Category: Russia

The headline of a Siberian Times article announces “Siberian hermit, 75, who ‘lives in 18th century’ refuses to be moved by Space Age” and the byline “Agafya Lykova rejects leaving her remote house even though debris from coming rocket launch could fall dangerously close.” After years of following Agafya’s refusals to leave for lack of food, medical care, need for help in chopping wood and other chores, it hardly seems that she would leave based on a threat of space debris, though she might not realize what space debris is about. The article summarizes her life and how she became a hermit.Includes photos.

URL: http://siberiantimes.com/other/others/features/siberian-hermit-75-who-lives-in-18th-century-refuses-to-be-moved-by-space-age/

Reuters reports on a 62-year old Russian hermit named Viktor in an article titled “Russian hermit seeks peace in remote Siberia.”

“Viktor, 62, turned his back on society 16 years ago and moved to the remote forest wilderness of Russian Siberia where he lives in seclusion in a wooden hut, studying the Bible and foraging for food.

Gray-bearded, enigmatic and with a huge tattoo of Christ across his back, the former barge operator refuses to disclose his surname. The hut he built himself sits on the banks of the Yenisei River which carves through Siberia.

“I like the company of trees more than the company of people,” he says.

One long-time acquaintance – a former police officer – who knows Viktor from chance encounters while sailing by on a boat says the hermit shunned society after he was jailed – on charges he denied – over the sinking of a barge he was operating.

He moved there after serving several years in jail, the former officer said.

Viktor declined to talk about his past.

Nowadays, he lives on fresh fish, berries and mushrooms, and refuses to use medicine. He fell gravely ill last year from a tick bite, he says, but recovered by praying with his ceramic cross and eating hand-picked herbs.

In winter, he braves icy climes by heating his hut using a gas cylinder. When the seasons change, he feels himself physically rejuvenate along with the wildlife around him, he says.

He sometimes comes into contact with people when they sail past on boats or stop to buy fish. Viktor himself very occasionally leaves his seclusion, crossing the two-kilometer-wide river to buy cigarettes.”

URL: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-hermit/russian-hermit-seeks-peace-in-remote-siberia-idUSKCN1TM1LC

Realnoe Vremya reports that a Russian Orthodox monastery is adding a skete: “The construction of a skete 20 kilometres far from the Raifa Monastery where the brethren of the monastery will go to pray and live in seclusion has begun.” Use of the skete will rotate among the monks so that all will have an opportunity to partake of the silence and isolation. The skete will be built of wood. An apiary is already on the grounds. A garden and greenhouse will be added. (The image above is that of a chapel already on the site.)

URL: https://realnoevremya.com/articles/3564-raifa-monastery-brethren-to-be-helped-to-live-in-silence

Ancient Origins offers a quick overview of hermits in history as a background to a story on Russian man Pavel Sapozhnikov’s experiment in living in wilderness alone in “Challenge Accepted: 6 Months as a Medieval Hermit in Russia.” The latter is a 2013 Russian-language film titled “Alone in the Past — Surviving the Russian Winter, 9th-Century Style” presented in a reality television style.

URL: https://www.ancient-origins.net/history/russian-hermit-0011573