Emergency services arrive to save life of hermit Agafiya Lykova, Russia's loneliest woman

Agafya is the last survivor of a family who fled deep into the Siberian taiga in the Stalin era, and remained undetected for more than 40 years. She was born in the small ramshackle homestead - more than 100 km from the nearest village - built by her father and she knows no other life. She now lives here alone in an area where winter temperatures can sink to minus 40C. 

Last week the recluse warned in a letter to a newspaper that her health was failing and she did not have enough logs for the winter. 

'I don't know how God will help me survive the winter. There aren't any logs. I need to get them into the house', she warned. 

After her plea, a helicopter with a doctor on board was sent to check the deeply religious hermit - and to bring her vital supplies. Meanwhile, a well-known Russian millionaire has offered to pay the salary of a helper to live with Agafya in her lonely vigil. German Sterligov, one of the first dollar millionaires as the Soviet Union collapsed, has promised a 40,000 rouble a month salary to a companion who will live with Agafya in the remotest house in Russia.

The helicopter brought fresh food, medicine and household items, and a doctor examined her but the woman - a devout Old Believer - refused his offer to be flown to hospital for treatment. The mercy mission was ordered by governor Viktor Zimin.

'Nature reserve staff gathered food and other goods for Agafya,' said a statement from the Emergencies Ministry in Khakassia, the Siberian republic where she lives. 'They brought cereals and flour for her and cabbage and food for her goats. They also brought vegetables for planting, and in a month Agafya will start growing them at home.'

The team 'carried logs from the forest closer to Agafya's house. The logs were cut but it was hard for her to carry them every day.'

'The doctor examined Agafiya and offered to take her to hospital for treatment. The 68 year old woman complained of headaches and other problems and needs detailed examination. But she absolutely refused to go. The doctor gave her some advice and left medicine.

'Agafya is traditionally cautious about unknown people but this time she was very friendly with the rescuers and the doctor. She said that the winter was warm this year but the coming of spring scares her. Her health is poor now and she does not have enough strength (to plant her crops). She was very grateful for all help and smiled all the time'.

She was supplied with salted cabbage and a bag with dried fruit, flour, sugar, candles, matches. 

Millet and oats were sent for Agafya's chickens, also hay for her goats. They brought water and filled all the containers in her house. Her goats have not provided milk this winter and another flight from neighbouring Kemerovo will bring her frozen milk.

Agafya is an Old Believer a religious movement that splintered from the Russian Orthodox Church in the 17th century, endured persecution both before and after the Bolshevik Revolution. She is the last of a family that settled on the Bolshoi Abakan River in the 1930s and lived in isolation until a geologist search party stumbled on them in 1978.

The Lykovs subsided mainly on trapped wild animals and cultivated potatoes. They had no firearms, no salt and did not know how to make bread.