Russia’s loneliest woman, hermit Agafya Lykova, to get new home in the wild

One of Russia’s wealthiest men, billionaire Oleg Deripaska, is supporting the building after a plea for help from the 76-year-old hermit. 

Agafya is the last survivor of a family of Orthodox Old Believers, discovered in the taiga of the Sayan mountains in Siberia in 1978. 

Her parents had fled into the forest to escape religious persecution during the Stalin era in 1936. Agafya lives much as a peasant from the 18th century with hardly any modern comforts, and guided by an ancient Bible.

Agafya Lykova pictured with her father in early 1980s. Pictures: Igor Nazarov, Nikolay Proletsky

Agafya’s new home - a simple one-storey hut as she requested - had to be assembled in the city of Abakan first, with logs numbered, and then dismantled to shorten the building time. 

The recluse’s area is in the remote, hardly-accessible part of the Sayan mountains, so it was easier to bring the house part by part rather than to deliver building material.

At least 18 air-boat shipments will have to be made to deliver the new house. 

The construction will be complete early in 2021. 

Russia’s loneliest woman, hermit Agafya Lykova, to get new home in the wild. Pictures: Alexander Kuznetsov, Victor Nepomnyashchiy

‘The new house will be well-insulated,’ director of Khakassky Nature Reserve Victor Nepomnyashchiy said on his social media page, when many in the comments pointed that the wood planks looked much too thin for Siberian winter.

Agafya was told about the Covid-19 pandemic earlier this year by an inspector of the reserve who usually visits her two to three times a year.

‘We all take extreme care when visiting Agafya, virus or no virus - she is like a Mowgli who has never come across modern day infections and diseases, we know how disciplined and cautious we must be in making sure she stays safe’, said local official Alexander who have known and visited Agafya for years.

A wooden single storey house will be built next to her 80-year-old family hut. Pictures: Tashtagol city administration/The Siberian Times