65 year old Agafya Lykova, living in the Sayan taiga, asked for help finding someone to run the household, since she is seriously ill and alone. Her letter has been sent to the authorities of three regions, but there is no reply yet, and the reserve reminds that living in this area without permission risks a fine and eviction. Lykovas story, who has lived in isolation for many years, again raises the question of how she can survive alone in the taiga.

65-year-old hermit Agafya Karpovna Lykova, who lives in the Sayan taiga, sent a letter by chance to Krasnoyarsk at the end of last week. The seriously ill woman is asking to find her someone to help with the household. In the past, the heads of three regions — Khakassia, Krasnoyarsk Krai, and Kemerovo Oblast — delivered food and medicine to Lykova, but now they are keeping silent. And the administration of the “Khakassky” nature reserve stated that a visit to Agafya, let alone living with her permanently, is a gross administrative offense, punishable by a hefty fine and expulsion from the taiga.
The story of Agafya Lykova was once known to everyone. The family of Old Believers, who spent 40 years in complete isolation in the upper reaches of the Erinat River, was discovered by geologists in the distant year of 1978. At that time, there were six Lykovs — father Karp Osipovich, sons Savvin and Dimitry, and daughters Natalya and Agafya. Their mother, Akulina Karpovna, had died back in 1961. In the 1980s, three of the children followed her into the next world, and in 1988 her husband also passed away.
Agafya was left alone in the taiga. Although her solitude was occasionally broken: several books and films were made about her, helicopters sometimes drop supplies and medicine to Lykova, and doctors visit her from time to time.
Lately, Agafya has been sending alarming messages to the mainland. Thus, in 2007, a bear got the better of her, and the governor of Kemerovo Oblast, Aman Tuleyev, had to hire hunters.
And last week, a desperate message was brought to the editorial office of the newspaper Krasnoyarsky Rabochy, sent by representatives of Roscosmos who had flown to Agafya’s homestead and who track the fall of rocket stages in the Sayan Mountains.
The editor of Krasnoyarsky Rabochy, Vladimir Pavlovsky, immediately passed Agafya’s letter to the chairman of the government of Khakassia, Viktor Zimin, the head of the administration of Kemerovo Oblast, Aman Tuleyev, and the governor of Krasnoyarsk Krai, Alexander Khloponin. According to the journalist, within a couple of hours the taiga message was lying on the officials’ desks, but the regional heads are still keeping silent. not a sound from them.
However, the administration of the “Khakassky” nature reserve, represented by deputy director Elena Kim, stated that “Agafya Lykova’s homestead is located in a specially protected area, and all issues concerning the settlement of another person there are decided only by the director of the reserve... Unauthorized entry into the territory is an administrative violation.”
Agafya’s friends are convinced that an exception should still be made for her: the elderly woman has to fight every day for her existence.