Stories of extreme isolation and survival always attract significant attention. This was certainly the case in the summer of 1978, when a group of Soviet geologists unexpectedly encountered evidence of human habitation in an extremely remote region of the Siberian taiga, more than 150 miles (241 km) from the nearest settlement.
While flying over a mountainside near a tributary of the Abakan River, a helicopter crew looking for a place to land the geologists (who had been sent to prospect for iron ore) became convinced they had seen a garden. Intrigued, the geologists headed into the mountains with their backpacks full of gifts—and pistols for protection in case of a frosty reception. Before long, they discovered a path, a shed, and a rudimentary, soot-blackened hut. The hut’s single room was the residence of the Lykov family: four adult children and their elderly father, Karp Osipovich Lykov. The family belonged to the Old Believers, a fundamentalist Russian Orthodox sect that had been persecuted for centuries, most notably during the reign of Peter the Great.
Karp Lykov, his wife Akulina, and their young children Savin and Natalia had fled their Old Believer community in 1936 after Karp’s brother was killed by a Soviet patrol. Heading deeper and deeper into the Siberian taiga (subarctic forest), they eventually built the dwelling where the geologists found them more than 40 years later. By then, the family had grown to include two more children (Dmitry and Agafia, born in 1940 and 1944, respectively). Without any contact with the outside world, the Lykovs were forced to depend entirely on their own minimal resources. They had fled their village with just a few possessions and some seeds.
Incredibly, five of the six Lykovs survived into the 1980s despite this harsh existence, mainly subsisting on potatoes, rye, and hemp, supplemented by the occasional elk or other animal caught by Dmitry’s ingenious hunting and trapping methods. A hard frost in 1960 had destroyed the Lykovs’ entire garden, and Akulina died of starvation the following year. The remaining family members were forced to rebuild their rye crop from a single grain.
Alone in the taiga:
- The Lykovs were unaware that World War II had occurred and Karp Lykov refused to believe that men had landed on the Moon – though he had observed satellites crossing the night sky. The Lykov children had learned to read with only a Bible and prayer books, and with only each other to talk to, their speech was distinctly unusual.
- Over time, the Lykov family began to accept more help from the geologists and other well-wishers, including salt, blankets, socks, grain, and a flashlight, though the family struggled with the “sinfulness” of accepting items that seemed like luxuries.
- Sadly, Savin and Natalia succumbed to kidney failure in 1981, and Dmitry died of pneumonia the same year. Karp Lykov died in his sleep in 1988. They were buried near their cabin, alongside Akulina.
- In the 1980s, Agafia accepted an invitation from the government to tour the Soviet Union for a month, marveling at the modern world yet ultimately happy to return home.
- As of 2024, Agafia Lykova is 80 years old and still lives alone in the taiga, though she has been supported in recent years with supplies and medical care. She has a satellite telephone and a new wooden cottage in the forest, paid for by Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska.