How to survive a Siberian winter with no home

How to survive a Siberian winter with no home

Advertisement

Like many of Siberia's homeless, Alexei Vergunov (pictured below) survives freezing night-time temperatures of -30 degrees Celsius by sleeping under an industrial heating pipe for warmth.

It's a perilous existence. Too far from the pipe and he could die of exposure to the cold. Too close and he could get severe burns without him noticing at first through the haze of hard alcohol that many drink to keep warm and dull reality.

. Omsk, Russia. Reuters/Alexey Malgavko
Vergunov smokes a cigarette made from a torn piece of paper.

The 46-year-old has lived like this for more than 11 years.

"You sleep at night with your eyes closed but your ears open," he says.

. Omsk, Russia. Reuters/Alexey Malgavko
Vergunov searches for rubbish that could be be recycled in exchange for payment at a recycling centre.

He used to yearn for a chance to rebuild his life, but since his partner, Alyonka, died two years ago of liver cancer, he has lost the will. They had lived together near the train station.

"I get through the day and that's it," he says. "If I found a woman like her, I could stop and try to return to society, but I can't find anyone like her."

. Omsk, Russia. Reuters/Alexey Malgavko
A heated pipe runs through a forrest.

Vergunov, who likes to call himself Lyokha the Beard, is one of 3,500 homeless people officially living rough in the city of Omsk, though the real figure is likely higher. He's one of the few who stop to chat and laugh with the city's home-dwellers.

"It's you that's going to freeze in your apartment with three blankets, not me between the pipes," he likes to joke.

. Omsk, Russia. Reuters/Alexey Malgavko
Vergunov, Andrey and Galiya have an alcoholic drink at Vergunov's shelter.

His favourite time is night. Though at its coldest, the city and rubbish dump are quiet and he is free to roam in search of glass bottles and other recyclable items he can exchange for a small sum.

. Omsk, Russia. Reuters/Alexey Malgavko
An employee who works at a recycling centre, looks out the window.

Omsk, which lies three time zones east of Moscow, has a night shelter for the homeless. But it's in a distant part of town and Vergunov doesn't sleep there as the local homeless won't let him earn his keep at the nearby rubbish dump on what they see as their patch.

. Omsk, Russia. Reuters/Alexey Malgavko
Vergunov and other homeless people have a meal during a charity event organised by Caritas.

A charity, Caritas, hands out food and clothes to help the city's homeless, although Vergunov has also learned to be on the lookout for ill-wishers. He once saved the life of his friend, Alexander, after a group of teenagers set him on fire.

. Omsk, Russia. Reuters/Alexey Malgavko
Galiya looks out from Alexey's makeshift shelter.

Sometimes misfortune and pain can nudge Omsk's homeless towards trying to change their lives.

. Rozovka, Russia. Reuters/Alexey Malgavko
Stepanova sits in a rehabilitation facility.

Lyusya Stepanova, 44, is considering trying to return to society after more than 27 years on the streets. She was hospitalised last month for three weeks with serious burns across her body after she fell asleep too close to the pipes where she was sheltering.

She is now in a rehabilitation centre 30 kilometres out of town in the village of Rozovka.

. Omsk, Russia. Reuters/Alexey Malgavko
Stepanova smokes a cigarette after waking up, on a warm pipe.

"I plan to go home, to mother," she said, though she recognises she cannot turn back the clock on 27 years on the street. "My childhood dreams were noble, but it's too late now, that boat has already sailed."

1 / 19

Slideshow

A dog walks along the snow next to a power plant.
. Omsk, Russia. Reuters/Alexey Malgavko

A dog walks along the snow next to a power plant.

Sasha, nicknamed "Poltorashka" (1,5-litre beverage bottle), eats breakfast on a warm pipe.
. Omsk, Russia. Reuters/Alexey Malgavko

Sasha, nicknamed "Poltorashka" (1,5-litre beverage bottle), eats breakfast on a warm pipe.

Oleg, 57, nicknamed "Khudozhnik" (artist), sits on a warm pipe where he now lives, 300 metres away from an apartment block where he used to live.
. Omsk, Russia. Reuters/Alexey Malgavko

Oleg, 57, nicknamed "Khudozhnik" (artist), sits on a warm pipe where he now lives, 300 metres away from an apartment block where he used to live.

A man smokes a cigarette as he attends a charity event organised by Caritas, a Catholic organisation.
. Omsk, Russia. Reuters/Alexey Malgavko

A man smokes a cigarette as he attends a charity event organised by Caritas, a Catholic organisation.

Yevgeny Korobov, nicknamed "Korobok" (box), sits in a makeshift shelter inside an underground pipe chamber.
. Omsk, Russia. Reuters/Alexey Malgavko

Yevgeny Korobov, nicknamed "Korobok" (box), sits in a makeshift shelter inside an underground pipe chamber.

Oleg rests with other people on top of warm pipes.
. Omsk, Russia. Reuters/Alexey Malgavko

Oleg rests with other people on top of warm pipes.

Sasha and Lyusya sit on a warm pipe as they share a meal.
. Omsk, Russia. Reuters/Alexey Malgavko

Sasha and Lyusya sit on a warm pipe as they share a meal.

A woman who is homeless listens to a police officer as she sits on pipes.
. Omsk, Russia. Reuters/Alexey Malgavko

A woman who is homeless listens to a police officer as she sits on pipes.

Bystrushkin, who is visually impaired, looks through a rubbish bin.
. Omsk, Russia. Reuters/Alexey Malgavko

Bystrushkin, who is visually impaired, looks through a rubbish bin.

Sasha and Lyusya walk down a street.
. Omsk, Russia. Reuters/Alexey Malgavko

Sasha and Lyusya walk down a street.

Denis, nicknamed Den "Mladshiy" (junior), pushes a pram that he uses to store and transport disposed glass bottles and other recyclable items.
. Omsk, Russia. Reuters/Alexey Malgavko

Denis, nicknamed Den "Mladshiy" (junior), pushes a pram that he uses to store and transport disposed glass bottles and other recyclable items.

Vergunov stands near his makeshift shelter with his dog Bella.
. Omsk, Russia. Reuters/Alexey Malgavko

Vergunov stands near his makeshift shelter with his dog Bella.

Vergunov and Andrey organise aluminium cans that they brought to a recycling centre in exchange for a payment.
. Omsk, Russia. Reuters/Alexey Malgavko

Vergunov and Andrey organise aluminium cans that they brought to a recycling centre in exchange for a payment.

Vergunov brings bottles and aluminium cans to a recycling centre.
. Omsk, Russia. Reuters/Alexey Malgavko

Vergunov brings bottles and aluminium cans to a recycling centre.

An employee weighs a bag filled with bottles and aluminium cans collected by Sasha and Lyusya at a recycling centre.
. Omsk, Russia. Reuters/Alexey Malgavko

An employee weighs a bag filled with bottles and aluminium cans collected by Sasha and Lyusya at a recycling centre.

Korobov receives payment in exchange for recyclable items that brought to a recycling centre.
. Omsk, Russia. Reuters/Alexey Malgavko

Korobov receives payment in exchange for recyclable items that brought to a recycling centre.

Lyuda eats a hot meal at a soup kitchen which is run weekly by volunteers.
. Omsk, Russia. Reuters/Alexey Malgavko

Lyuda eats a hot meal at a soup kitchen which is run weekly by volunteers.

A nun checks the blood pressure of a man who is homeless during a charity event organised by Caritas.
. Omsk, Russia. Reuters/Alexey Malgavko

A nun checks the blood pressure of a man who is homeless during a charity event organised by Caritas.

A man with an orthodox church tattooed onto his hand, who is homeless, holds a piece of paper as he attends a charity event organised by Caritas.
. Omsk, Russia. Reuters/Alexey Malgavko

A man with an orthodox church tattooed onto his hand, who is homeless, holds a piece of paper as he attends a charity event organised by Caritas.