months.
The desperate workers, mostly from Central Asian states, say they have not been paid by their employer "Alfa-Stroy" since September.
Unable to pay rent, the workers have moved into unfinished buildings with wood fires being their only source of heat.
The global financial crisis has hit the Russian construction market hard, resulting in the freezing of major building projects and job losses.
Sonia Legg reports.