MOSCOW, October 20. /TASS/. An old village Kuzomen is at the mouth of the Varzuga River, which runs into the White Sea, - in the Murmansk Region. Getting here is only across sand dunes of the polar desert. There, behind the desert, live about a hundred people. Strange: both the locals and visitors call this place the paradise.

We drove about five hours to cover almost 400 kilometers from Murmansk to Umba. Following 100 kilometers we drove along a narrow road towards Varzuga, and another 50 - along a ground road. Then - no road at all, only the sand.

This is about how to live in village by the White Sea, which is cut off civilization 

Sooner or later…

We look at the road and realize we cannot manage it on our own. We call a local forestry inspector. Gennady drove an [off-road] UAZ to us very soon. He comes from Tver, and has been living in Kuzomen for 35 years already.

- We live well! Don’t feel sorry for us! - he exclaims in response to our sorrowful remarks. - Let’s move if you want to see the village before it’s dark.

Most locals are retirees. Men are mostly fishers, in summer they work at tourist camps. Women mostly care about houses, and many of them, being the Pomors, are skilled to manage boats and fishing equipment.

Gennady tells us, scientists suppose the desert developed there in the 1920s. The sand is a consequence of cut woods and past pastures. The area is flat, and winds blew the thin soil away until sand developed at 1,600 hectares. The river has got closer to the village, and many houses now balance on the cliff edge. A few years earlier, a sauna house glided down and was gone in the river.

- Back in 1985, when I came here, the locals were mostly the Pomors. It was a big communist-style farm, everyone was employed there. Now here remain mostly those who have nowhere to go, or those who couldn’t find their place in life. The only occupation here is fishing, - our guide said.

According to history books, in the late 18th century here were boilers to make salt from the White Sea water. Historic documents quote Kuzomen was founded in 1577.

Kuzomen is among first Russian settlements on the Kola Peninsula. Presently, its population is about 100 people.

How Putin helped Kuzomen to get electricity

- I have written two letters to Putin, and - here you are - we have the light, - Gennady said with a smile.

- Formerly, electricity was produced at diesel-powered plants. In the time of Governor Yevdokimov everything was fine. And then, all housing issues became the responsibility of the regional authorities. When they saw how much diesel we consume , they went mad, and the the total-saving time began. Our elected official, Gennady Popov, told me: well, write a letter to Putin.

He did. All the locals put their signatures.

- It was in March, and in July Chubais came here. Inspected all the villages - they were sailing from Arkhangelsk, and here changed for bikes. In September, work begun and by the New Year our neighbors got electricity, - our guide said proudly.

However, the line to Kuzomen remained due, he added.

- We were happy for our neighbors. But as for us - we remained waiting… One year passes, another - where’s the light? We had to write another letter to Putin, again collected signatures and delivered the letter. This time, Gennady Popov supervised it, and without any bureaucracy we began cutting a line through the woods from our side, and those in Varzuga - from their side. And later on, in the middle on the forest we met. And here, at last, the electricity line reached us.

Visitors’ face control

We drive into the village, and here are dogs. They are huge, like big bears, with thick fur and strong paws. They surround us, noses into our palms, receive treats and immediately lose any interest in us.

The village is just one street. The road is a line of wheel tracks in the sand. For pedestrians there are wooden bridges - not to sink into the sand. Interestingly - every house is circled with a strong fence. Why, we ask? From whom?

- Well, why, from our wild horses, haven’t you heard about them? - The man said. - Their big herds are in Chapom, Chavanga, Tetrino. Here, in Kuzomen, with this feed base they cannot survive, they do breed, but then die. They love to peep into the gardens. Three years ago they broke my fence and were digging out potato in the garden. By autumn, with good food, they become quite built!

Finding horses was not a problem. We walk into the village, to the shop - and here they are. A snow-white mare and a smoky foal, like dogs, paid no attention to us. They sniffed the air, felt nothing eatable and trotted away.

The horses are not many in the village - five horses and one mare, she brings a foal every year, but babies rarely survive. Sometimes even one of the horses wouldn’t live through the winter. This is how a tiny herd of six stocky horses, very similar to Yakut horses, lives in the village.

Why houses are salty

Before the electricity line wa obtained, the locals heated their houses with wood. Where to take wood, when practically no forests have survived and winters are almost for nine months? The wood sails to here, the locals say.

- Just walk to the sea, and you’ll see how many trunks surf there, - Vishnyakov said. - When the plants in Arkhangelsk were busy, lots of trunks sailed to here - almost all our houses are made of those trunks. Just imagine what it is like to freeze in the Dvina’s mouth hundreds thousands cubic meters of wood! And then, in spring, the melting ice would bring all those trunks here.

- When I came to live in Kuzomen, I witnessed many trunks here, - Gennady said. - The official statistics says when all those wood plants worked here, about only 30% of wood got to clients, and the rest were losses. It is the official statistics. Thus, all the villages on the shore have never cut wood for heating.

The only drawback in those trunks is that they absorb the sea salt, hence all houses are salty. When this wood is in the oven, people have to watch the heating closely, as salt catches fire and sticks to the pipes.

Some people anyway prefer heating with wood, though most often the locals use boilers and radiators. However, every household keeps a stock of wood and a generator. Just in case.

No doctors, cinemas or boutiques

The village has as many as two shops. We enter a privately-owned one. Groceries, meat, milk, bread, vegetables, fruit, even watermelons! The owner, Valentina Dvinina, says she brings in products twice a week. In summer - by car, and in winter by off-road or snow mobiles with sleds. In the mud - sometimes by a helicopter, if it has room left on board.

- The helicopter flies to Umba and Pyalitsa, once a week it carries mail, passengers, - she said. - In the past, between the 30s and the 90s, Kuzomen had its own airport, small planes for 12 passengers made flights three days a week, An-2 (Antonov). The runway was on a flat passage right next to the sea.

The helicopter is not cheap. For the locals, a flight from Umba to Kuzomen is almost 2,500 rubles ($32), and for visitors - almost 10,000 ($128). Every family tries to have own off-road car, bikes or boats. A taxi ride to neighboring Varzuga is expensive - 1,500 rubles ($19).

What’s missing here, I ask. Nothing, the locals say, adding nobody needs here any boutiques or cinemas. Life is different and values are different. The people watch 20 television channels for free. They choose between two cell operators. As for doctors - they have none.

No sickness for five years to go

Before the 1970s, the village had a hospital. In the 1970s, it was closed. The only paramedic quit later on, and the premises were closed. Nowadays, the nearest hospital is almost 150 kilometers away.

Kuzomen’s population is 80 adults and 13 children, five of them in the Moshnikovs family - three girls and twin boys.

- My second daughter, Katya, was born here. She’s 8 now, - the mother said. - With other children I was smarter - I went to live with my relatives in the city way in advance.

Officials change, and the last promise was that an office for a paramedic would be opened by 2025, in five years. The new office’s cost is 15 million rubles ($193,000). Thus, no matter what happens - falling ill is out of question for the next five years.

A teacher from the US

The local school has three students: one girl is a first-year student, and two other girls are second-year students. In 2019, the old school burned down, and the farm’s director undertook the responsibility to build a new school not to send the kids to a boarding school away from the village.

Yekaterina Dvinina was born in Murmansk, where later on she graduated from the Murmansk Arctic State University. In 2015, she posted a CV in response to a published vacancy. During the first month, she said, it was very tough. She even thought of fleeing. Her accommodation was inside the old school - in the gym.

- I had to start the oven, to bring water. But the locals supported me greatly - they taught me everything and then checked whether I was doing things correctly. I was touched. I couldn’t allow saying: well, I quit and you, kids, go to a boarding school. I couldn’t betray the kids, - she said.

Interestingly, Yekaterina could have stayed in the US. She went to South Colorado on a student exchange program. But while being there, she hurried back to Russia.

Why Kuzomen is better than US

Everything in Kuzomen - the weather, the nature, the winds, and the people - is real. Kids know how to be kind, how to make friends, how to believe in people, to be responsible, and, surely, how to work, - the teacher said.

Here, in Kuzomen, Yekaterina met her spouse. They are a married couple with a son. He is two years old.

You know, here I can even imagine what my advanced years will be like: writing books, walking to the seaside, admiring the wonderful nature and breathing this air. I realize - a city is fine, but as for me, it probably should be in small portions, - she added.

- Do you know that we do not have the polar night here? It is sunny in December, the snow is shimmering - very beautiful! Why not the paradise? To say nothing about the States or even Murmansk - she said with a warm smile.