 Funding for fieldwork dried up and he instantly became a foreigner in the new state of Tajikistan at a time when ethnic Russians were fleeing Central Asia in mass.Marshak stayed on as director of the excavation of the Panjakent ruins, even during the years of civil war in Tajikistan from 1992–1997, while other archeological sites in the former Soviet Union were plundered by looters.Through close cooperation with the government of Tajikistan Marshak insured protection and continued excavation of the Panjakent ruins.