A century in the Siberian wilderness: the Old Believers who time forgot

[erronis]

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jan/22/forty-years-in-the-siberian-wilderness-the-old-believers-who-time-forgot
Sophie Pinkham

In 1978, Soviet scientists stumbled upon a family living in a remote part of Russia. They hadn't interacted with outsiders for decades. Almost half a century later, one of them is still there

A fascinating story.

In the summer of 1978, a team of geologists exploring southern Siberia found something rarer than diamonds. While searching for a helicopter landing site amid the steep hills and forested canyons of the western Sayan mountains, their pilot caught sight of what appeared to be a garden, 150 miles from the nearest settlement. Hovering as low as he could, he saw a house. No people were visible, but someone was clearly tending the garden. He and his geologist passengers were shocked to find a dwelling in an area long considered too remote for human habitation.

When the four geologists set up camp 10 miles away, it was the mysterious homestead that was first in their mind. Who could live here? Were the inhabitants the last Mohicans of the Brezhnev era? The geologists ventured to the settlement bearing gifts – and a pistol, just in case. They were greeted by a disheveled old man dressed in patched-up sacking cloth. This was Karp Osipovich Lykov, the patriarch of the family. Inside a tiny, dark cabin, the geologists found Karp’s two adult daughters, Natalia and Agafia, weeping and praying. Four miles away, by the riverside, lived Karp’s two middle-aged sons, Savin and Dmitry. It soon became apparent that none of the members of this ageing family had interacted with outsiders in decades.

. . .

Until the arrival of the geologists in 1978 - 44 years after they left civilisation behind - the Lykovs were sighted only once, by a group of tourists floating down the river in 1958. As the tourists passed, they saw Karp fishing, his emaciated wife sitting beside him. They apparently did not call out for help, though Agafia recalled that the family had been surviving on "rowanberry leaf, roots, grass, mushrooms, potato tops and bark ... Every year we held a council to decide whether to eat everything up or leave some for seed." A late, hard frost in 1961 had caused a family famine. The Lykovs survived on straw, their leather shoes and ski lining, bark and birch buds. The matriarch, Akulina, died of hunger. The family had eaten all their rye seeds in their desperation. When a single spike grew the next season, they thanked God for a miracle.

When the Lykovs were discovered by the geologists, they were still furious with Patriarch Nikon and Peter the Great. Karp Osipovich called Peter "the antichrist in human form". Even the recent world wars, known only vaguely to the Lykovs, were the responsibility of the vile Peter. When the geologists explained the story of the second world war to Karp, he shook his head dolefully and said, "What is this, a second time, and always the Germans. A curse on Peter. He flirted with them."

. . .

[Drum]

1. WOW! What a story, that was fascinating.

Thank you for sharing the link!

[WestMichRad]

2. Informative and fascinating read

Much more at the link.

Thanks for posting it!