Hostages of the Arctic

On October 1, the military closed the airport in the polar city of Tiksi - almost the only connection with the world for 6 thousand people. The authorities of Yakutia promise to transport people by helicopter for half the cost of a ticket, but several hundred of them still cannot get home from business trips and vacations. A PublicPost blogger spoke with some of them, and at the same time told about mad arctic foxes and burnt vodka in Tiksi.

Mikhail ROMANOV, journalist, Yakutsk

Full arctic fox

Two years ago I arrived in Tiksi without a travel permit. The gloomy duty officer, checking everyone's documents, threatened: “You'll sit at my checkpoint all week! I won't let you out on the street. And the next plane is only in a week, and that’s if there’s no snowstorm.” But the border guard only at first glance turned out to be gloomy - after studying the face (Yakut) and registration (Yakutsk), he still let him through. And guests from other regions must coordinate their arrival in advance (the application must clearly indicate goals and objectives) with the Tiksi administration (that is, with the FSB). This is because the city (which in fact is not a city at all, but a dull urban-type settlement) is completely controlled by the FSB border guards and is a ZATO (closed administrative-territorial entity).

This is Russia. Dying, groaning, freezing. On the tallest building there is a huge drawing: “Glory to the CPSU!” Half the houses with broken windows - those who could have left long ago. The problem is that the people of Tiksa, in the far north, still have no heat in their homes.
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When there is no heat, there is immediately a noticeable lack of high-quality, not scorched vodka. Also - vegetables and fruits, toothpaste and washing powder. Recently, my friend, photographer Max Avdeev, came to Yakutia from Moscow. Of course, I was going to Tiksi. I provided him with phone numbers of people who could help him with transportation. When asked what needs to be brought from Yakutsk, a young Tiksi resident asked: “Bring three carnations.” A guy is in love, romantically. And three tattered carnations in the Far North are, apparently, a symbol of very great love.

The only cafe in the whole city is Sever. The air is somehow different - stale. The sky is also different, blue-gray. And if the sun usually shines when there is complete calm, then in five minutes such a snowstorm can sweep through the city that residents hide behind their houses. “Flying grannies” is not journalistic hyperbole. I saw it myself. It's funny to read, scary to watch. The purpose of my business trip was rather gloomy - two years ago, one after another, young boys and girls began to kill themselves. Teenage suicide is a problem in this region. The summary of my report at that time: there is nothing to do, everyone doesn’t even drink, but gets drunk. Sometimes even children.

In addition to alcohol, there is another threat. Aisen Sleptsov, a resident of the even more abandoned town of Bykov Mys, told me how he covered the path from his village to Tiksi on a Buran, and how a pack of fearless, mad Arctic foxes chased him for several kilometers. And these are not hallucinations of a brain inflamed by vodka: in the Tiksi administration there are reminders on every corner about what to do if you are bitten by a mad arctic fox.

Why was the airfield closed?

Since October, the region has become even more depressed - the airfield was closed. This means that six thousand people of the civilian population alone (and there are still a lot of military people there, there is the only military unit in Yakutia, soldiers are not allowed to leave Russia for several years) remained cut off from the world. The military closed the airfield without declaring war: they simply notified by emergency telegram that from October 1 it would be impossible to fly in and out, without explaining the reasons. That is, those who went on vacation to the “mainland” (as the rest of the country is called here) cannot return home. Or vice versa: those who finally got ready to go on vacation found themselves in a trap.

Alexander Tarasov, head of the Air Transport Department of the Ministry of Transport of Yakutia, was then very surprised and justified: “In civil aviation it is customary to notify about such things 10 days in advance, but here I came from the military NOTAM (promptly disseminated information (notices) about changes in the rules of conducting and ensuring flights and aeronautical information is sent, as a rule, in connection with an emergency closure of air traffic (emergency, state of emergency, etc.) and without explanation, simply - the airfield is closed from October 1 to December 31.”

According to Tarasov, the military was offered to leave specialists to maintain the strip at least until March next year. “They simply turned off the power, took special equipment and people, closed everything and left,” the official said. And he explained that Tiksi Airport is in joint use, the runway and apron belong to the Ministry of Defense, the air terminal and buildings belong to the Federal Property Management Agency. Negotiations on the transfer of the airport from the jurisdiction of the Federal Property Management Agency to the Federal Air Transport Agency, for further transfer to the FPC "Airports of the North" lasted about 2 years, but did not produce results.

The Ministry of Defense seems to be trying to clarify the situation - representatives of the department arrived in Yakutsk and immediately flew to Tiksi. The delegation includes the commander of Long-Range Aviation of the Russian Air Force Anatoly Zhikharev and Assistant Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation Alexander Zelin. However, according to the long-standing tradition of the Ministry of Defense, they categorically refused to comment. In Moscow, they only explain that the closure of the airfield is caused by the need to reconstruct the runway. In fact, as they whisper in Yakutsk, the department wants to stop spending money on the airfield so that it can be financed by the republican authorities.

“We are sitting with all our strength”

Several hundred people who have become hostages of the situation are not particularly interested in the problems of its emergence. On Monday, October 8, 40 of them were lucky - there was a flight Yakutsk - Ust-Kuiga - Tiksi. On board, among other things, were 11 passengers who were supposed to fly from Yakutsk to Tiksi on October 4, and 7 passengers on the same flight on October 8. However, as Tiksin residents complain, this is not a solution to the problem. The fact is that from Ust-Kuiga to Tiksi is about 300 kilometers, which must be covered by helicopter. And so on until the so-called “winter road” opens - heavy trucks will drive straight along the frozen Lena River, cleared by graders. In addition, only two helicopters fly from Ust-Kuiga to Tiksi, and one of them is carrying cargo. That is, it is not possible for many Tiksa residents to get home. We are talking about hundreds of people who are stuck not only in Yakutsk, but also in Moscow. Many simply no longer have any money left.

We are sitting in the lobby of the port hotel "Liner". An impressive crowd of people had gathered at the reception.

Liliana Ivanova, resident of Tiksi:

— I’m returning from vacation, from the Verkhnevilyuysky ulus. Stuck. I need to be at work on the 12th, but now I don’t know when I’ll get there. I've been here for several days already. Today (October 8th) we were told that they might pick us up at six in the morning. But no. We are still blocked...

-Where do you live?

— We rented an apartment for daily rent, and that’s how we live. It’s also good that there is some money left after the vacation. But they are running out. There are people here who no longer have any money at all! And now, they say, we will be transported from Ust-Kuiga by helicopter. This means that if previously a Yakutsk-Tiksi ticket cost approximately 19 thousand rubles, now the Yakutsk-Ust-Kuiga-Tiksi route will cost 33 thousand rubles. And this is sad, because I no longer have that kind of money (later the authorities of Yakutia announced that they were ready to subsidize half the cost of the ticket - PublicPost). I have a feeling that, without warning, they simply spat on us. And then they forgot. It would be easier if we had return tickets in hand. But we are stowaways, so the airline doesn’t put us in a hotel or feed us. And I understand the airline representatives perfectly well: they want to take out first of all those who had tickets.

- Are there many of you? Generally speaking: both with and without tickets?

— About 80 people arrived from Moscow. Two more planes are approaching. That is, more than 200 people are stuck there. There are 16 of us free riders. Dozens more with tickets in hand. Approximately 300 people. And no one could count how many people from Yakutsk wanted to go, but stayed at home. But we are still in the background: they will sit us down. But first, of course, they will take out the Muscovites. I’m afraid to even imagine how much time I’ll spend in Yakutsk...

Anna Borisenko, resident of Tiksi:

- Nothing predicted such a situation. We flew not knowing that we would end up in such a situation. I work at a nursing home in Tiksi, and they generally gave me a small amount of travel allowance. I'm sitting with all my strength. If I had known, I would not have gone on any business trip at all.

—Are there any children among those stuck?

- We know for sure that there are two children in Yakutsk - a one-year-old baby and a boy of nine years old. But these are only the ones we saw. Perhaps there are more children.