"I Got into Hell, for Sure!": Blogger Sergei Lezhniov Showed how People Live in Russian Province Today. PHOTOS
Bad roads, mud, destroyed homes, terrible infrastructure, lack of work, alcoholism, and indifference to what is happening – that’s how people live in villages and hamlets of Russia.
Russian blogger Sergei Lezhniov wrote about it in his blog, Censor.NET reports.
"Having driven down from the M2 federal highway (that connects Moscow with Crimea - ed.) I found myself in quite a different Russia. I suggest you take a look at the way the people live these days not in some remote village or hamlet, but in the village of the central region. It seems that it's just an other world where the time has stopped," Lezhniov wrote.
The blogger came to the village of Krapivna (the Tula region, 220 km from Moscow). It was a town previously. The population is about 3,000 people.
"I went through the center of the village. Everything is sad here. The center here and the entire village is by 90% consisting of such houses."
This is the main street where the administration, a Sberbank department, a hospital, and a post office are located.
"You can see the weeds overgrown to the roofs of houses here. Some windows are covered with pieces of plywood, cardboard or polyethylene film just because there are no stores where you can buy glass. There are even two-storey (apartment) houses here," Lezhniov writes.
"There was a church here previously, the fire service after that, and now only mice and rats inhabit this place."
"There is local Gazprom department currently here. It was school previously with Leo Tolstoy being on its school board," he writes.
"The Russian Post department turns out to be situated here at this time. The conditions are hellish."
"People are drinking alcohol in this building every day from morning till evening. Everybody drinks alcohol there - both male and female. When I asked them why they drink, I was told:"We have nothing else to do - there is no work," the blogger writes.
"There are also two-story apartment buildings in the village without gas and water supply. But people still live there. Each house has to allocate 600 thousand rubles to lay gas, according to Lezhniov. The people here have never seen that much money," the blogger writes.
There is no hospital in the village - the closest one is 50 km away. There is the only shop in the village selling vodka mostly.
The next blogger's destination point was in the Kursk region. He has chosen two villages: Kamenka and Pavlovka. The villages are rather large and it is impossible to refer them to the province.
"The biggest street, which length is 5 km, has never seen asphalt before. The officials each year promise to asphalt it answering "there is no money" again and again. An old woman died recently. The coffin was carried by a cart because the truck stuck. "We have such situation pretty often," another old woman said.
"Old people have to walk several kilometers through the mud just to buy bread. We have called the officials, asked them. We have already sent letters to all district and municipal authorities, the old woman said. The cars can drive here only during three summer months, certainly, if there is no rain. One should rather not catch a disease all the rest of the time," the blogger writes.
"There is a peculiar rhythm of life, peculiar joys, and difficulties. Hardworking and sincere people live here. They gather together right here in this place every evening and just sing songs, discuss how the day has passed and what is needed to be done tomorrow," he writes.
"I take my hat off to the workers of this country club. They have just recently made repairs on their own and at their own expense. There is no gas and that's why it's very cold in this country club. But there is a disco every Saturday, even in winter," Lezhnyov writes.
"There are a lot of boys and girls in summer, 80 people gather here for sure," the director of the country club said. "It's cold now, but the young people come and dance nevertheless. Where else they have to go? The city is located far away from us.
"Few people are interested in politics in the villages - there are enough other troubles and problems here," the blogger concluded.
