The Lykov family was a family of Old Believers, meaning that they maintained the practices of the old practices of the Russian Orthodox church. In the 17th century, the church suffered numerous reforms, however, many worshippers resisted them. These people came to be known as the Old Believers, and faced persecution, including imprisonment and execution by burning.
In the 20th century, some Old believers were exiled or deliberately fled from the Soviet Union to as far east as Siberia.
When Karp Lykov’s brother was killed by a communist patrol, the family, together with their two children, Savin and Natalia, fled their hometown of Lykovo and ended up residing near the Yerinat River in Siberia, near the Mongolian border, roughly 250 kilometers from any human settlements.
Siberian summers do not last long, and when winter settles, temperatures can drop to as low as -25 degrees. The family lived in what would later be described by the press as “filthy dwelling, consisting of a single room” and was completely self-sufficient; growing their own food and making their own clothes and tools. They also had no contact with the outside world: in fact, they were not even aware that World War II existed.
In 1978, roughly 42 years later, a group of geologists was flying over the area when they found a clearing. After landing, they stumbled upon the Lykov family’s shelter, where they met their two daughters. The two girls spoke their own unique language - completely distorted by a lifetime in isolation - that sounded more like cooing than actual words. Soon enough, they met the rest of the family, which now consisted of the married couple and two other children, Dmitry and Agafia, born during isolation. Karp Lykov then explained that they fled due to the persecution that they were facing under the Bolshevik regime, and even went as far as to refer to Peter the Great as “the Antichrist in human form.”
Soon enough, the Soviet geologist came to realize that all of the family’s members had their own distinct personalities and view of the world. The father, Karp, was particularly intrigued by the concept of technology, though it took him a great deal of convincing to accept that the Moon landing was real. The two girls also knew about cities and countries outside of Russia, although these things were merely concepts to them.
Upon hearing their story, the group of geologists was more than willing to help. The truth was the family has been living on the edge of famine for the past 42 years and it was clear that they weren’t going to survive for much longer. However, the family promptly refused. In 1981, three of the children died. Karp died later in 1988. The last member standing was Agafina,who went on to live with one of the geologists in the wilderness for 18 years. In 2016, she was pulled out and transferred to a hospital in the nearby area, where she was treated for cartilage deterioration. However, she didn’t wait long to go back to her home, and returned to the wilderness in 2019, where she has been living ever since.
The strange story of the Lykov family has since been documented in several articles, films and even books and remains an object of fascination for people around the globe.
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