A stunning story about a Russian Orthodox family that fled communist persecution into the Siberian catacombs — and lived like hermits and castaways for 40 years before being discovered. Excerpt: ...

In 1978, four geologists were surveying for potential iron ore from a helicopter hovering above the mineral-rich, but ultimately uninhabitable, taiga forest of southern Siberia when the pilot spotted ...

In 1936, fearing persecution from Joseph Stalin's Soviet Russia, the Lykov family cut themselves off from Russian society. They were Old Believers, and thus part of a fundamentalist Russian Orthodox ...

THE scientists gazed in disbelief at the ramshackle pile of bark and branches that passed for a tiny cabin. A low door creaked open and an old man, well into his 80s, emerged slowly into the daylight ...

You've probably never heard of Agafia Lykov. Most people haven't, and that's intentional: Agafia is a hermit who lives miles from the nearest town, in the Siberian wilderness. Agafia's homestead was ...

In 1936, a Russian family retreated into the wilderness of Siberia, fleeing from religious persecution. They lived isolated for 40 years, surviving the bitter cold of winter in the barren taiga. They ...

The Smithsonian has put together a fascinating and almost unbelievable account of a Russian family of six who managed to avoid all human contact for four decades — a period of self-imposed exile that ...

Those with an interest in 20th century history will be familiar with the stories of famous recluses like Howard Hughes or the Vietnam vets who emerged from the jungle some 20 years after the war had ...

Siberia’s most famous hermit, Agafia Lykova, emerged from the Russian wilderness last Wednesday — for the first time in 70 years. According to reports, the reclusive women used an emergency satellite ...

An icon in the shape of a lightning bolt. Impact Link You've probably never heard of Agafia Lykov. Most people haven't, and that's intentional: Agafia is a hermit who lives miles from the nearest town ...