Retiree survives hand-to-paw fight with a brown bear in the outskirts of the city

The attack happened on the shore of the Second Soldatskoye Lake near the Arctic town of Srednekolymsk on 14 August. 

Mitrofan Tretryakov said that he had to fight barehanded for his life. 

‘I wish I had a rifle on me’, he told the rescuers who found him with a major wound on the head, but sufficiently conscious to explain what had happened. 

A hunting team was sent to find and kill the bear after its attack on a human.

The attack happened on the shore of the Second Soldatskoye Lake near the Arctic town of Srednekolymsk on 14 August. Pictures: Srednekolymsk24

Mitrofan will spend up to two more weeks at hospital.

He feels ‘weak’ but his life is not in danger. 

‘Today the patient was able to have a little walk about his room. His condition is satisfactory despite complaints of feeling weak.

'The overall recovery forecast is good.

'It is too soon to speak about checking him out, but if he continues to get better at a pace he is doing now, we’ll let him go in a couple of days’, said a spokesman from the Yakutia’s Ministry of Health.