Russia's last Mohican: 61 year old hermit refuses to leave deserted military garrison

Alexander Kuznetsov, 61, is the last soul of Pristan (The Pier) military base.

He moved to work at the garrison as an electrician thirty years ago when the Red flag still flew over the Kremlin. 

The base and a nearby airfield were a busy home for aerial reconnaissance, deck aviation and ground attack planes of the Pacific Fleet during the Soviet era. 

Servicemen lived in several 5-storey blocks of flats next to the airfield - now like a ghost town except for the lone survivor.  

In 1992 the military unit was disbanded, servicemen and their families were moved elsewhere in Russia. 

Many people left in a rush, leaving their belongings behind.

Alexander saw marauders from nearby villages going through flats and driving away with cars full of goods and chattels, in Shkotovsky district of Primorsky region, about 90 km north-east of Vladivostok. 

‘What once belonged to the state, like metal wiring and pipes, even metal parts of buildings base, everything was cut off and taken away. The whole four storey tall block of flats collapsed after several ‘attacks’ by hunters for state good’, Alexander said. 

His wife died before the garrison was shut; he was offered a choice of moving back to the 'mainland', but chose to stay. 

‘It was a conscious decision, life was getting more and more expensive and new Russia was going through money reforms and hyper inflation. I knew I didn’t have to pay for that place, and stayed behind after the last serviceman was gone’, Alexander told Prima Media, the local news agency. 

There were several other men and women who didn’t want to leave, but gradually everyone moved out. Alexander lived alone in a one room flat in a block that has had  no water or electricity supply for more than 15 years. 

Kuznetsov became famous among the locals as Pristan Hermit, many were traveling to check upon his health, and bring new clothes, food and medicines. 

‘I love visitors. It is a lot easier to live without basic comfort than without a good talk. I have a cat called Lyusya, recently she had three kittens, it was a big event in my life to help her welcome them’, Alexander said. 

Years ago somebody presented him with an old fashioned ‘Burzhuika’ stove which he heats up with logs. 

He uses rain water (or melts snow) to wash himself, to drink and cook. 

There is a library of two hundred books which the last Mohican claims to know by heart.